I will be honest and say that I have lost track of how many Transformers movies have come out. I had to double-check and found out that Transformers: Rise of the Beast is the 7th movie in the series. This movie takes place in 1994 and had me wondering where this will fit in with the timeline that was already established with the Micheal Bay movies. Like Bumblebee this one felt like a Generation 1 Transformers cartoon and bought a lot of nostalgia with it. It is better than the movies before it? Let’s get into that.
Rise of the Beast begins with the Maximals preparing to leave their homeworld due to Unicron about to destroy it. In these first 15 minutes, we learn about Unicron and the Transwarp Key that can help to prevent him from destroying more worlds. If you were a fan of Beast Wars, seeing the Maximals on the screen is pretty cool but their screen time is pretty limited after this scene. As the Maximals depart their homeworld we see the power of Unicron as he eats the planet. If you listen closely, you can hear Vince DiCola’s “Unicron Medley” playing in the background.
We are next introduced to Noah Diaz, played by Anthony Ramos, who is an ex-military electronics specialist. Diaz is shown rewiring a cable box to give it access to all the channels. Yes, parents, you might have to explain why he is doing this to your children. This movei is set in the 90s so there might be a few things you will need to explain to your kids like: Beepers, slow internet, and walkie-talkies. Noah is trying to get a job to help with his mother and his younger brother who suffers from sickle cell disease.
Not having any luck with job interviews, Noah goes to his friend Reek, Tobe Nwigwe, who convinces him to steal a Porsche 911 that is stored in a parking lot. The Porsche turns out to be the Transformer Mirage, voiced by Pete Davison, and here is where the action begins. It so happens that as Noah is breaking into Mirage, Optimus Prime is calling all of the autobots to prepare for the upcoming battle.
Why is there a battle coming to the Autobots? This is due to museum intern Elena Wallace finding one half of the Transwarp Key in an ancient statue of a Falcon with the maximal symbol on it. The key sends off a signal that humans can not see and only the Autobots, Maximals and Terrocons can see. This means that Unicron now knows where the Transwarp Key is and they are heading to Earth.
The action scenes in Rise of the Beast are a little bit better than the previous Transformers movie. Where in the earlier ones is was just metal clashing on the screen that made it hard to see what what happening, this time we get a better view of the action. Seeing Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Arcee, and Mirage fight against the Terricons, led by Scourge, voiced by Peter Dinklage, is pretty cool to see. The fights are a little more brutal than in previous movies and this confrontation leads to the fall of one of the characters.
After this scene there are basically three stories going on: 1. Unicorn coming to destroy Earth, 2. Optimus wanting to find the other half of the Transwarp Key to return to Cybertron, 3. Noah wanting to destroy the Transwarp Key to save Earth from Unicron. The multiple storylines do not get confusing but you do feel the length of the movie as we go through all of the ways each protagonist tries to achieve their goal.
The movie does conclude with an epic battle between the Autobots & Maximals fighting the Terricons and Unicron. Some of the scenes in this battle looklikethey came out of the G1 cartoon. Mirage is one of the standouts from the movie. Pete Davidson is having a lot of fun voicing him and it comes out in his scenes with Noah. There is a moment in the in the battle that is reminiscent of the animated Transformers: The Movie. I mean, the suit is not exact but it does look pretty cool.
Transformers: Rise of the Beast is a great entry to the bevy of Transformers movies that have been released. It feels pretty clunky in some moments but we are really there just to see robots fight and save the world. Anthony Ramos and Domino Miquelon Fishback give great performances in their roles and hopefully we’ll see more of them in the upcoming movies.
Final Thoughts: Transformers: Rise of the Beast is a great follow-up to Bumblebee by focusing more on the relationship between the Autobots and the humans. The story of Noah Diaz trying to make ends meet to help his mother and his sick brother, Kris is the heart of the movie. Add to that the Maximals and the hijinx of Mirage and you have a fun Transformers movie. The movie is good but the soundtrack makes it great! 90’s kids will love the Hip-Hop soundtrack! Make sure you stay for both after-creit scenes.
Kid-Friendly: The movie is great for all fans of the Transformers. There might be issues with the language in some of the scenes. The relationship between the two brothers is a great thing for kids to see.
Violence: As with the previous Transformers movies, there is a lot of robotic fighting. Unlike the other movies, this time the action can be clearly seen and is a little more brutal than the previous ones.
Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new faction of Transformer – the Maximals – to join them as allies in the existing battle for earth. Directed by Steven Caple Jr. and starring Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback