Transformer: Rise of the Beasts – A Promising New Direction for the Franchise

I think it is important to start this text by removing fears: although you may have disconnected from Hasbro’s metallic aliens franchise for a long time, You can see Transformers: The Awakening of the Fearless Beasts. After the five films directed by Michel Bay, and the surprising Bumblebee (2018), the saga takes a new direction at the hands of director Steven Caple Jr.; to replace one of the most excessive directors in Hollywood in terms of action, this filmmaker decides to place himself in a comfortable halfway point between the megalomaniac action of the Bay era and the more restrained proposal of Bumblebee.

As a result of this new beginning for the series, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is direct action and entertainment, without additives or complications, no more no less. A film that, even within the same intellectual property, shows that it is not so easy to make a blockbuster that embraces pure fun without palliatives.

Autobots and Maximals, a winning combination

The film begins with a new enemy, Unicron, a gigantic entity that devours planets and feeds on their vital energy; with that dark energy, he feeds his army of Terrorcons, led by the fearsome and sadistic Scourge. In this dynamic of conquest, they visit the planet of the Maximals, an allied faction of the Autobots who guard a key that allows space-time travel; if Unicron gets hold of that key, he will pose a limitless threat to the galaxy. However, the Maximals manage to flee to Earth, taking the key with them.

On Earth we are in the 90s, before the timeline we know of Transformers. The Autobots continue to hide until they find a way to get home; His path will cross with that of Noah and Elena, two humans who have found by chance the key that Unicron is looking for… but they are not the only ones who know of its location.

The plot of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is simple enough to jump right into its proposal, but it knows how to generate interest thanks to a cast of robots with some great designs and interpretations. Maximals, Autobots and Terrorcons have very attractive characters on a visual level, but who have also achieved (at least most of them) a very marked identity thanks to their cast of dubbing actors; Especially noteworthy are Peter Dinklage’s Scourge (Tyrion in Game of Thrones), Pete Davidson’s charismatic Mirage and Ron Perlman’s Optimus Primal; The modeling of the Maximals is wonderful, both in their animal and anthropomorphic forms, and seeing them fight side by side with the Autobots is pure spectacle. It is not something that in other Transformers installments was made so evident to me, and it is not only because of the excellent work done in this section, but because it is a tape that puts the focus in the right placeand it is in these alien robots designed solely and exclusively to grind and destroy with style.

Despite lasting just over two hours, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts goes by quite quickly thanks to a good sense of rhythm, action scenes that are very well placed throughout the footage and quite a bit of variety in its approach. Not only do we find magnificent fight scenes (all of them excellently choreographed), but also fun chases worthy of a Fast & Furious movie and even adventure segments in the purest Indiana Jones style, as well referenced in the film. The variety that on other occasions was only given by location changes and the human part of the cast is also present here, but with the right and necessary weight.

A new and promising direction

Of Noah and Elena, the human allies on this occasion for the Transformers, the best that can be said is that they do not get in the way.. They are characters as simple as they are easy to tolerate something to which a successful casting work helps for both; if we don’t ask ourselves too many questions about their role in all of this, their presence can be appreciated, and even interesting things are done with them in the last segment. This section, which had always been one of the biggest problems I’ve had with the brand, has been resolved quite successfully here. For their part, the chosen locations, especially the segment of Peru, take great advantage of their orography in some scenes; It’s a pity that for the last third it is dispensed with in exchange for a tremendously boring scenario, both visually and functionally.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts knows how to generate interest thanks to a cast of robots with some great designs and interpretations

Of course, enjoying Transformers: Rise of the Beasts comes at a price, and that is complete and utter shutdown of the brain for the ultimate in fun. Human motivations are questionable to say the least, and none of the Autobots display particularly commendable intelligence or planning skills, despite being legendary warriors.

On a purely technical level, it is true that the film also has some ups and downs. There are several moments in which the CGI gives the sensation of lowering the level, even in the modeling of some of the protagonists, and the camera moves too much for my liking depending on which scenes. And, although I’m not asking to go back to the Bay era either, some of the Maximals appear too little screen time; It’s a shame they don’t get more moments to shine, especially considering their wonderful design and role as a novelty. In fact, generally the concept of the Maximals is somewhat wasted; I hope there’s more material from them in the deleted scenes.

However, none of this prevents Transformers: The awakening of the beasts from becoming one of the best films of the brand. Moving away from the authorial pretensions that ended up dooming the previous series of films, we have a perfect movie to unwind this summer and a promising start to a new era for Transformers. A new and successful direction that focuses on what should never have been lost sight of: pure fun. If you were disenchanted with any of the previous movies, or if you liked Bumblebee, you can safely give this one a try.