Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Today on Paramount+, I watched “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which came out theatrically last month but on streaming earlier this month, and I will let you know about this installment in the Transformers franchise.

Susan Granger started her review by saying, “Secrets of synchronicity: “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” once again lures fans back into theaters while the New York Times Business section lauds Silicon Valley’s highly anticipated new technology that would unite human and machine.”

Granger continued, “Known as The Singularity, it envisions a self-aware superhuman machine that could design its own improvements faster than any group of scientists.”

That’s not what happens in the seventh movie in the family-friendly “Transformers” franchise, based on the Hasbro action figures, but it’s not far off.

Coming off of the success of “Bumblebee,” it’s set in 1994 Brooklyn, introducing Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos), an Army vet/electronics genius who is trying to get a decent job to help his mom (Luna Larsen) and 11-year-old brother Kris (Dean Scott Vazquez), suffering from sickle-cell anemia.

Problem is: Noah goes to his friend, Reek, played by Tobe Nwigwe, who gets him to steal a Porsche that’s not an ordinary sports car. It’s the comic relief Autobot Mirage, played by Pete Davidson.

Led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), the Autobots, including the motorcycle Arcee (Lisa Koshy), Chevrolet Camaro Bumblebee, and Volkswagen bus/mechanic Wheeljack (Dani Rojas), are trying to get back to their home on Cybertron to fight the Decepticons.

Meanwhile in an Ellis Island Museum, Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback), an archeology intern, is studying a strange bird sculpture with mysterious symbols – part of a gadget called the TransWrap Key, a space-time channel that’s been split in two.

Then there are the animal Maximals from the animated “Transformers: Beast Wars” TV series, led by a biomechanical gorilla, Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman), joined by the peregrine falcon Airazor (Michelle Yeoh), Rhinox (David Sobolov) and Cheetor (Tongayi Chirisa).

Evil is personified by the planet-eating Unicron (Colkman Domingo), leder of the Terrorcons, along with his evil henchman Scourage (Peter Dinklage), and his henchmen, Battletrap (Sobolov) and Nightbird (Michaela Jaé Rodgriguez). Granger credited, “Steering away from Michael Bay’s sci-fi stridency, director Steven Caple Jr. (“Creed II”) interweaves genial humans and sentient machines into a coherent CGI-based story, credited to five screenwriters.”

Sobolov also played Apelinq, another Maximal who you briefly see in the beginning.

There’s the unavoidable car chase – this time on the Williamsburg Bridge – and large-scale fights, but travelling via the Stratosphere, played by John DiMaggio, to Peru’s historic city of Cusco and the ruins of Machu Picchu to protect Planet Earth is a bonus you don’t see coming.

To this film’s credit, it is better than the previous sequels the Michael Bay directed. These last two prequels are really starting to turn the franchise around to being likable again. See this one on Paramount+ if you don’t want to see it in theaters. You will enjoy it, especially if you feel bored, you can always pause and come back to it later. I think people will enjoy this one, although I’m not sure how much it is not trying to follow the same formula as before. Especially with the addition of “Beast Wars,” which is a show I grew up watching in some way, I think you will enjoy it. Let’s see what the future holds, especially with the teaser at the end given by Michael Kelly.

Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Stay tuned next month to see what I have in store.