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Rise of the Beasts is the seventh installation of the Transformers. However, it has its own extraordinary story. The Steven Caple Jr. directed film “re-introduced” robots that have long been MIA. The new Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hit the big screens on June 10. It’s a prequel to the original Transformers produced in 2007 and an extension of Bumblebee. But how well has the public received the PG-rated 13 film with 127 minutes of action? Also, was bringing back the old Transformers worth it?
Is Transformers Rise of the Beasts a Recycled Plot?
Different human characters, with some OG robots but not an awesomely different plot. Like the previous series, a human discovered a robot— unexpectedly. Noah, who is frustrated by job hunting, gives in to his desperation by stealing cars. However, one of the “collections” happens to be Mirage, an Autobot Transformer feigning to be a Porsche. At the same time, Elena, a museum intern, makes a discovery: the “Transwarp key.” This key permits Transformers to travel through time.
Meanwhile, nothing changes about Optimus Prime—the Autobots leader who teams up with the Maximals. In previous series, he has been portrayed as a Transformer who does not entirely believe in humanity. In other words, having him replay his disbelief by fighting with Maximals as a way to get home, not save the human world, is cliche.
Again, in a desire to save the planet, humans partner with the heroic robots against the bad robots. Something fans of the Transformers franchise have seen more than once, or twice, or three times!
Introducing OG Transformers in the Rise of the Beasts Was the Magic
Transformers Rise of the Beasts plot involved Maximals, Terrorcons, Predacons, and Unicron. The advanced robots — Maximals, who are partly robots and humans — had their home invaded by the dark robot god, Unicron, who sought the destruction of their territory and absolute power. He enlisted the help of Terrorcons, a subset of the Decepticons, to unleash his havoc. But these Transformers found their way to Earth, where they engaged with Optimus Prime and a human, Noah.
For about five seasons, Maximals and Terrocons have been absent, and their grand entry made fans hopeful of an epic show, after all, they used to be fans’ favorite. But not everyone thought that the billion-dollar franchise would need help explaining the detail enshrined in the storylines since it is undeniable. Also, many believed that these Transformers characters would be significantly explored.
Did Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Have Too Much Explanation?
The invasion of Maximals’ home and Unicron’s aggressive yearning for power were overemphasized and explained almost every time. Additionally, the film spared a few seconds for a description usually done by the human cast.
Fans Believe It’s Sub-Par
Critics are not taking it slow on what was once everyone’s favorite sci-fi to watch. In fact, some took a trip down memory lane, analyzing the cartoon days of Transformers, before pressing on to how the series began to spiral downwards.
2018’s Bumblebee, directed by Travis Knight, conveyed emotions. It went straight to the heart with the story of a young girl learning about her car robots. What should come next could have aimed to consolidate the emotions with more intimacy or include gigantic robots aimed at overwhelming the viewers, but sadly, it was neither.
The Humans Did Not Embody Their Roles
While the OG robots merely engaged in metal clanging and did not explore their roles entirely, the humans failed to convey the expected emotions. Noah is supposed to have a binding and biased relationship with his younger brother, who might die, but it is a struggle to communicate that. There was no grand emotion strong enough to force down hot tears. The film strongly shows off the similarities between Noah and Optimus Prime.
Unlike Noah’s scripts which might have conveyed little emotions, Elena’s is over the top. The intern is exceptionally scared and usually shows this by screaming and moving away from the chaos. Although this seems like the perfect reaction, especially since she sees humongous robots invading the planet, her reaction feels weird as Elena is clearly the only highly perplexed human.
This unforgivable plot twist just brings to mind the glory days of the cartoon era, leaving many to doubt if the Transformers: The Rise of the Beasts series was worth watching or producing. It is not doing too well on the rating machine as well. Rotten Tomatoes tagged it at 53%, while it is an average on Common Sense Media and The Independent.