Today the new Transformers movie is released. Relax, if you trust me I tell you that we have returned to what we liked about this franchise with this prequel/sequel. I’ll explain right away.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts takes us on an adventure around the world of the 90s with the Autobots eiwill introduce an entirely new faction of Transformers, the Maximalswho will join them as allies in the ongoing battle for Earth.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts or Sequel Prequel
There are six real-image movies we have about the Autobots, their friends and their enemies: Decepticons, Dinobots, Consructicons… and now, Maximals (from the classic 1990s animated TV series Beast Wars: Transformers). But what does this new installment present to us?
Well It’s a full return: we go back to the 90s (this film is set seven years after the events depicted in the 2018 film Bumblebee, which itself was set in 1987. Therefore, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is both a sequel to Bumblebee and a prequel from the Transformers saga, started in 2007.
In addition it is a return to everything we liked about the saga. The two or three main installments enjoyed widespread public acceptance and, despite its very good box office figures (4.8 billion dollars) and many interesting aspects, interest in it gradually faded despite the increase in spectacularity.
It was with the movie Bumblebee (2018) with which they wanted to restart the saga and now this new installment is located chronologically seven years later. Taking advantage of the good reception that Bumblebee had, those responsible have wanted to unite “the epic dimensions for which the Transformers movies are known and the intimacy of Bumblebee in terms of relationships”, being a sequel to that one.
The best thing about Bumblebee was that it was a smaller-scale story, which allowed its creators (Travis Knight to direct and Christina Hodson to write the script) worry more about giving “soul” to the characters, both human and robotic. That was what the public liked and what we got a glimpse of in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
As a prequel, we find out that the Maximals (or the Beasts) They’ve been on Earth even longer than the Autobots.. They have assisted in the birth and development of Humanity and because of this they have a respect for humans that Optimus Prime has not yet achieved.
And I say that it is a substantial difference because, when we are talking about the Transformers franchise, we must talk about the technique of the film, how they come to life on screen these gigantic metallic beings.
A new/old breed of Transformers: the Maximals
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts presents for the first time on the big screen new robots, and production designer Sean Haworth has been responsible for creating all of those designs. A veteran member of the Transformers film family, Haworth initially worked as art director on the Bay films Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, later working his way up to production designer on Bumblebee.
Haworth has managed to give the robots of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts another aspect that differs from the other films in the series in several ways, such as that includes for the first time three major female robot characters: Arcee, a female biker who appeared briefly in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Bumblebee; the flying Maximal called Airazorand a ruthless Terrorcon called Nightbird. On the other hand, the main evil robot of the film is Scourge, the commander of the Terrorcons. All of them, and the ones we already know, have new designs that reflect the personality that the script has given them.
Another substantial difference between the Maximals and the Autobots is that the former have skin and hair, and not just metal parts. This It has been reflected on the screen in an amazing wayshowing a technique that delights all who see it
But the great moment that all the followers are undoubtedly waiting for is the head-to-head confrontation between Optimus Prime and his Maximal counterpart, Optimus Primal. Curiously, the biggest confrontation is not the physical one, but the intellectual and emotional one (although there will also be a physical one, of course), and that is that Primal is much older and wiser than Optimus, whom we know as the wisest character in the saga. , but we must remember that, in this film, he has been on Earth for a few years and is still clinging to the war against the Decepticons, missing his planet very much.
But what would a Transformers movie be without a fleet of awesome cars? Among the vehicles in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts are all-time favorites: Bumblebee as a Camaro and Optimus Prime as a Freightliner truck. But it has also been added to Mirage, a Porsche 911 (although it flirts with Ferrari and Lamborghini) or a Nissan Skyline.
Of coursewe have many winks to the fanswhich we will only point out without discovering them: from the appearance of Optimus Prime (different from that of the last films) to nods to the animated series of The war of the beasts.
Las fights are (again) quite clear and coherent, letting us see the robots in action. The action has improved, but it’s not as spectacular as it should be after so many years and “test” movies.
A good start to a new? Path
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts comes five years after Bumblebee. A long time to be a sequel. And although he drinks from that (as we have noted at the beginning), Do not forget the “central” saga of Transformers (especially the first ones).
Management is as efficient as it should be. Steven Caple Jr (Creed II) handles the story with a good hand, taking the new franchise in a direction that seems the right one but which is missing something to become, once again, the favorite of the public. But there are really interesting traces, like a persecution of humans in the museum, with an action and a tension very well filmed and that many horror movies would like to have.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts He does a good job treating the characters., giving more importance to this than to rampant action. The ten-handed script (Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber) takes the time to explore the human characters, so the viewer empathizes with them and we manage to care about them before they even interact with the Autobots.
But this emotional character, this humanity, has also been given to robots. As we have already pointed out, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is set in 1994, chronologically before the Michael Bay films and, therefore, presents us with a different Optimus Prime from the one we know, who does not trust humans and whose only goal is to return to their planet.
As for the actorsAnthony Ramos (Hamilton) and Dominique Fishback (Swarm) are well writtenwith a good background in both, and who we understand in their doubts and fears (although Fishback’s character fades away, losing a lot of strength).
The point is that Paramount intends that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts be the start of a new trilogyso we hope that these two human characters grow in importance and relevance.
And yes, the characters are well taken care of, they are stronger and more believable. But it is history that continues to suffer from a certain simplicity that weighs it down: After all, the plot consists of obtaining and protecting (or destroying) a mythical or magical artifact that can destroy the world.
That is why the final feeling is bittersweet: we have had a great time but we are left with the idea that we could have given more. Howeverthe important thing is that it is (finally) a Transformers installment is good entertainment, and a good step in a new direction. We are looking forward to the second step (and hopefully not another five years).
By the way, we don’t have a post-credits scene (good!) but we have a very, very interesting final scenewhich promises a great future and expands this universe (very good!)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is Directed by Steven Caple Jr.and starring Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Velez, Dean Scott Vazquez, Tobe Nwigwe and the voices of Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, with a script by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber on a story by Joby Harold.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is opens in theaters June 9 of 2023
