Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new faction of Transformers – the Maximals – to join them as allies in the existing battle for earth.

When it comes to the Transformers franchise, certain parts of the mythos have attracted cult-like status, and one of the fabled parts of that is the Beast Wars saga. A staple part of 1990s television, rising filmmaker Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) steps up into the director’s chair. And for this filmmaker, Rise of the Beasts was a dream come true. In every moment of this picture, you feel Caple Jr.’s sense of boyhood wonder in on full display. As a die-hard Transformers fan, you can tell that the filmmaker was more than eager to get his hands on this world, and this excitement shows in the finished project. Stepping back in time to the early 1990s and giving the picture a solid hip-hop flavour injects the Transformers story with bold new energy, and the result is a solid shot of fun for audiences.

Pulled into Rise of the Beasts are performers Anthony Ramos as Noah Diaz, an ex-military electronics expert and Dominique Fishback as Elena Wallace, an artefacts and antiquity’s curator, and both feel the action pretty quickly. Ramos has a solid everyman quality as Noah, and there’s an almost Marty McFly quality to the character as he’s pulled from side to side in this epic adventure. Fishback’s Elena is smart, savvy and up for anything in this narrative, and these performers’ sense of youth, excitement and wonder makes it onto the screen in a big way. Both have given plenty of room to express their characters, and you can feel the sense of trust that exists between them and Caple Jr.

Not only does Transformers: Rise of the Beasts see the return of the legendary Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, but other big-name performers, including Ron Perlman, Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh, Pete Davidson and Peter Dinklage, provide their talents to their picture. For Cullen, Rise of the Beasts offers him a chance to show a less experienced Optimus Prime who is still learning the responsibilities of leadership. And it keeps things interesting. Perlman brings a stoic and wild authority to the towering presence of Optimus Primal, leader of the Maximals, and fans will be very pleased with his performance. Yeoh is strong and resilient as the noble Airazor, while Davidson has a serious groove as the uppity Mirage. Peter Dinklage brings his all to the role of the psychotic Terrorcon, Scourge, who has a penchant for taking trophies, and it leads to one hell of a scrap between himself and Prime.

The action is fast and kinetic in Rise of the Beasts, and this is a film that moves quickly. Caple Jr. amps up the energy of the picture with a full-on global treasure hunt, and some serious driving scenes will throw you right back into your seat. Ramos and Fishback find themselves as a key part of the film’s action set pieces, and Caple Jr.’s hip-hop soundtrack helps to add to the rush of the experience. For those who are wanting the pure energy of giant robots smacking each other around, you’ll find it with this movie. And things get explosive. Plus make sure you don’t leave the cinema too early as there are some very cool surprises for audiences that set up some very exciting things down the line for the franchise.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a great start to the blockbuster season, and audiences who are seeking that mix of nostalgia, action and fun will be very pleased with this picture.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.

While we’re used to the Transformers franchise going all out on large scale action spectacle director Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings), in his first ever live action film, goes right back to the beginning and seeks to tell a far different Transformers story in Bumblebee. Focusing his attention on the arrival of young Autobot lieutenant Bumblebee as he crash lands on Earth following the fall of Cybertron, Knight pulls his audience into a tale that is pure 1980s nostalgic bliss.

Balancing a story that acts as an origin story for our favourite Autobot, Knight fills the film with a sense of Spielbergian magic that reminded me a lot of first contact films such as E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. While Knight does give his audience plenty of awesome action moments, his focus is placed on a more grounded film and the relationship that forms between two lost souls: alienated teenager Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) and beaten and broken Autobot Bumblebee. Mixed in with this beautiful friendship is a nod to the past and the youthful optimism of 1980s California that will set your soul alight and make you want to take off on a road trip down the coast in a 1967 Volkswagen Beetle. It’s clear with this film that Knight wanted to craft a cinematic experience that would fill his audience with a sense of wonder and joy and he absolutely achieves this here with Bumblebee.

Front and center in the film is rising talent Hailee Steinfeld as Charlie Watson, a tom-boy, gearhead teenager who has an affinity for The Smiths and is trying to find her place in the world while desperately desiring the sense of freedom that comes from the open road. Charlie’s presence as a protagonist comes from Steinfeld’s total immersion into the character and what results is an inspired performance. You really buy into her presence as Charlie and you feel the deep sense of loss that has gripped her soul and left her lost in the world. But that all changes when she meets a certain yellow Autobot named Bumblebee.

What grows from here is a thoroughly organic relationship that really pulls at your heart. When we first meet Bumblebee he’s broken and torn apart and desperately scared, a long way from his original heroic self. But slowly through Charlie’s help, he’s able to heal himself and in doing so he heals Charlie as well. Love is the key here and through their trials together they become ever stronger. Not to mention that there’s a helpful dose of comedy and there are plenty of moments when you’ll be laughing out loud at the hilarity that ensues up on screen. This heartfelt love at the center of the film works thanks to Steinfeld’s performance and I have no-doubt that she was the perfect choice for the role.

Providing back up in the film is John Cena as Colonel Jack Burns, a commander of the clandestine Section 7 who is present for the first contact between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Cena occupies the space between good guy and bad guy and brings a sense of unflinching  authority to the film, but you can also expect his sense of dry humour to shine through as well. Cena provides great back up as Burns and when he finally does see the writing on the wall you can be sure this action man mounts up and pulls out the big guns to ensure that the world is indeed saved.

What really moved me with Bumblebee was just how much emotion was present between Charlie and Bumblebee up on screen. This film is a love letter to the power of friendship and just how important love is to the successes in our lives. While Bumblebee might be a CGI character his emotional performance thanks to those digital wizards at Industrial Light and Magic is simply breathtaking to watch. The character’s performance here derives itself mostly from the art of mime and there’s a real Charlie Chaplin-esque presence within the character that only adds to his charm up on screen. Because of his inability to speak his actions, and the use of 1980s music form his words and this secret language only increases the bond between him and Charlie.

But while Bumblebee might be a smaller, more contained Transformers film, action fans should not worry because Knight really delivers on the spectacle here. His emphasis on the action is ‘less is more’ and it really works as you feel every jab, kick and bodyslam that Bumblebee throws at the Decepticons. Knight gives Bumblebee an acrobatic speed to him, with a dash of Capoeira thrown-in there, plus a healthy doe of WWE slamming action, as he jumps head first into the fight against the Decepticons. The pacing of the action works brilliantly because when it does hit you it really captures your attention and when Bumblebee finally does draw his sonic cannon….well get ready for the boom!

With it’s classic 1980’s nostalgia, heartfelt narrative, breathtaking action scenes and a thumping soundtrack filled with classic 80s hits, Bumblebee is a guaranteed winner this Christmas. It’s a film that will enchant the whole family and if you’re looking for that special kind of magic this year then Bumblebee is a ride you’ll want to take.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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Set after the events of Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Last Knight follows an impending battle between Earth and the alien world of Cybertron. When the alien planet is set to strike and fuse itself with our own, it’s up to intrepid inventor and Transformers ally Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), and a ragtag team of Autobots, including the Bumblebee, to save the day.

Like I said before, Transformers: The Last Knight is peak Michael Bay. Evocative music, twilight hour wide shots, rousing ‘do or die’ speeches, loads of high-tech Special Forces soldiers, big guns, fast cars, Mark Wahlberg’s abs, and a fiercely intelligent, yet highly sexualised female character appear heavily.

I went into The Last Knight expecting all of this, and Bay absolutely delivered on my expectations. And hell, sometimes you just want to see the mindless fun that occurs when you blow up an entire city, or when Optimus Prime and Bumblebee go head-to-head in full robotic combat.

But if we’re talking standouts, then Sir Anthony Hopkins and cinematographer Jonathan Sela went above and beyond.

As an audience member, I’ve never seen Hopkins so lively as cantankerous old historian Sir Edmund Burton, a special guardian of the lineage of Transformers. Plot points and characterisation aside, Hopkins appears to be having a blast as his character, who acts out for no apparent reason and comes up with an ingenious plan to save the day.

The work of cinematographer Jonathan Sela deserves to be praised in particular thanks to his extensive use of IMAX cameras. The word slick comes to mind here, as Sela creates a hyperreal environment that really shows off the speed and agility of the film’s awesome vehicular line-up, and its bombastic action scenes.

Transformers: The Last Knight is not a good movie. It’s a Michael Bay movie. So just prime your brain for mindless action and you’ll get through it.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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