Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

The seventh live-action Transformers movie, following on from the events of 2018’s Bumblebee, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts follows Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos), an electronics expert struggling to support his family, and museum assistant Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback), whose lives are changed when Elena inadvertently activates an ancient alien artefact, drawing the attention of the heroic Autobots and Maximals and the evil Terrorcons, led by the monster planet Unicron.

Stylistically, Rise of the Beasts has more in common with the pre-Bumblebee films than it does with its most recent predecessor, marking something of a return to “Bayhem” with its chaotic action and explosion-heavy set pieces, as well as a few common tropes from previous movies. However, this latest instalment in the series also learned a lot of lessons from Bumblebee that it applies to its storytelling, making for a significantly more engaging and entertaining experience.

The human characters are some of the best in the franchise, with compelling character arcs – bolstered by emotive performances across the board – that complement and enhance the stories of their mechanical co-stars and ground the Bayhem, anchoring the bombastic adventures to the universal themes at the core of the piece.

The Transformers themselves also benefit from strong personalities and great visuals, taking the excellent work Bumblebee did with its robotic cast and applying the narrative principles to a larger roster. Every robot has some kind of memorable scene or interesting moment, which is no mean feat considering how many of them there are this time around.

Critically, much of Rise of the Beasts feels more refined than previous features: the story is tighter and more considered, the jokes are paced better and land harder, the choreography is easier to follow and the characters are more complex. It’s a refreshing change of pace for a series that fell into something of a creative rut, building on what came before while transforming the live-action Transformers films into an entirely new beast.

Overall, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a great time, telling a straightforward story with heaps of fun and style. It’s no cinematic second coming, but it does breathe some new life into the “Bayformers”. Unlike some of its more spiteful and apathetic predecessors, Rise of the Beasts has things to say from a place of sincerity and excitement, and does so well.

Umar Ali

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is released nationwide on 8^th June 2023.

Watch the trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts here: