Following his success with the second Creed film, director Steven Caple Jr. takes on another successful franchise in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts from Paramount Pictures. Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber, and Jon Hoeber pen the film's screenplay, which takes inspiration from the Beast Wars storyline.
A standalone sequel to Bumblebee and a prequel to the first live-action Transformers film, Rise of the Beasts takes place in 1994 in Brooklyn, New York introduces us to Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos), an ex-military electronics expert, who is struggling to look for a job to support his family.
Desperate, Noah attempts to steal a silver-blue Porsche 964 Carrera RS 3. Little does the vehicle is the Transformer Mirage (voiced by Pete Davidson). Across the city, Elena Wallace (Dominque Fishback), an artifact researcher, is trying to come up at the museum where she works, but her thief of boss stands in the way by taking credit for her work.
For the most part, the seventh film in the Transformers franchise is a lot of fun. After the first film, I stopped taking the Bay films seriously and only wanted to see robots fight on a large screen. The human characters were an issue up until Bumblebee improved that.
The team behind Steven Caple Jr.'s Rise Of The Beasts sets itself apart from Michael Bay's Transformers films with its solid dedication to character development. The film features relatable characters like Noah, a veteran struggling to find work, and the Diaz family, who are facing looming medical bills for Kris, their chronically ill son.
Elena is another standout character; she is more intelligent than her boss but always gets overlooked. These relatable and socially conscious characters make Rise Of The Beasts unique in the Transformers franchise. It's an inspiring joyride that works from the strength of Anthony Ramos and Domonique Fishback.
The action in the movie is impressive as it shows Autobots, Maximals, and humans joining forces to fight against the Terrorcons and their army. Caple and his VFX team deserve credit for making the action scenes seamless and easy to follow from one character to the next. Finally, kudos to the director for providing a fire soundtrack full of nineties Hip Hop bops.
The latest Transformers movie builds on the same level of excitement and character development as the previous installment, Bumblebee. Fans can expect an enjoyable cinematic experience.
Final Grade: B
Preview screenings for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts are tonight, and the film opens tomorrow.