Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023 Film)

Transformers Rise of the Beasts is an American science fiction action film based on the Transformers franchise notably the Beast Era. It's set in the 90s and was intended as the first major installment of a new series as a follow-up to Bumblebee (2018). The film is directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber, and Jon Hoeber. It will star Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback as well the voice talents of Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, and Peter Dinklage. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was released theatrically in the United States on June 9, 2023, by Paramount Pictures. It grossed $700 million against a $200 million dollar budget, making it a moderate box office success. However, it received extremely negative reviews often considering it to be one of the worst films ever made. With criticism towards its Plot, Direction, Character Designs, Action Scenes, Screenplay and Writing. The poor reception resulted in the Transformers franchise fading into obscurity with Transformers One (2024) being the final film of the franchise.

Plot
In 1994 the Autobots are struggling to survive a devastating threat known as the Terrorcons. Ironhide, Brawn, Ratchet are among those killed by the violent Terrorcon trophy hunter Scourge. Optimus Prime discovers that the Decepticons are being hunted as well and kills a Decepticon grunt named Transit. The Terrorcons travel to Brooklyn for one of the three Transwarp Keys. Keys capable of traveling through space and time. Scourge doesn't kill an archeologist named Noah Diaz who tries to escape with the key with the help of his car which turns out to be the Autobot Mirage. The Terrorcons send the police to capture Mirage so they can steal the Transwarp Key. Bumblebee and the other Autobots ambush Scourge who uses an E.M.P blast to injure Bumblebee before stealing the Transwarp Key and leaving.

The Autobots travel to Peru looking for the second key and meet Optimus Primal a Maximal warshipped by Peruvian natives. Optimus Primal explains that the Maximals are survivors from a planet destroyed by a dimension traveling evil god named Unicron millions of years ago. He reveals he hid one of the Transwarp Keys in Peru to hide it from Scourge and the Predacons that had been trying to feed Earth to Unicron using the Transwarp keys for several million years. The Autobots decide to seek the keys to stop the Terrorcons and go back to Cybertron. The Autobots and Maximals battle against the Terrorcons in Montreal who reprogram Airazor to attack the team. They manage to free Airazor from the Terrorcons and defeat Nightbird and Battletrap.

The Terrorcons attack Machu Picchu searching for the Transwarp key hid by Optimus Primal. Scourge finds the key and takes it to a portal shrine intending to bring Unicron to Earth. The Autobots and Maximals work together to fight off the army of Terrorcons which include Battletrap and Nightbird returning. Scourge releases several hidden Predacon drones called Scorponoks taken from the Maximal's planet. A portal opens a few million miles from Earth and Unicron enters the solar system. Unicron prepares to devour Earth, but Optimus and Bumblebee attack and kill Scourge. Bumblebee blasts the Transwarp Keys and Unicron is sent back to his dimension. The Autobots and Maximals are free to rejoice among the Earth although Sector Seven starts hunting them.

In a mid-credits scene, Sector Seven helps clean up the mess in Machu Picchu and mentions a test subject in hoover dam.

Humans

 * Anthony Ramos as Noah Diaz, an ex-military electronics expert who lives with his family in Brooklyn, trying to support them.
 * Dominique Fishback as Elena Wallace, an artifact researcher at a museum whose boss keeps taking credit for her work.
 * Luna Lauren Vélez as Noah's mother.
 * Tobe Nwigwe as Reek, a companion of Noah and Elena during their global trek.

Autobots

 * Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobot resistance who transforms into a 1987 Freightliner FLA semi truck.
 * Dylan O'Brien as Bumblebee, an Autobot scout who transforms into a modified yellow and black second-generation 1970s Classic Chevrolet Camaro with all-terrain extensions.
 * Pete Davidson as Mirage, an Autobot spy who can project holograms and transforms into a silver-blue Porsche 964.
 * Liza Koshy as Arcee, a Female Autobot commando who transforms into a red-white Ducati 916motorcycle.
 * Cristo Fernández as Wheeljack, an Autobot scientist and mechanic who transforms into a brown and white 1970s Volkswagen Type 2 panel bus.
 * John DiMaggio as Stratosphere, an Autobot Air-Soldier who transforms into a cargo plane, that provides transportation for the Autobots in their global adventure.

Maximals

 * Ron Perlman as Optimus Primal, the leader of the Maximals who transforms into a gorilla.
 * Michelle Yeoh as Airazor, a Maximal who transforms into a peregrine falcon.
 * Tongayi Chirisa as Cheetor, a Maximal who transforms into a cheetah.
 * David Sobolov as, Rhinox, a Maximal who transforms into a rhinoceros.

Terrorcons

 * Peter Dinklage as Scourge, the leader of the Terrorcons and a trophy hunter, who transforms into a black Peterbilt 359 logging semi truck.
 * David Sobolov as Battletrap, a Terrorcon who transforms into an orange 1980s GMC TopKick C7000 tow truck.
 * Michaela Jaé Rodriguez as Nightbird, a Female Terrorcon who transforms into a Nissan Skyline GT-R R33.
 * Many nameless Terrorcon drones appear along with many Scorponok drones called Predacons.

Decepticons

 * John DiMaggio as Transit, a Decepticon that transforms into a School bus.

Reception
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has an approval rating of 4%, based on 250 reviews, with an average rating of 2.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts combines the worst of Michael Bay's films with the poor plot of Bumblebee. The result is a mindless inept action flick. " On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 14 out of 100, based on reviews from 45 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D+" on an A+ to F scale.

Audiences, Fans and Critics panned the plot and character designs. The designs for Optimus Prime, Mirage, Wheeljack, Stratosphere, Transit, Battletrap, Nightbird, Cheetor, Optimus Primal, Scorponok and the Terrorcon drones were criticized with the action figure line selling poorly. The film was also criticized for unnecessarily combining plot elements of too many projects that should have been separate films. The writing was heavily criticized with critics panning the connections between scenes, character stereotypes and roles in the plot. Fans criticized the film for failing to set up sequels by not including Predacon or Decepticon villains or even showing Unicron's alt mode and depicting him as dependent on the Terrorcons.

Future
In February 2022, the film was announced to be the first entry of three new installments in the Transformers series. However, following the films reception, the trilogy was cancelled and an animated film titled Transformers One was declared a reboot. Transformers One was released on July 19, 2024 but bombed at the box office and had mixed reviews. In November 2024, Paramount Pictures revealed that no further Transformers films are in development. The same year, Transformers: Earthspark was cancelled and Transformers Animated was revived. As of now, no further Transformers films or TV series are in development, with Hasbro currently planning to revive the original continuity of films, with Transformers: It's About Time, set for release in 2026, retconning Bumblebee back into being a prequel, with filming currently taking place.