Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Movie Review)

Directed by Steven Caple Jr. Transformers Rise of the Beasts is a prequel to the Michael Bay Transformers films. With some new human and Transformer protagonists in the form of Noah (Anthony Ramos) Arcee (Liza Koshy), Optimus Primal (Ron pearlman) & Mirage (Pete Davidson). Rise of the Beasts aims to show us an earlier tale from the cinematic Transformers universe, with Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) returning in this film as a younger and more grizzled leader.

Taking place in 1994, Rise of the Beasts markets itself as a film with some throw backs to a different era, with the Transformers still acting as “Robots in Disguise”. Despite this, the visual and music throwbacks to the 90’s are skin deep and fleeting, with most of this film taking place in what could easily be mistaken for any modern time period.

Noah is the latest human protagonist of the series. He as a young man who is desperate to get a job so he can help out his family and to pay for his younger brother’s medical care. Even when he is called upon to help the Autobots save the world, his desire to protect his brother is at the heart of his character. If you are an older sibling; this subplot may tug at a few heart strings.

Similarly, Arcee (Liza Koshy) serves as the female co-lead and her contribution to finding the McGuffin that moves the plot forward is paramount to the story. Sadly, despite both characters’ being more palatable than Sam (Shia LaBeouf) from the original trilogy, neither Noah or Arcee have the same strong screen presence as LaBeouf’s Sam. With that being said, Like all Transformers films before this, the humans are the weakest element of the film…..

Optimus Prime has never looked as good on film as he does in this movie. His design is much closer to the source material and he is less busy overall than he was in previous films. Peter Cullen continues to voice Optimus in only the iconic way that he can, but this is a younger Optimus who hasn’t learned to put his faith in humanity just yet. His character goes on an arc that mirrors the journey of Noah in his own journey. It is an effective aspect of the story which felt rewarding and results in an Optimus Prime movie goers are more used to seeing by the films conclusion.

Mirage (Pete Davidson) also serves in the role usually reserved for Bumblebee by acting as the bridge between the human and Autobot characters. He is energetic and aimable but he behaves in a manner that is a little too human complete with New York colloquialisms. Special mentions go to Optimus Primal’s strong and appropriately noble performance by Ron Pearlmen. As well as Peter Dinklage who is appropriately villainous as Scourge and feels far more dangerous a villain than the film version of Megatron ever did.

The story for this film is fairly run of the mill but serves as a decent enough reason for the Autobots to battle the Terrorcons. There are some huge world ending stakes at play but the good guys rarely felt like they were in any real danger. As a result, the enjoyment of this film is not in the thrills, but rather in few the character moments and very well animated robots fighting on screen.

I’d give Transformers Rise of the Beasts
3 Sparks out of 5