I guess maybe with a couple more movies in-between they could make something vaguely work. But there's definitely not an obvious straight line from where the characters are now to how they start off in 2007. And even when I thought they were about to make a connection to the Bay series at the end, man they went in a WHOLE different direction.
and this one is never really not dumb. But, it's the kind of dumb that Transformers movies probably always should have been, instead of the gross offensive incomprehensible cynical careless kind of dumb from the Michael Bay movies. The dialogue pretty much exists just to move the plot along, but it's not racist, there's no leering over teenage girls, and at no point will you feel embarrassed to be watching it.
So hey, now there are two Transformers movies I wouldn't be embarrassed to recommend!
No spoilers.
Bumblebee is certainly the better movie, and this one is never really not dumb. But, it's the kind of dumb that Transformers movies probably always should have been, instead of the gross offensive incomprehensible cynical careless kind of dumb from the Michael Bay movies. The dialogue pretty much exists just to move the plot along, but it's not racist, there's no leering over teenage girls, and at no point will you feel embarrassed to be watching it.
There are more identifiable robots in this movie than any other. Robots talk to each other, robots punch each other, robots show emotion and mild character growth. You can tell them apart visually and they have traces of personality. The action is easy to follow and some of the bigger sequences happen in full daylight.
Overall, it does have the feeling of a Bay story made by someone more competent. Everyone's chasing an ancient macguffin, the fate of the universe is at stake, one young man happens upon a robot car, blah blah blah. It's dumb, but it's fun. It's probably worth your time.
Also, great soundtrack of basically every popular hip-hop song from the early 90s.
Also also, one mid-credits scene. Nothing at the very end.
Okay, mild spoiler, but no specifics:
This is definitely a sequel to Bumblebee. I don't see how it can work as a prequel to the first Bay movie. Sure leaves you with the idea another sequel is coming, though.
Thank you for that review! I had been fairly pessimistic about this one as I've been hurt before, but I did like Bumblebee. Sounds like maybe this one is better than I had feared.
Uuuuuugh. They tried to make it too emotional. There's the usual dumb standing around parts when they should be moving.
Two huge surprises though. One was not so good, the other has potential.
Of the bots, Battletrap was not named. Had to see him listed in the credits. He was by far the coolest bot there was. Everyone else had their name dropped just once, except for Prime and Mirage. What the hex were the disposable minions called?
Mirage could have been Tracks. He even said the name, haha. He could have been Bluestreak (Gambler working with an organic) too. Or Smokescreen (from TF Prime).
One lewd ish joke. Only other part where the audience reacted. Can't say the other part since spoiler.
The Beast guys were wasted. They were like the Dinobots in their movie. Primal and Airazor got the focus. Airazor missed a part.
Bumblebee movie was better but I wasn't too happy with that either.
Edit - oh can someone say who the first Maximal shown was? Two looked alike at the start so I don't know who it was who was actually holding the mcguffin first and who came second.
Disagree on most of that. But if you didn't like Bumblebee and don't like "emotion" in movies, I guess we have different tastes.
I will say that while Cheetor and Rhinox are basically background characters with a line or two, Primal and Airrazor are heavily featured. They're certainly not treated like the mute, interchangeable movie Dinobots.
Edit - oh can someone say who the first Maximal shown was? Two looked alike at the start so I don't know who it was who was actually holding the mcguffin first and who came second.
I'm curious what your "not so good huge surprise" is referring to. I assume the one that "has potential" is the last scene before the credits, which I also assume is what got your big audience reaction. It was certainly the second big cheer of the night from my audience.
One spoilery thought, nothing too major but I may as well tag it...
While Primal's personal motivations are clear, you never really understand why or how the Maximals exist. They simply do. They come from some planet they only call "our world" which was destroyed by Unicron and had rings like Saturn, and they are from "your past and your future," and Primal was named "to honor you, Optimus Prime," but none of that really explains anything. What is that planet? What does "your past and your future" mean? Why were they Earth animals on that home planet? Was it a coincidence that they ended up on Earth like the Autobots? In short... what actually was the "rise of the beasts?"
It's certainly not the only hand-wavey nonsense in the movie (the "no wait, there's an access code" line got an audible laugh), but it's the most puzzling.
Bumblebee movie was ok and could have been better. I thought this sequel would improve but it backslid.
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The emotion part was the ending. Like, it was so Power Ranger-y and aimed at children. Bumblebee movie didn't do that.
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Primal was an exposition box and sounding like he's copying Prime's personality. He could have been more lighthearted and have a sense of humanity (since he's been around locally) or be more like his Beast Wars type. But, no, he's solemn and same as Prime. Could have reversed and been wilder or more primal or violent even, but no, he didn't stand out. A hint of humor did appear in the team up fight though. Could have had more of than, c'mon.
Something I did kinda like was how their beast modes was their character. It might waste their toy potential when there's practically no reason to see them transform to bot mode. More so with Airazor.
Oh, that part could have been great. But, wow, that's when they lessened the drama.
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Yes, I heard the name of that guy but... At the start, I thought I was looking at Primal. Was it Primal who put the mcguffin in his mouth or was it the other guy? I couldn't tell cuz I assumed there was only one guy who'd look like that. (Wouldn't it have been cool if it was Dinobot? Or Depth Charge? David Sobolov spelling voiced him anyway).
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My not so good surprise was the climax second wind part of the fight. Broke my brain a bit, trying to figure what to call it, haha.
The biggest reactions when I watched was the lewd joke, the racist joke, the two big parts of the climax fight. On the second surprise, my audience wasn't so hyped about it. Boo.
Smokescreen! Yeah! Even better! Rise Mirage had a dishonest side and was into working with an organic so that works with Gambler Smokescreen. And the Smokescreen name even works as a Mirage hologram, make a distraction illusion misdirection etc.
I don't think the scene from that trailer with Elena saying "This can't be real... This can't be real... (Arcee waves) It's real," is actually in the movie.
I don't think the scene from that trailer with Elena saying "This can't be real... This can't be real... (Arcee waves) It's real," is actually in the movie.
Actually, my wife got tickets for the Thursday early showing, but since it starts late and overlaps into Friday, I'm counting it as on our anniversary (and Rockman Day). =)
the dumbest reviews I've seen for ROTB are the ones that shit on it for having coherent fight scenes because they aren't as "stylish" as the ones in the Bay "films." like, it feels like ever since Ambulance somehow got good reviews that critics are trying to rehabilitate Bay, and it ******* sucks. like, they can criticize ROTB all they want, but bay's a racist, sexist piece of human excrement who cheerleads the US military and made a "movie" about benghazi in 2016 to pander to the Fox News crowd. **** him and **** his "movies."
i'm not gonna be ******* gaslit into thinking bay's "films" have any sort of artistic merit by critics who up until recently had almost nothing but justifiable contempt for his bullshit
1994 was when the Sonic games introduced Knuckles, and was a year before the earliest Pokémon games, so yes, I'd say both of those things are accurate.
