My Review of "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts"

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was somewhat on my radar for 2023. I regained an interest for the Transformers franchise after the Bumblebee movie. Hopefully they could still keep the momentum going with this newest iteration. I would say what they did was kind of a mixed bag but for the most part a well crafted new addition.

This movie starts off a decade after the Bumblebee movie. Don't worry you don't really have to see that movie to understand this one. They make only one or two references to that movie and it was in passing. It's the 90s and they play up the fact that this is the 90s with a lot of 90's references. Again whenever movie companies do this they kind of go overboard trying to hit older audiences with nostalgia. If it's 1994 keep your references to that time period rather than throw a whole bunch of 90s references that might not even fit 1994.

We briefly get introduced to the new big bad guys. The main bad guy is this robot named Scourge. He's a minion controlled by a gigantic planet sized robot named Unicron. Those that loved the original series cartoons will remember Unicron from the animated movie. They make a lot of nods to that old movie with subtle homages like playing Unicron's original background music whenever he shows up. There's a whole bunch of other things.

Anyways we have this battle with the Maximals and Scourge because Unicron is looking for this special key that will allow him to jump time and space to wherever he wants. This way he can eat more planets. Unfortunately for Unicron the Maximals take this and escape to Earth. Of course Unicron devours their world as a result. He has no need for it.

Then we get introduced to our main characters, Noah, who is a down and out ex military civilian and Elena, a brilliant archeologist. Elena is introduced to a new artifact that is in fact the key that everyone is chasing after. Noah falls into some bad times and needs to do steal in order to make ends meet. The first car he tries to steal happens to be a Transformer and this adds him to the adventure.

Eventually the two leads join the Autobots to help them get the key so that they can go back to their home planet of Cybertron. Unfortunately Scourge discovers their location and it becomes an all out war.

I saw this in the theatres and boy was I glad I got to experience that. This movie was made for the big screen it screams big blockbuster film. It's a mindless action film that has a little heart added. You have to really shut off your brain to enjoy this one. If you can you're in for a wild ride.

The visuals are simply stunning at times. I think this is mostly because of the camera angles they use for some of the action sequences. They did a great job in making a dynamic and exciting movie because of this. At times you feel like it's a CGI giant robot anime movie and that will entice a lot of fans.

You can also tell that they added a few horror elements as they try to do a few jump scares as our main protagonists constantly get chased. No it's not a scary movie but they added some jump scare tactics to this movie so be a little warned. They also add a ton of jokes to counter the intensity of this movie. It's sprinkled in there but it doesn't feel totally overdone.

Overall, what is most important is that this was an entertaining movie. I wouldn't go to say this is a great movie. There are a few minor lulls in the movie but they don't really get in the way of the fun you're going to have. I don't imagine seeing it at home is going to be quite as fun as the big screen but could still be enjoyable. I will have to give this movie a 6.5 out of 10. I don't know about repeat viewings of this one but the first viewing is quite enjoyable.