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 films, Rise of the Beasts does have some points/missed alternatives.
Regardless of its pretty spectacular visuals and full solid, Rise of the Beasts stumbled in some key ways in which saved it from being one of many live-action collection’ easiest. Listed here are a number of the largest issues Transformers followers had with Rise of the Beasts.
Wheeljack’s Design Nonetheless Isn’t Proper In Dwell-Motion
Regardless of what number of Transformers films 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 temporary throughout 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 films 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 choices 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, however it does rob the Maximals of potential narrative ties they could 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 primary villain. Chief of the Terrorcons and a servant of Unicron, Scorge was Unicron’s herald who bought his soul to the world-consuming villain after his personal world was destroyed (very like Marvel’s Silver Surfer because the Herald of Galactus).
Whereas he’s fairly imposing, there are no 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 somewhat than a corrupted Decepticon, Rise of the Beasts arguably misplaced what may have been a extra dynamic layer of identification and continuity for the villain voiced by Peter Dinklage.
Though the change was probably 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 spinoff) enforcer somewhat than a real embodiment representing Unicron’s sinister energy and all that the large dangerous is totally able to.
The Maximals Have been Underused (And Rattrap Was Lacking Completely)
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 throughout the film. Likewise, Beast Wars’ fan-favorite Maximal named Rattrap didn’t even seem, the Maximals’ abrasive demolitions knowledgeable who may have simply helped give the workforce extra character dynamics.
The dearth 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 needed 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 aspect characters, when they need to’ve been the film’s emotional core proper alongside the Autobots.
Slicing OG Megatron Was A Disappointing Mistake
Similar to with Bumblebee, early idea artwork and toy leaks recommended 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 films had been meant to serve extra as prequels to the Michael Bay films, Megatron was seemingly lower throughout improvement when the choice was to go extra of the reboot route, conserving the concentrate on 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 subsequent film.
No T. Rex Megatron Dissatisfied Beast Wars Followers
If shedding 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 an enormous purple Tyrannosaurus.
It could have been superb to see Optimus Primal and Megatron conflict in live-action, however it wasn’t meant to be (almost definitely as a result of aforementioned lore modifications). It could have been big by way of connecting Rise of the Beasts to Beast Wars extra immediately.
Shifting Tones & Rushed Character Improvement (Particularly Optimus Prime)
One of many largest criticisms of Rise of the Beasts is its uneven tone. The film typically 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, somewhat than the Transformers themselves. That mentioned, the problem 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 dwelling and shield 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 will’ve made his evolution really feel extra earned.
The G.I. Joe Crossover Tease Nonetheless Hasn’t Paid Off
The main 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 current 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 related collection, impressed by their present Energon Universe comics (so at the very least that is one thing to look ahead to).
- 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