Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is the next installment in the Transformers saga. This time it is a sequel to Bumblebee, which was a reboot & a spin off from the so-called Bayverse. Steven Caple Jr. is in charge of directing this time around. The storyline will be a loose adaptation of the well-known Beast Wars story. As expected, the film will show us a battle between good and evil. In this case, a battle between Maximals, Autobots, Predacons, and Terrorcons.
But what exactly will this film be about? Will the story somehow connect to Bayverse? Who is who and what is their plan? Let’s dive in and find out exactly what to expect from Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
[Warning: Spoilers from the Transformers films series are below!]
Who are Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons?
Technically speaking, Maximals are descendants of Autobots and are dedicated to protecting peace and other Maximals/Autobots. They are known to transform into mammals such as rhinos, birds, gorillas, cheetahs, etc. The most interesting thing is that they have the ability to transform into animals using some kind of artificial skin. Therefore, they can easily hide from the keen eye and confuse the enemy. And we’ll certainly get at least a small exploration of what they can do, and why.
The leader of the Maximals is Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman), who is a stoic and wise hero. In the animations, he is described as “probably the greatest Cybertronian hero who ever lived.” He saved Optimus Prime’s (Peter Cullen) life and helped the war in a great way. Other Maximals to be featured in the film include Airazor (Michelle Yeoh), Rhinox (David Sobolov), Cheetor (Tongayi Chirisa), and others.
As for the Predacons, they are the same as the Maximals, but they are evil and are descendants of the Decepticons. The form they take is similar to reptiles, amphibians and other forms of invertebrate animals. In Rise of the Beasts, they will turn into dinosaurs, scorpions and similar dangerous animals. We’ll see Predacons such as Scourge (Peter Dinklage), but he could be classified as a Terrorcon, just for the sake of the story.
The big bad will be the Terrorcons, who are considered a sub-faction of the Decepticons, but like robotic zombies. Terrorcons are created using Dark Energon after they die. Their main goal is to bring Unicron to Earth. This is a really big thing and Transformers fans will be excited to see where this is going.
The plot of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
The story of Rise of the Beasts will be set in 1994. It will be a conflict between Autobots + Maximals and Terrorcons + Predacons. The first trailer showed us that Optimus Primal and Optimus Prime are two different characters who don’t trust each other. Well, it’s better to say that Prime doesn’t trust Primal because he doesn’t know about the coming darkness. And that darkness is the threat known as Terrorcons.
The human protagonists are Noah (Anthony Ramos) and Elena (Dominique Fishback). Them meeting Mirage (Pete Davidson), Arcee (Liza Koshy) and other Autobots looks like a big coincidence, and not something that was intended to happen. We also know that this film will focus more on Transformers than people. Which in my opinion is the best possible option. They were there simply, by accident, nothing more.
Of course, there will be some background to their story telling why they do what they do and they will have some role to play. The relationship between bots and humans will be a big part of the film, but more in a psychological and behavioral way rather the one where they’re fighting. Especially when it comes to this one particular bot.
However, we don’t need to see another human drama with Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and his friends. Only because his grandfather found Megatron (Hugo Weaving). After all, this movie is called Transformers and we want to see their adventures.
If you like action scenes in Transformers series, you will be pleased, because there will be plenty of them. Starting with some battle between Scourge, Bumblebee and Optimus, ending with a big full of epic action sequences battle. A battle that will pit the Autobots along with the Maximals against the Terrorcons and Predacons. It looks like it’s going to be a long action sequence full of Easter eggs straight out of the G1 and Beast Wars series. And it’s what every Transformers fan needs to see.
If I had to say what I would like to see the most, it would be the relationship between the Autobots and Maximals, properly explored and developed throughout the film. It doesn’t have to be a contest about who has the bigger ego. I just need an interesting story that shows us two factions with two strong leaders who want to defeat an evil army. An army that will not hesitate to achieve its goal and destroy the Earth in the process.
The main plot sounds like a lot of fun, which is expected to provide fans with at least 2 hours of wonderful pleasure, great action sequences and epic transformations. And when it comes to simple action and destruction in action projects, Transformers is certainly the perfect opportunity for that.
Visual effects and music of Rise of the Beasts
If you remember Michael Bay’s Transformers films, you know that the Autobots/Decepticons designs and effects used to create them were impeccable. Every time we got to see transformations or action scenes, the bots looked amazingly real. And that may be the best thing about Bay’s saga.
Another element I’d like to see or more to the point hear is another iconic Transformers soundtrack. In the Bayverse, Steve Jablonsky was responsible for creating the soundtracks for these films, and they were always really catchy and epic in every possible way. The person responsible for creating the soundtrack for Rise of the Beasts is Jongnic Bontemps. Hopefully, he’s done as well as Jablonsky in the Transformers saga and Dario Marianelli in Bumblebee.
The new trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
The official budget for this film without marketing and additional shooting is $200 million. This seems optimal, especially for a movie in the Transformers series. Certainly, some of the scenes we saw in the trailers we’ve seen so far, will be improved in the final film, but to me, they already look really good.
This film will surely be one of the most important in the entire Transformers saga, as it is a sequel to the first reboot. The events in this film are unrelated to those in the Bayverse. Making 70-80% of the storyline focused on bots and 20-30% focused on humans is definitely the way to go in my opinion. There should also be a lot of funny scenes that are sure to add some humor.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will premiere on June 9, 2023. Are you hyped about it? Did you like previous Transformers films? Let us know on our Twitter and The Cosmic Circus Discord channel.
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