Reviews

Following on from the success of the Transformers prequel/spin-off Bumblebee in 2018, we now have the sequel to the prequel, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

The film, set in New York in 1994, stars Anthony Ramos as Noah, an ex-military electronics expert who desperately needs money and a job. One day, he steals a Porsche, which turns out to be an Autobot named Mirage (voiced by Pete Davidson).

Then there’s Elena (Dominique Fishback), a museum intern, who uncovers what is revealed to be the Transwarp Key, which can help the Autobots return to their home planet of Cybertron.

But they aren’t the only ones who want the key – the evil Terrorcons want it for themselves so Unicron, a planet-eating entity, can destroy Earth.

The humans and Autobots team up with their allies, robotic animals called the Maximals, to defeat the Terrorcons and save the world.

Bumblebee was very different from Michael Bay’s five Transformers movies – it had so much heart and charm and it seemed like the franchise was moving in a new direction.

Unfortunately, Rise of the Beasts, directed by Steven Caple Jr., proves otherwise. It is exactly the same as the originals, with the same tried-and-tested formula and a familiar storyline.

The narrative is generic and predictable, the final fight is messy, and the dialogue gets cornier as it goes along.

However, if you are a big fan of the original Transformers films, then this will be right up your street. It delivers exactly what you would expect from a Transformers movie, although it is nowhere near as good as the first one in 2007.

There are some big action scenes but how you receive them will depend on your tolerance for watching giant CGI machines battle it out onscreen.

If that’s your bag, you will enjoy this immensely, but if you don’t, you’ll probably glaze over with boredom.

However, it cannot be denied that the stakes are very low here because we already know which characters live on to appear in the 2007 movie.

Ramos and Fishback give it their all and try really hard to hold their own against their CGI co-stars. The characters have decent dialogue and personalities at the start but these gradually get forgotten as the film becomes more and more action heavy.

The star of the show is, as ever, the fan-favourite Transformer Bumblebee, however, Mirage is a fun newcomer with a bro-like connection to Noah.

Michelle Yeoh brings gravitas to her Maximal bird character Airazor, while Peter Dinklage and Ron Perlman are well cast as the Terrorcon Scourge and the robotic gorilla Optimus Primal.

If you’re after a mindless blockbuster movie this weekend, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is one for you.

In cinemas from Thursday 8th June.

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