Rise of the leasts: A review of 'Transformers - Rise of the Beasts'

A scene from 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts'

This is Hasbro’s 7th Transformers film, and while much of the Michael Bay output could be accused of being formulaic and derivative, the big hope for reviving the franchise came with Bumblebee in 2018. That film expertly juggled human involvement with the obvious reliance on anthropomorphized machines. So strengthened by how Bumblebee resonated with both critics and the audience, why are we not surprised to hear that Rise of the Beasts is the first part of a planned trilogy? Hollywood is always ready to beat a dead horse, so why not this franchise that displayed signs of life via the last installment. Set in 1994; so if you’re wondering how this Transformers works in their timeline, it’s after Bumblebee, and before the very first Transformers film (2007, if you’re trying to remember). So given this is supposed to be a trilogy, you can see what Hollywood is doing in terms of bleeding this prequel stage to that first film. Is it worth it? Well, that all depends on whether you’re a long time fanatic and loved the franchise; or whether the Bumblebee was your first exposure to the Transformers universe. Directed by Stephen Caple Jr., this film sees Optimus Prime and the Autobots taking on a new threat to Earth, and in order to save the planet, Optimus and said Autobots team up with a faction of Transformers known as the Maximals. These are basically animal-bots as opposed to autos, and they’re voiced by the likes of Michelle Yeoh. I personally wonder if she’d have done this film after winning an Oscar. The threat comes from the Terrorcons, and their master, Unicron. Unicron is voiced by Colman Domingo; while the lead Terrorcon, Scourge, has Peter Dinklage voicing. The human element among the protagonists come courtesy of Anthony Ramos as Noah, and Dominique Fishback as Elena. Does this human element come close to what transpired in Bumblebee, and was one of its saving graces? Unfortunately, the reply to this is No. Noah does forge an interesting relationship with Mirage (voiced by Pete Davidson), but it is nowhere near what was charming in Bumblebee. In fact, Bumblebee does make an appearance in this film, but it’s fan service of the weakest order. To answer the ‘worth it’ question; if you are a fan, there’s much to like here in terms of world building and bot-story telling. The bots totally dominate the film. And if that is your weakness, then you will surrender, and enjoy this. On the other hand, if Bumblebee is your peg, this one miserably comes in a distant second. It’s all effects and bots, with not much of a story with heart. Well oiled and slick, but with no real moments to remember this film by. Do stay for the end-credits if you reached that point. "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" opens in cinemas on June 7.