TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS

Set in 1994 New York, the Transformers join forces with the Maximals to take on a planet eating entity known as Unicron to both save Earth, as well as their home planet. Attempting to reboot the franchise, this film isn't as bloated as some of the previous Michael Bay entries from earlier in the franchise. Anthony Ramos stars as Noah Diaz, a former service member who was dishonorably discharged when he left the service to tend to his ailing younger brother. Unable to find steady employment as a result, Noah turns to car jacking until his first attempt is a Porsche that just so happens to be Mirage. From there, he's entrenched with the robots on their quest to stop Unicron's most trusted henchman Scourge and Unicron himself. With the exception of the very first Transformers movie, these have all unfortunately been the same to me: fantastic CGI but a thin story that barely keeps me engaged throughout the runtime and this film is no exception. Unless you're here strictly for the eye candy, you're going to be disappointed. The story attempts to pull at the audiences heartstrings with the sick younger brother of our star Noah, but he's teamed up with Elena (Dominique Fishback), who's an archeological intern at a museum who knows more than her boss yet receives none of the credit for her knowledge. The pair of her and Noah don't work and honestly, Fishback appears to be a fish out of water here as she brings very little to the table during her screen time. A nice cliffhanger at the end that will definitely pique the audiences interest. Let's just hope they can execute (if we even get that far and this movie is positively received both critically and financially). 6/10