Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – movie review

Toy company Hasbro created their line of giant shape changing robots known as Transformers way back in 1984. Then came the animated television series in 1985, which then became an animated movie in 1986 and which featured the vocal talents of Leonard Nimoy, legendary actor Orson Welles, and even DJ Casey Kasem as the voices of the various characters. Then they made their way onto the big screen in 2007 in a big budget special effects driven film produced under the auspices of executive producer Steven Spielberg and directed by Michael Bay in his usual bombastic, over-the-top and unsubtle style in which he turned everything up to eleven. That film proved to be a huge box office success and spawned a couple of sequels and even a spinoff with 2018’s entertaining Bumblebee. This seventh instalment in the franchise serves as both a prequel and a reboot of sorts, set in 1994.

Our hero is Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos, the star of the Broadway production of Hamilton), a former military electronics expert is struggling to find a job to support his family, especially his younger brother Kris (Dean Scott Vasquez), who needs medical treatment for his sickle cell disease. Because he is unable to keep up with the medical expenses the hospital refuses to continue treatment and Noah is finding it hard to get a job. When he is turned down for a position with Homeland Security because his former commanding officer deemed him “not a team player” Noah turns to his friend Reek, who steals cars to eke out a living. Noah steals a silver Porsche, but during a high-speed chase through the streets of Manhattan the car reveals itself to be a disguised Transformer known as Mirage (enthusiastically voiced by Peter Davidson). Mirage drives Noah to a warehouse where he meets Optimum Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen, a series regular), the leader of the faction known as the Autobots, and Bee.

Meanwhile across town in a research facility situated on Ellis Island, ambitious young research intern Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback, from Judas and the Black Messiah) is curious about a new artefact. Alone at night she begins to study it when its hardened surface breaks away to reveal a strange object inside. That turns out to be one half of an object known as a Transwarp Key that releases a pulse of energy that draws the ruthless Terrorcons (an evil race of robotic creatures) to Earth to possess the key which will open a portal that allows the planet destroying Unicron into our world. The Terrorcons are lead by Scourge (voiced by Peter Dinklage).

Noah and the Autobots arrive on Ellis Island but are unable to prevent Scourge from making off with the key. Elena discovers that the other half of the key could be hidden in Inca ruins in Peru, and they head off to find it before the Terrorcons can use it to destroy the world. There they also meet another group of robotic beasts known as the Maximals, who have been hiding in the Peruvian jungle for centuries, and they form an alliance to save the Earth from this latest threat.

Ramos is a charismatic actor, but he deserves better than this, while Fishback makes for a feisty heroine. The two develop a fine chemistry and create a palpable spark and inject some human emotion into the formulaic material. And Caple has assembled a strong vocal cast to give voice to the various CGI created characters, including Ron Perlman as Optimus Primal, the leader of the Maximals, and Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as the wise Airazor, a giant fire breathing eagle .

The story has been written by Joby Harold (the recent The Flash), and the script has been fashioned by a team of writers including tv writers Darnell Metayer and Josh Peters (Hannibal the Conqueror), Erich and Jon Hoeber (Battleship), and they pay fealty to the lore of the overall arc of the Transformers. They inject plenty of humour into the mix. And the 1994 setting allows director Caple to throw in a few needle-drops that bring a touch of nostalgia to the material for audiences of a certain age.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has been capably directed by Steven Caple Jr (Creed II), who maintains a fast pace throughout and handles the bruising action set piece well. The state-of-the-art special effects from WETA and Moving Picture Company that bring the shape changing robots and other creations to life are superb, and there are some quite picturesque locations beautifully shot by cinematographer Enrique Chediak (Bumblebee). But they are not enough to distract from the formulaic plotting and the cliched characters.

And there is a brief sting during the end credits that introduces us to another line of popular action figures from the Hasbro company.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is one big, spectacular but dumb action movie, but least this latest instalment in the franchise is more entertaining than the last couple of Michael Bay directed films. There are enough action sequences featuring giant CGI robots beating the crap out of each other here to please the twelve-year-old boys still playing in the sandbox with their action figures. Fans of the franchise will flock to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. For anyone else, not so much.

Greg King