Travis Knight's joyful 2018 children's fantasy by way of sci-fi adventure film, "Bumblebee," was a breath of fresh air for the live-action "Transformers" movies. It also marked a triumphant return to the Spielbergian formula of Michael Bay's original 2007 film (i.e. a human befriends the lovable puppy dog in Autobot form known as Bumblebee), minus the, well, Bay-isms that make it difficult to give that first movie a full-throated recommendation.
Sadly, nearly a decade of Bay-directed "Transformers" sequels ranging from okay-ish ("Dark of the Moon") to actively terrible (basically the rest of them) had taken its toll on audience interest by that point, resulting in "Bumblebee" becoming the lowest-grossing live-action entry in the franchise to date. As such, the movie's incoming sequel, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts," is tasked with having to further rejuvenate the property while at the same time finding a way to progress its overarching narrative without leaving those who didn't see "Bumblebee" entirely in the dust.
Fortunately, it seems director Steven Caple Jr. ("Creed II") fully understood the assignment while making the film. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Caple said there's really only one thing moviegoers need to know heading into "Rise of the Beasts":
"You don't need to know much. If anything, Bumblebee got here in 1987, along with Optimus Prime, and they've tried to seek refuge on Earth until they can get back to Cybertron. Ultimately, all you need to know is that they're trying to get back to Cybertron. If you can go into this movie just knowing that piece of information, you'll be able to track it completely."
Not Familiar With Beast Wars? No Problem!
"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" marks the first long-awaited live-action interpretation of "Beast Wars," a popular continuation of the "Transformers: Generation 1" continuity that centers on the animalistic Maximals and Predacons descended from the Autobots and Decepticons. The Maximals' leader Optimus Primal, for example, is essentially the answer to the question, "What if Optimus Prime, but gorilla?" Okay, I'm probably doing a bad job of explaining this, but I'm also not one of /Film's resident "Beast Wars" experts.
Thankfully, though, one doesn't have to be to appreciate "Rise of the Beasts." Steven Caple Jr. assured THR that extra homework isn't required for this live-action take on the "Beast Wars" mythology. Nor, for that matter, will the film mess with the Michael Bay movies, for those who were concerned that the Autobots working alongside Harriet Tubman on the Underground Railroad would no longer be canonical. No, I didn't just make that up.
In Caple's own words:
"It doesn't mess up any of the timeline in 2006, 2007. We're actually going in a direction that allows us to protect that side of the universe, but that's all you need to know. And if you're not familiar with The Beast Wars, I would say to just watch the film itself. You don't have to get caught up with the Beast Wars franchise in order to watch our movie. I feel like this is a standalone."
There you have it, folks! You can catch Anthony Ramos ("In the Heights") and Dominique Fishback ("Judas and the Black Messiah") as the human leads opposite the various CGI Transformers — including series newcomers Ron Perlman, Michelle Yeoh, and Pete Davidson, along with Peter Cullen (of course) voicing Optimus Prime — when "Rise of the Beasts" hits theaters on June 9, 2023.
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