Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - Movie Review

Peter Cullen currently 81 years old and still voicing his character after all these years. What a legend!

No matter how negative the world can be, Optimus Prime is always the voice of optimism

I really loved the last act, it was incredibly fun and had Transformers doing Transformers things and it still followed the main cast. I didn't have any problems with it.

I really liked the military aspect in the original three transformers movies. Specifically the first one. I don’t think we need human characters but I also think if they do it well it can add to the movie

This movie didn't just subvert Jeremy's expectations... it transformed them.

I still think that 5 to 10 minute opening from bumblebee is the greatest piece of transformers Cinema we've ever gotten

Still surprising to me that transformers is still going with lead human characters changing over and over.

It's disappointing that Rhinox, one of my old favourites, doesn't get much dialogue in this. But hey, as long as they didn't turn him into a baddie then at least the movie's doing better with him than Beast Machines did 😅

I partly understand Prime's hostile to humans, he sent Bee to establish a base and protect the planet along with its inhabitants. Since he is a scout, there is a high chance he told Optimus or in this case showed his recording that humans even if there are good ones, there are some that humans can be easily manipulated to work with the Decepticons, especially if those humans have position in the government... He also saw that Bee was captured, tortured and killed by the Decepticons that worked with humans and this made Prime angry, and ordered all the autobots to stay hidden until further notice.

I actually really liked the movie. Was very nostalgic for the mid 90s. Great action scenes. Good comedy. Felt like they talked a little too much in the middle of fighting, but I really liked the movie.

I just watched it and I really enjoyed it. A little cheesy at some parts. But for the most part it felt like I was engaged throughout the movie. There were parts that had some great payoffs. Even the far fetched-ness and predictable elements of the actual story progression were done with enough taste to make the story fresh and fun still.

Saw Rise Of The Beasts yesterday at the 9:20pm showing and it was amazing! The ending scene was insane to say the least. Unicron was very threatening in this movie(As he should be), hope we can see more of him in the future. The human characters were likeable just like the human characters in Bumblebee(2018). The audience in the theater was going crazy for the badass scenes and especially the ending to. I'd honestly love to see a Dinobots film in the future.

I'm happy with the fact that Peter Cullen is still voicing optimus prime.

I feared due to the amount of transformers in the movie, that the maximals wouldn’t have too much character development which I feel is needed now in these movies. And hearing rhinox hasn’t been written as a buff tech guy makes me say “meh” still can’t wait to see it of course but man the maximals have so much more to bring to the table story wise and character wise

I would love to see these movies eventually touch on the Beast Machines era/concepts. I think the world is ready.

This was actually one of the best Transformers Movies I seen in a while nice action a decent story line and a very nice sound track also 👍🏿

I really want the robot only movie one day. I hope they make a movie about the wars back story and they don’t try to cram it into one movie but at least two so we can get some real character time.
Also really want them to change up the plot to being a location based objective or a milestone objective. Like defending the capitol. Just something different that doesn’t involve an object as the goal. Like I’m cool with them getting cool objects but it shouldn’t be what the plot rest on. I want Megatron to actually have a character so bad. With actual ideology and a relationship with Optimus that isn’t just we must kill each other. Lol

Great vid, Jeremy. I wish we could've gotten more of the Maximals' journey when they landed on Earth and how they interacted with the natives in Peru through all the years of hiding. Overall, it was still an enjoyable movie.

The thing that made Bumblebee work was the relatively small scale of the story. As much as I am looking forward to this one, I hope we get maybe a spin off or two where they focus more on those standalone stories. It also gives audiences someone to root for when the big team ups happen.

This movie was great!! My screening crew were all into it and my mom had an entire section of the crew going with the blurt outs and cheering lol. Lots of action, humor, character development, and the mid-credits scene?.......I'm excited for the future!!

THANK YOU for stating the obvious thing that these studios seem to always forget: the classic show didn’t need to focus on the human element so much to make us “relate.” A human element is fine, but they don’t need to be the focal point. We see the movie and care about it because of the Transformers characters…. Not the humans.

I felt like the movie gave the transformers actual personality that the Michael Bay movies lacked. Transformers is a massive childhood staple for me so I loved every minute of it. My only complaint was the big reveal they put in the very end of the movie. Kind of dumb to me, but I guess we’ll see where this goes.

Just saw it yesterday with my son and we loved it! I don't nitpick movies because I thought it was obvious its FICTION and go with the flow. Favorite scene was when Bumblebee respawned with the soundtrack and jumping off the plane and just shooting up the place 😁

Just watched it last night. I really loved it. I loved the fact that they brought BEAST WARS in the big screen. So many childhood memories

I actually really like Shia LeBeouf as Sam Witwicky in Transformers 1. I thought it worked really well there. Wasn’t nearly as good in 2 and especially not in 3… but the hottie who was actually a ROBOT IN DISGUISE really gave that line a new meaning lmao.
And I LOVE the line about, “Looking back on your life, don’t you want to say you had the courage to get in the car?”

This movie was so much Fun!!! I watched it in IMAX and it was beyond Epic!!! For 80s and 90s kids, there's a lot of nostalgia in this film. And it was great. Even the human Characters aren't beyond Annoying. And with that Easter egg at the end of the film blew my mind with possibilities of where the franchise can go💯💯 this film made me fall back In love with the franchise. It's a lot of Action filled Fun!!!

Fair review. The first half I thought was very solid, with only a few lines that struck me as lacking. But the second half is where it was “fine enough”. I did enjoy the movie, and everything here is still so much better than the Michael bay movies, in my opinion. Yes, I want more from the Maximals but hopefully they show up for future movies as well. Great acting and voice acting. And I certainly appreciate the new art style with this and the bumblebee movie. FANTASTIC SOUNDTRACK.

It’s always good to go into these movies with the knowledge that they’re not gonna be cinematic masterpieces, it lets you just enjoy the giant robots doing giant robot things. Guess you could say that when it comes to seeing transformers films, that Knowledge is half the battle.

Really good film, as a Transformers fan since the age of 6 (I'm an adult now), I'm really happy! Got out of the screening earlier today with a big old smile on my face :)

This was honestly a pretty solid movie, pleasantly surprised tbh. The human characters weren't all that thrilling but they are better than Shia and Marky Mark. Maybe we will get some really good movies going forward.

I have never been so relieved that a movie isnt bad. At this rate im not worrying if its gonna be great, i just dont want it to be bad

As a 90s kid and love transformers I enjoyed this one I was having a great time with my friends watching this ❤

This was a very entertaining movie, I’ll let you guys know up front that I know absolutely nothing about the Transformers franchise, I’ve seen all the live action movies but anything beyond that having to do with the characters/lore I have zero knowledge of, and thus far I’ve disliked all of the Michael Bay movies but found Bumblebee very enjoyable, and so I didn’t really know what to expect out of this one, and it was very fun, first off it’s great to see Optimus Prime again, he’s once again a very cool character and this time he’s a little different than he’s been in the other movies because he has this dislike for humans which I thought was an interesting take on his character, the action is really good, much like with Bumblebee it’s a very big upgrade from the terrible action of the Michael Bay movies, and the Maximals were badass, in particular Optimus Primal, whenever they were onscreen it was awesome, where the movie kinda falters is for one the human characters, I enjoyed Hailee Steinfeld’s character in Bumblebee but here the characters are pretty bland, granted the main guy I thought *had potential* to be an interesting character with the backstory he was given, he has a sick little brother that he’s trying to provide for but unfortunately they just didn’t do enough with that story thread, and the main female character felt like she was literally just there to spout exposition, that’s like all she does throughout the entire movie, also the movie carries over a problem that I also had with Bumblebee, which is that I feel like ever since they moved away from the Michael Bay movies the effects have gotten worse, in Bumblebee the Transformers looked surprisingly fake compared to how they did before, in this movie the effects are *a little* better but still don’t look that real if you ask me, also another thing they changed that I don’t like is the size of them, in this movie and Bumblebee the Transformers look a lot smaller than I feel like they should be, in these movies they look like they’re only about 15 feet tall which to me doesn’t feel right, I much prefer the giant, titan sized Transformers that the Michael Bay movies had, to me that felt a lot more appropriate, and lastly there’s a ending scene that I’m kinda split on, depending on if they’re serious about it or not gives me 2 different responses, if they’re actually being serious about it then I think it’s a monumental mistake, all I can say at that point is “Dear god, what the hell are you guys thinking?” But on the other hand if it’s a just a joke and it’s not actually tying into anything then I’ll be like “Hehe, alright that’s pretty funny” All in all I had fun with this movie, as of now I would say it’s my second favorite Transformers movie, I didn’t like it as much as Bumblebee but I liked it better than all the Michael Bay movies, the action is a lot of fun, it moves at a smooth brisk pace and while nothing great was a very enjoyable time. 7/10

One of my problems with this is I wish the terrorcons were more consistent throughout and how they pick and choose if characters can actually hurt each other or not

I went into the movie with low expectations but ended up enjoying it more than I would.

It makes me so happy to hear that this movie doesn’t suck. This is a step in the right direction for something greater

Great movie as a transformers movie. Typical humans get sucked into a dangerous mission and join with autobots to try and save the planet against deceptions. As for character development, emotions to their involvement and the culture this movie brought out being set in the 90s it was great. Action sequences were also very fun and entertaining, movie was as good or can be in the same category as Bumblebee and Transformers 1

Absolutely loved it especially the little human centric twist at the end... no spoilers here... it seems like more of a soft reboot so hopefully rethinking all the Bay movies.

Why is no one talking about the insane scenery and background? It was IMPRESSIVE! I had no idea it was shot in Peru, but OMG it left me speechless

Beautiful review. Literally spot on to how I felt. The movie isn’t about the transformers, it revolves around the human characters. Irritating but still it was alright 👍🏽

I didn't know what to expect from this one. It wase entertaining but what I like is that they kept it close to the 1986 cartoon movie. Spike, I mean Noah, got his Transformer gear, was awesome to see. But I was waiting for Hot Rod, I mean Mirage, to become some form of RODIMUS-PRIME. Anyone noticed the music when Unicron first appeared in the movie was almost similar to the cartoon movie.

Glad to hear the transformers are back but they’re actually GOOD. Hopefully the movie becomes a success so we can see more this new direction for Transformers.

The fight over "energon", essentially oil compressed into an energy matrix, was a great mcguffin.
One that could continue from film to film, and would always make logical sense.

I agree with everything itvwas a good movie. First movie ive seen that i absolutely LOVED THE SOUNDTRACK. During the very last battle when BumbleBee returns with 'Momma said knock you out ' the movie theater absolutely exploded at that moment. Great movie, plus them merging with the Gi Joe universe had my mouth watering while wondering. Where are they going from here?

I like you pointed out that live action movies are always based on finding a thing. But the animated movie abd series are not. Which goes to show the difference between the modern blockbusters as MCU as well and actual script writing

There is an arch in the comics about how one of the Autobots was stuck with a decepticon and they end up talking and realize theyre fighting just because of a symbol on their chest. Very relatable to life.

Just watched it. Loved it and a better movie than the ones that came before. It had heart like Bumblebee but bigger stakes and bigger fights like what we loved from before but with heart! Thank you to the team. I hope we are getting more from these team and keep going on what made this movie Rise of the Beast great and better than the Bay films.

Hope it does well enough for a sequel. Then maybe we get rattrap, T. rex Megatron and Dinobot!

So I saw an advanced screening of this last night. It was fun. I won't spoil anything. I'll let you decide if it's good or bad. Similar to Bumblebee it is a positive entry into the TF franchise. There is the nerd bomb drop at the end that I will be curious to see if they can nail it in the future. The biggest fail for me is not having Gary Chalk back as Primal to work with Cullen as Prime.

I just got back from seeing it and can confidently say this is the best film in the franchise!! As good if not BETTER than bumblebee didn’t think I would say that but it is imo… my favorite bay film was dotm and the 07 film and this completely knocks it out of the park…. Great job Steven caple jr im very impressed!!! Solid 9.7/10 I honestly don’t understand the critic scores rn made my dad tear up bc he is a big g1 fan and the bay films lost him… but he said this felt like a true transformers movie and it took everything good from bumblebee and the bay franchise and IMPROVED UPON IT genuinely impressed with this movie the story was FANTASTIC!!!! Only slight criticism I have is the pacing towards the second half… but is easily forgotten due to the 3rd act. EVERY SINGLE JOKE landed even prime made a joke at some point haha overal the best movie so far!!!! I have a strong feeeling the audience score will be a definite 80% or higher… I know that is saying a lot but guys you have to trust me on this one when I say this f

I agree with you about the movie spelling out everything they’re doing. On the other hand, it makes the plot easy to follow. I think this is a good movie for kids who like the transformers cartoons and toys. The 1994 NYC setting was really cool with lots of little nods to the period, like OJ Simpson on the security guard’s TV was pretty funny.

Thx Jeremy for the simple and honest review. You are pretty much spot on with all the highs and lows of the movie.
For once I'd love to see a Transformers movie without any sort of a "mcguffin" thingy.
How about, since we are kinda on a roll with Bumblebee and ROTB being "not so bad", and much better than the trash we got from the MB series (besides the 1st original) maybe we should explore a little deeper into some of the characters before doing any massive big budget build or break the franchise ideas. Don't want to be cramping a ton of info into a 2hr show. Bait the fans with character development with what you have already introduced.

The finale clash reminded me soooo much of the Endgame fight between the avengers and thanos’ army, lol
That said, I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. I’d call it one of the better ones alongside Bumblebee and the first movie. Mirage and Noah’s friendship is a highlight though.

Glad to know that it is a fun movie, sure it aint no Spiderverse or GOTG but as a long time Transformers fan, this is already another huge step in the right direction. Gotta thank Bumblebee for it.

Personally this movie should have been made to succeed a movie centered on the Maximal and Predacon war. This would have allowed for proper character introduction and development prior to encountering Optimus Prime and the Autobots. As a Beast wars fan I was sad they didn’t include a huge amount of necessary characters and in reality made the maximals an afterthought in the movie rather than the actual focus.

I saw Rise of the Beasts just last Sunday. It clearly wasn't a The Last Knight (thank God), it's just pure fun from start to finish. I am excited for whatever Hasbro has cooked up for this soft rebooted timeline that started with Bumblebee

This movie was so much fun! I'm so glad I gave it a chance

One of the two movies I've been looking forward to. Good to know its not garbage.

This movie was sooo damn good.

God damn. We’re in an era now where transformers movies are becoming good again. I’m shook. And delighted.

I’m looking forward to hearing your opinion of The Flash.
The trainer for this Transformer’s movie looked fun.

Rise of the Beasts is an easy 8 out of 10. The best of all the live action Transformers movies. The 1986 movie still holds top place for an animation movie. They finally figured out that the humans are co-stars within a robot battle movie/show, and not the other way around. Fans who understand Transformers, how this plot was written, and what was revealed at the end of the movie, can now see a future potential for the franchise.

Just Watched the movie and as a transformer fan Who does not care if the cgi is crispy, or the movie was not long enough, or too short I really enjoy the movie, i felt like a lil kid rooting for the good guys, I hope there's a follow up a part 2.

Just seen the movie today and enjoyed it. I still don’t understand why humans are in these movies but they made it work. Best movie since the first one for sure.

I like how they make Optimus prime more vulnerable in this movie rather than him just ripping right through everyone easily

The movie was very decent not too bad or worst...alot of action sequences and they did such a good job
Im looking forward to see what they're gotta do comes next

This movie felt like a better, more competently directed version of the previous Transformers movies. It has the same story beats as before, it's still fundamentally a journey to find a lost alien MacGuffin artifact. Although this time around it doesn't have annoying humans and the characters overall feel more developed. I still think Bumblebee is better, but this one's definitely a step in the right direction and I'm excited for the future especially with that 10/10 hype ending. They completely massacred Wheeljack's design though...

Speaking of soundtracks, the Spiderverse movies have both had awesome soundtracks.
And speaking of a soundtrack album placing you in time in history, try The Great Gatsby.

1:06 it's my theory that these movies focus so much on "the human element" because the cost per minute to shoot a scene with people is quite less than the cost per minute to CGI a scene with huge robots. I'm sure the studio rides the accounting line of how much to spend on CG vs actors.

this might be the best TF so far. I hope we get more Maximals in a future project. 3rd act had some cheesy moments but it was great. we have to remember that grown ups are not the target audience.

Thanks Jeremy for reviewing this!! I do love Transformers, but lately its been quite difficult to watch those live-action movies. I was really hoping that this movie does not suck badly.

Standalone Beast Wars film would be awesome! They have to go back in time like the show did. Space battles, crashing, finding their beast forms and the race to find escape pods for extra troops. T-Rex Megatron with the "yessssss" catch phrase. I'm sold. Let's do this!

Transformers. The reason why Jeremy started his channel back in 2009.

It's was good. But I slightly did miss the savage prime quotes and his fighting style. We did get to see him fight like in the previous movies. I wish they had brought it in a little sooner

The best transformers in tne last few years has been the new trilogy series on netflix. No humans, cybertron galore, dark and serious. Loved it!

Some of my best childhood memories are when we rented Transformers: The Movie VHS from the library. Glad to see this one doesn't suck, but it's still not... there lol.

Big props to the transformers franchise for being able to make a transformers movie after we’ve gotten 7 movies over the span of 15 years. That somehow is fresh and feels like we are watching the first live action transformers movie to be made? Biggest gripe with this movie though is if you are going to absolutely stack the voice actors but still make this a human based movie, their was 2 lead human characters. The dude was alright, the girl was absolutely cringe. Just round up and give us some big name actors we can invest in.

I enjoyed Bumblebee quite a bit, so I'm looking forward to it.

Say what you want about the bay transformers but they had shia, he just drew you into the movie he definitely carried that franchise not to mention “fate rarely calls upon us at the moment of our choosing” how on earth is that amazing line in a transformers movie I have no idea

Happy to hear the movie has a positive review. Thank you J for your service 🫡

I liked it, looking forward to what they do next.

It's a fun movie. My theater had a blast. The final arc felt kinda end game-ish. We reviewed it over on our page

I like the fact they showed WHY we should hate Scourge, they made the trio a full on bad ass and it made you hate them instantly.

I love how Jeremy is a fan of Beast Wars.

I loved it ! The ending really got me

This is the first Transformers I’ve considered watching since Shia left the series. Still debating it but it looks way better than the last few they’ve released. In my opinion Shia Labouf leaving is still the nail in the coffin for the series in the long term but who knows.

I liked this movie it was fun and seeing the maximals in live action just was the cherry on top

I think Transformers 2 was Jeremy's first review, it's what I know him for. To think that he's still the 'movie review guy' still blows my mind!

I just saw it, I thought it was very good, they introduced the Maximals, I particularly like the ending.

I've always thought since back in the early 80's that if they had Spike and his dad in a live action movie, C. Thomas Howell would have been perfect for Spike and Craig T Nelson as his dad.

I do like the that film gave Optimus Prime time to shine in the spotlight and not be for the 5th time. Really refreshing.

Really enjoyed it- personally the best live action Transformers movie behind 2007 original and 2018 Bumblebee

This movie was a blast! From beginning to end it was fast pace, funny and great action. it totally blew my mind. I ended up crying of joy i swear and not ashamed to admit it. 10/10 highly recommended watch it as soon as you can 🤯

To me, Bumblebee rebooted the franchise and this movie was the follow up. It was flawless. The soundtrack was PERFECT. The only things I’d like now is to bring back Jazz and more pivotal characters WheelJack, Starscream, Ironhide, Hotrod, Red Alert, Ratchet, Cyclonus, and Soundwave, Jetfire,

Lowkey heartwarming to hear Jeremy liking Transformers movies now 😂

Am I the only one who gets excited when you successfully guess Jeremy's rating before he reveals it?

I like that you're not overly negative or positive. You state what's good and what's bad. Critics rating the movie on Rotten Tomatoes aren't doing that. Either they say it's the worst movie in the franchise or it revived the franchise. A lot of them probably don't even know Transformers like us fans.

Mirage was a stand out. Loved his charactor

How come I haven't even heard of this movie until I was browsing Google Play? If they focused more on the Maximals being the main characters, and included all of them including Rattrap and Dinobot, they could have marketed it way better, and gave each Maximal their own trailer. The Tranformers could still be there, but more of a supporting cast, or cameo'd like Optimus Prime was in Bumblebee. The voice for Cheetor is also different. He should have had a voice similar to Bumblebee.

Imagine if the decepticons were in it it didn’t feel like a transformers movie but I liked it it was good I wished it was a bit longer in a way