Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

While this film isn't groundbreaking it gives fans of the franchise some hope of a resurgence. The film takes place in 1994 and it lends itself to that time period with the music choices and the aesthetics of New York. Anthony Ramos's character was that of a stereotypical Latino from New York. In the film he's down on his luck searching for a job to help his single mother take care of his ailing younger brother. While out trying to make money illegally he gets caught up with the transformers who are trying to retrieve an artifact.

Ramos is funny in his role and his chemistry with Pete Davidson (Mirage) works well. There was a point in the film where he took charge of the situation and it came off as a bit forced. Overall, I enjoyed his performance and what he added to this film. The direction of his character during the final battle added to the entertainment of this film.

Dominique Fishbacks's character started off interesting but by the time the film ended she was underwhelming. More could have been done with her character.

Dean Scott Vasquez was okay as he added a bit of humor but some of his scenes that were meant to be emotional weren't as touching as the film tried to make them.

The landscapes of Peru were very beautiful to see and it was nice seeing the action taken away from the city. The character designs were nice but some of the characters were underutilized (Cheetah, Rhino...). The beasts were shown here and there but it felt like a very surface level introduction. The villain had a clear-cut motive which helped carry the story.

In all this film was a decent introduction to these new characters with room for improvement. I look forward to the next film and hope they can capitalize on what they started in this film.