2023: Allspark Staff Wrap-up Roundtable

REACTION TO “TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS”

alArts – Mexicano Mundano
Rise of the Beasts is the most safest Transformers film made possible by Paramount/Hasbro. A film that, while fine on paper, lacks a sense of enthusiasm and risk to do anything bold with the visuals, characters and story. It’s going through the motions of a blockbuster film without anything new added other than some of the robots transform into animals. If you’re a G1 or Beast Wars fan, this a background noise movie as you work on your taxes or play with your transformers.

MadameVixen (Sarah)
Pretty fun film. Nice popcorn flick to enjoy and watch in the top 4 transformers films for me. I’m counting Darkness rising as a film since it was technically billed as one at one point.

GodSentinelOmega
On the whole, I enjoyed the film while watching it in the cinema. The more I think on it, though I’ll still enjoy it, the more it comes across as both too by-the-numbers and too complicated. By that I mean, the plot is straightforward, yet muddles details about the Maximals, Unicron etc. it is a lot of fun, but Paramount/Hasbro seem like they were trying to fit a sequel to Bumblebee, a big Michael Bay style blockbuster, and a Beast Wars movie into one film. Good, but not great.

lastmaximal

This movie was enjoyable and inoffensive, which seems to be the direction that Transformers movies must deliberately go in post-Bay. However, while it does put in a good effort, it just lacks the heart and charm that made the Bumblebee solo movie so good. Optimus Prime gets a character arc that seems unnecessary (just commit to the reboot and start out with a non-murderous non-asshole Optimus Prime rather than grow him into it). Pete Davidson does a great turn as Mirage, giving us a new kid/POV character that can actually banter and free up Radiobee to just keep his own schtick going. The designs are all right (save for Prime’s oddly high waist), mostly avoiding the weirdness of the Bumblebee movie designs (Shockwave and Soundwave in particular, whose legs are hilarious), with Scourge and Nightbird standing out as very cool. And to be honest the GI Joe tie-in did nothing for me.

I’m looking forward to the next installment, mostly because I hope it finally gives Cullen some substantial, warm, Dad Optimus stuff to do while we’ve still got him. (I’m still reeling from losing the icons we did in 2022 and 2023.)

CoffeeHorse (David)
Safe and mellow, almost to the point of being forgettable, though given the turbulent production history that feels like an accomplishment in a way. Given how much they chose to juggle with this one it is remarkable that it works as well as it does. It wasn’t another TLK. That said, I would love to see the test screening version, because the finished film does feel like certain parts are missing context that used to exist. I am optimistic about these films again but please, pick a direction, write a script, and stick with it to the end. The mid-production waffling is not helping this prequel/reboot/preboot series find its identity.

Favorites from GodSentinelOmega

 

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2024?

MadameVixen (Sarah)
A year full of fun toys.

I’m not really able to think about 2024 yet. My sense of time is still borked, and I’ll probably start feeling 2024 in like August. But of the Transformers releases promised for next year, I’ve definitely got my eye on Magmatron, who looks like an amazing new execution of the design.