This is obviously just a cash cow, made for no reason other than to fill the pockets of the Hollywood producers, knowing that the masses will go watch ANOTHER Transformer movie in the summertime anyways...no matter how bad the reviews may be...

The bad: this edition is without any famous actor and that hurts the movie, big time. The 2 (unknown) leading actors for sure arent terrible, but they sure as heck arent able to carry this movie by themselves either. Bummer.

More bad: what about the thrill and spectactle? This movie is severely lacking in real thrill and spark! I mean after 30 minutes I already got bored watching this movie. And getting bored is the last thing I desire when watching an action movie for petes sake!

Not any good then? It'll do for the masses, but be sure to bring along a lot of popcorn though, because any junkfood you will eat, will guaranteed give you more satisfaction than watching this mediocre franchise edition.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) is a movie my wife and I saw in theaters last night. The storyline follows a planet eater out for a stone that will allow him to travel throughout space and time to find planets to consume. The ancient animal transformers protect the stone and have traveled to Earth to hide themselves and the stone. When autobots that support the planet eater arrive on Earth to find the stone the transformers and animal transformers will need to work together to protect the stone.

This movie is directed by Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) and stars Anthony Ramos (In the Heights), Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah), Dean Scott Vazquez (In the Heights), Tobe Nwigwe (Mo) and Michael Kelly (Dawn of the Dead).

This storyline was really compelling and interesting. It was tremendous watching the animal and car transformer worlds combine. The CGI and special effects were outstanding and every action scene is a 10/10. I really adored every fight. However, we didn't need the humans in this at all, and the action, dialogue and plot points involving Ramos and Fishback were painful. They are good actors whose performances weren't good here and felt out of place. It's time to move on from the humans needing to be the heroes in these storylines...because the Transformers, both good guys and bad guys, were awesome.

Overall, this is a worthwhile addition to the Transformers series that I would strongly recommend. I would score this a 6/10.

After being disappointed with Age of Extinction, loathing The Last Knight, and being one of the few that disliked Bumblebee, I went into this movie expecting it to be terrible. But I am ecstatic after watching the best Transformers movie since Dark of the Moon.

I found myself smiling for most of the runtime. For the first time in years, I kept thinking "Transformers are so damn cool." There are so many beautiful shots with these CGI creations, so many moments to screenshot and frame. The action is miles better than the last three entries.

They fixed so many of the issues that plagued the last three movies. There are actual characters with motivations we understand, conflicts where we can see both sides of the argument. Even the Transformer characters are significantly more fleshed out. I felt for them.

There is an actual story instead of nonsense to move the plot forward. You don't even have to turn your brain off to enjoy it. And the comedy actually works! I laughed more times than the previous three movies combined.

This experience made me so happy, and I look forward to any future projects if this is the direction they're taking. It's a perfect example of how, if you do it right and create with care and passion, the result will be endlessly better.

EDIT: I loved it even more the second time. Multiple action sequences give me goosebumps, similar to how I feel when watching the Dark of the Moon highway scene and the Optimus rage scene at the end. And I can't believe I didn't mention it originally, but the musical score is AMAZING. It elevates every scene and gives me the feels.

(3 viewings, early fan screening UltraScreen 6/7/2023, UltraScreen 6/14/2023, SuperScreen 7/3/2023)