‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ reviews: Fans and critics clash over summer crowd-pleaser
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On June 9, 2023, “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” roared into theaters courtesy of Paramount Pictures. The film directed by Steven Caple Jr. received mixed reviews, resulting in a score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Critics Consensus that reads, “Thanks to some genuine human drama between the set pieces and palpable affection for the title characters, ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ is one of the franchise’s more enjoyable outings.”
While critics may be divided on the latest action flick to come from this franchise, fans have overwhelmingly praised this outing with a 91% audience approval score. Set in the ’90s, a new faction of Transformers – the Maximals – join the Autobots as allies in the battle for Earth. The ensemble cast includes Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Tobe Nwigwe, Peter Cullen, Pete Davidson, Michelle Yeoh, Liza Koshy, Cristo Fernández, John DiMaggio, Ron Perlman, Colman Domingo, Peter Dinklage and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez. Read our full review round-up below.
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Neil Smith of Total Film says, “Beasts is at its best when building a pleasing bond between Noah and wisecracking Autobot Mirage (Pete Davidson) that feels much like the one Hailee Steinfeld forged with Bumblebee five years ago. Fishback, too, is a likeable presence who stays relatable throughout, mainly by behaving as most of us would were we ever to find ourselves pursued by mechanical spiders through an underground temple.”
Tomris Laffly of The Wrap was more impressed, stating, “To enjoy some of the simple pleasures of this new chapter by the capable ‘Creed II’ director Steven Caple Jr., you actually don’t have to painstakingly study up on any of the previous films, much less the first five over-bloated movies by Michael Bay (a producer on this one). In that, ‘Rise of the Beasts’ thankfully and proudly stands on its own two mechanical feet.” Laffly adds, “You won’t leave this back-to-basics ‘Transformers’ feeling exhausted, rather entertained, even inexplicably restarted, like your battery’s just been given a jump.”
Matt Donato of IGN Movies praises the film, noting, “You son of a gun, ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ — I’m back in. Consider me as shocked as anyone to be genuinely excited for more Transformers movies after the disappointing-at-best ‘Age of Extinction’ and ‘The Last Knight.’ The one-two combo of Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts is a course correction that unites beloved Transformer clans, introduces decent human characters, and spotlights metal-crunching action that’s an upgrade from the nondescript animated slop we’ve been served in Michael Bay’s last few movies. It’s certainly not going to win over the Academy (outside a possible special effects nomination), but director Steven Caple Jr. executes Rise of the Beasts as a get-the-job-done summer crowd-pleaser that makes me feel like a kid watching Saturday morning cartoons again, only on a grander and more exciting scale.”
Roger Moore of Movie Nation states, “Five credited screenwriters and the director of ‘Creed II’ tackled the ‘new’ origin ‘story’ of how the Maximals — robotic apes, cheetahs, eagles and rhinos — and Autobots were run off of their planet Cybertron, hiding out on Earth until 1994 when this magical ‘transportal key’ thingy is uncovered inside The Maltese Falcon, and coveted by a new planet-consuming threat — Unicron — and hunted by his robotic lieutenant Scourge (voiced by Peter Dinklage) and Scourge’s minions deep into the heart of Indiana Jones South America.” Moore addes, “But the half-hearted attempts to build a hero’s quest story about these increasingly collectible toys and ongoing campaign to wash the humanity right out of the franchise is something all the shiny, tactile and identifiable Freightliner, Porsche or Ducati parts in humanoid robotic form cannot hide.”
Mark Kennedy of Associated Press writes, “’Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ returns the franchise to its galaxy-wide self-importance after taking a nice detour with 2018′s smaller ‘Bumblebee.’ We have a new cast of animal robots and a very evil enemy in the planet-eating Unicron, but they’re not used right and the movie limps from fight to fight.” Kennedy continues, “Setting the movie in 1994 gives the filmmakers some vintage fun, like adding beepers and references to O.J. Simpson, plus a soundtrack including A Tribe Called Quest and LL Cool J. But even here they get stuff wrong, like using Biggie’s “Hypnotize,” which came out in 1996, and having a character sing “Waterfalls” by TLC a year before it came out.”
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