It’s been five years since Paramount’s Transformers franchise underwent a soft reboot with the 80s throwback (and fairly charming) movie Bumblebee. The next entry in the series, Rise of the Beasts, operates in the same new timeline first formed by Bumblebee, and brings with it some new blood. Along with Creed II’s Steven Caple Jr. in the director’s chair, the film is introducing some shiny new robots in the form of the Maximals, Predacons and Terrorcons.
Set in the 90s, the film stars Anthony Ramos and Dominque Fishback as a pair of humans who join up with the Autobots to learn more about the new Transformers that’ve suddenly popped up on Earth; the Maximals can shapeshift into organic animals, while the Terrorcons morph into vehicless like most other Transformers in this franchise. The two factions were extremely popular back in the day thanks to the Beast Wars line of toys, and Rise is aiming its nostalgia directly at those who grew up with that particular part of the brand. And that extends to some of the new Autobots on hand as well, such as Wheeljack, Mirage, and an Arcee audiences will actually remember.
Transformers movies are often reliable fun, and Rise doesn’t look to be an exception to the rule. The month of June is already looking fairly packed for movies, but these films tend to do really well in the summer. Plus, it’s got Ron Perlman as a giant robotic gorilla, which might be worth the price of admission all on its own.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts comes to theatres on June 9 and also stars Pete Davidson, Michelle Yeoh, and Tobe Nwigwe.