Transformers: Rise of the Beasts: Serviceable But Nothing Special

Since 2008, live-action Transformers movies have been defined by their visual spectacle. Much like a monster, very few people are going in to see the human drama at the core of the movie, they’re there to see cool-looking robots fighting other cool-looking robots with great effects and a great sound mix. The movies are designed to be a spectacle and, when one talks about a movie being an amusement park ride, the best example of it is a Transformers movie because it is enjoyable while one is watching it but is forgettable once one leaves the theater. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a perfect example of this paradigm for the franchise.

Set in 1994, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts stars Anthony Ramos (Hamilton and In The Heights) as Noah and Dominique Fishback (The Hate U Give) as Elena who inadvertently get brought into a battle between agents of Unicron called Terrorcons and an alliance between the last of the Maximals and the Autobots stranded on earth. Unicron has been trapped in space and the battle is over the Transwarp Key, a device that will allow the Terrorcons to liberate Unicron and allow it to resume eating planets.

As usual with these movies, there are the human plotlines that are there to cut down the budget and provide superficial motivation for Noah and Elena but ultimately it is all tedious and not worth the screentime. It’s a strange conundrum for the movie to be in since it is paced well and does not feel as long as it is (two hours and 10 minutes), but there is definitely room to cut the film down to a more manageable hour and 45 minutes. There are also a number of strange narrative decisions that seem like they are only happening to make the movie longer, not because it is in the best interest of either story or character.

The biggest problem with the movie however is the effects which, for a visual spectacle movie like this one, are lackluster at times. For every shot that looks really cool and is engaging, there is a sequence that looks subpar, not interesting, or sort of like it hasn’t been rendered completely. For a film that’s biggest selling point is its effect, this is a fundamental problem considering it does take the viewer out of the action set pieces. This is kind of offset by a strong soundtrack, however at times even that is not enough to carry the entire film.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a fun watch if someone is already a fan of the franchise, however it is unlikely to convert any new fans. The action sequences that work, work as well as anything else in the series but the ones that miss the mark are painfully obvious. This is a movie worth watching, however with the effects as shotty as they are it is probably better served watching on a lower quality screen, though theatrical is still the way to see it.

Final Rating: 7/10