2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts promised to breathe new life into the franchise, mixing the grounded and extra heartfelt tone of Bumblebee with the motion and spectacle of Michael Bay’s movies. Whereas it is without doubt one of the higher live-action Transformers motion pictures, Rise of the Beasts does have some points/missed alternatives.
Regardless of its pretty spectacular visuals and full forged, Rise of the Beasts stumbled in some key ways in which stored it from being one of many live-action collection’ best possible. Listed below are among the greatest issues Transformers followers had with Rise of the Beasts.
Wheeljack’s Design Nonetheless Isn’t Proper In Stay-Motion
Irrespective of what number of Transformers motion pictures are made, Hollywood simply can’t appear to get Wheeljack proper past a fast cameo. Most followers had been thrilled to listen to that the Autobot inventor was coming again. Nonetheless, the Rise of the Beasts model appeared virtually unrecognizable, buying and selling his iconic head fins for a boxy van design, weird suspenders, and a pair of glasses.
It’s very a lot a step down from the sleeker, G1-inspired look Wheeljack had in Bumblebee, although his look was extremely transient through the film’s Cybertron sequences.
Contemplating how devoted the designs for different Autobots like Optimus Prime and Arcee had been this time round, the extra drastic redesign for Wheeljack in Rise of the Beasts felt fairly pointless, particularly for one of many franchise’s smartest and coolest G1 Autobots. Hopefully, future Transformers motion pictures will lastly give Wheeljack a correct design.
The Maximals Ought to’ve Been From The Future, Not One other Dimension
One of many extra complicated selections in Rise of the Beasts was the modifications to the Maximals’ origins. Within the basic animated Beast Wars continuity, the Maximals come from Cybertron’s far future as descendants of the present-day Autobots who then time-travel to prehistoric Earth.
Nonetheless, Rise of the Beasts’ Maximals are offered merely as Cybertronians from one other dimension and a world destroyed by Unicron. As such, this new lore disconnects them from the first Cybertronian historical past followers know and love, making their inclusion really feel extra random past being victims of Unicron.
It’s not a dealbreaker per se, nevertheless it does rob the Maximals of potential narrative ties they may have needed to the present-day Autobots and their legacy.
Scourge’s Modified Origin Undercuts His G1 Legacy
In Rise of the Beasts, Scourge serves because the film’s essential villain. Chief of the Terrorcons and a servant of Unicron, Scorge was Unicron’s herald who offered his soul to the world-consuming villain after his personal world was destroyed (very similar to Marvel’s Silver Surfer because the Herald of Galactus).
Whereas he’s fairly imposing, there are not any references or ties to his authentic backstory. Within the G1 continuity, Scourge was created from the corpse of the Decepticon Thundercracker after Unicron reformatted him. By turning Scourge right into a standalone character fairly than a corrupted Decepticon, Rise of the Beasts arguably misplaced what may have been a extra dynamic layer of id and continuity for the villain voiced by Peter Dinklage.
Though the change was doubtless attributable to Rise of the Beasts’ standing as a smooth reboot of the Transformers franchise, it nonetheless makes Scourge really feel extra like a generic (and by-product) enforcer fairly than a real embodiment representing Unicron’s sinister energy and all that the large unhealthy is absolutely able to.
The Maximals Had been Underused (And Rattrap Was Lacking Totally)
For a film that marketed itself across the arrival of the Maximals as a brand-new faction of live-action Transformers, it’s stunning how little dynamic display screen time they really acquired.
Optimus Primal, Airazor, and Cheetor had their moments, however Rhinox was virtually silent at some point of the film. Likewise, Beast Wars’ fan-favorite Maximal named Rattrap didn’t even seem, the Maximals’ abrasive demolitions professional who may have simply helped give the staff extra character dynamics.
The shortage of Maximal character was very a lot a missed alternative, particularly given how a lot Beast Wars thrived on mentioned character dynamics. Audiences little question wished to see these animal Transformers work together and conflict with their Autobot counterparts. As a substitute, they had been handled for probably the most half like facet characters, when they need to’ve been the film’s emotional core proper alongside the Autobots.
Slicing OG Megatron Was A Disappointing Mistake
Identical to with Bumblebee, early idea artwork and toy leaks urged that Rise of the Beasts would have initially featured Megatron in some capability, the Decepticon chief himself with an all-new G1-inspired design.
Whereas it appears the unique plan was to introduce him trapped and frozen when each motion pictures had been meant to serve extra as prequels to the Michael Bay motion pictures, Megatron was seemingly lower throughout growth when the choice was to go extra of the reboot route, maintaining the deal with Unicron and the Terrorcons for Rise of the Beasts.
Though the choice did assist streamline the story, it additionally robbed the movie of what may have been some main setup for the long run. A tease of Megatron’s survival would’ve immediately excited followers and constructed momentum for the following film.
No T. Rex Megatron Upset Beast Wars Followers
If dropping G1 Megatron wasn’t sufficient, Beast Wars followers needed to cope with one other heartbreak: the absence of T. Rex Megatron, the enduring descendant of the Decepticon chief from the long run who remodeled into a large purple Tyrannosaurus.
It could have been superb to see Optimus Primal and Megatron conflict in live-action, nevertheless it wasn’t meant to be (most definitely as a result of aforementioned lore modifications). It could have been enormous when it comes to connecting Rise of the Beasts to Beast Wars extra instantly.
Shifting Tones & Rushed Character Growth (Particularly Optimus Prime)
One of many greatest criticisms of Rise of the Beasts is its uneven tone. The film usually switches between heartfelt character moments and chaotic motion with out sufficient emotional build-up to again it up. The pacing rushes from plot level to plot level, leaving little time for quieter moments that might’ve made the story hit tougher.
There’s additionally the continuing tendency to prioritize the film’s few heartfelt moments for the human actors, fairly than the Transformers themselves. That mentioned, the difficulty of shifting tones is most obvious with Optimus Prime, who begins the movie as oddly chilly however ends it with a sudden ethical awakening to name Earth residence and defend humanity.
Whereas Peter Cullen delivers as all the time because the voice of Optimus, Prime’s arc feels considerably undercooked. To that time, it is since been confirmed that there have been lacking scenes within the first act that may’ve made his evolution really feel extra earned.
The G.I. Joe Crossover Tease Nonetheless Hasn’t Paid Off
The most important shock G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover tease on the finish of Rise of the Beasts ought to’ve been a slam dunk with a direct announcement of a film set to hit theaters within the subsequent couple of years, teeing up an thrilling Hasbro shared universe with Transformers, Joes, and even perhaps extra properties.
As of 2025, there’s been zero follow-up. No official bulletins, no casting, and no manufacturing updates past actor Anthony Ramos casting some latest doubt on the Transformers/Joes crossover attributable to Paramount’s ongoing merger with Skydance.
For such a daring ending, the radio silence has been irritating for followers who anticipated Rise of the Beasts to kickstart one thing greater. That being mentioned, it was not too long ago introduced that Robert Kirkman’s Skybound is growing an animated Transformers/G.I. Joe linked collection, impressed by their present Energon Universe comics (so a minimum of that is one thing to sit up for).
- Launch Date
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June 9, 2023
- Runtime
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127 minutes
- Director
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Steven Caple Jr.
- Writers
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Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber, Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters
- Producers
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Brian Oliver, Don Murphy, Duncan Henderson, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, Tom DeSanto, Bradley J. Fischer, Brian Goldner, Dana Goldberg, David Ellison, Don Granger, Mark Vahradian
