First, let’s get to the good news! “Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts” continues the tale started by “Bumblebee” a few years ago. It tells the tale of Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) and Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback) Noah is a down-on-his-luck former soldier who is forced into a life of petty crime to pay the medical bills for his younger brother. Elena is a junior researcher at a university who makes a discovery about an ancient race of shape-shifting robots whose factions have now taken their war to Earth. Through a variety of mostly logical story beats the two end up teaming together to become the human allies of the Autobots (Led by Peter Cullen’s iconic Optimus Prime) and a new race of Transformers known as the Maximals (who take the form of jungle animals,) They are led by Ron Perlman’s Optimus Primal and he takes the form of a gigantic robotic gorilla. The two noble factions of robots team up to defend the Earth from an evil group of robots called the Predicons who work for a planet-size monster Unicron who devours worlds. Special effects and action mayhem ensue.
Yes, “Rise Of The Beasts” is still based on a 1980s Hasbro toy line and yes some of the dialogue is a little trite, but director Steven Caple Jr. (“Creed II) does a terrific job of keeping the film moving without every losing your attention. The special effects are first rate and many of the heroic Autobots and Maximals have definite character arcs instead of the goofy comic relief-serving traits present in the Bay films. Even Mirage (a tolerable Pete Davidson) has an arc that supplements his constant stream of wisecracks. The five writers of this film also make Noah and Elena full-fledged characters who are more than just stand-ins in between all the crazy battles. It helps that Ramos and Fishback are solid pros who invest their characters with a sense of pathos as well as the requisite humor.
My only issue with “Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts” is that the villains are overly developed. Peter Dinklage gives great voice to Scourge, leader of the Predicons, but that’s about it. They are just bad guys serving another bad guy in Unicron. Unicron is impressive but is still a snarling one dimensional villain. Other than that, a decent story and good performances enhance “Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts” above the average CGI robot mashups. It’s a fun time at the movies and makes me eager to see what comes next! 4 Out Of 5 On Kendog”s Barkometer!
Next we have “The Flash” a film that is a victim of the ever changing environment at Warner Bros. James Gunn has been brought in the run the DC Universe, much like Kevin Fiege does at Marvel Studios. He’s been given a directive to reboot the whole thing which means that movies completed before the change are in a bit of a tough spot, having to be tinkered with to fit the new directive. “The Flash” tells the tale of Barry Allen (Ezra Miller, one of the film’s high points). Known as the fastest man alive, he realizes he can use his incredible speed to travel back in time to prevent the death of his mother and thus keep his father (Ron Livingston) from unjustly going to prison for her murder. While he is successful, the law of unintended consequences kicks in and he discovers that not only does he screw up the incident that makes him the Flash, he also creates a time where there are no superheroes to take on the invasion of General Zodd (a returning Michael Shannon from “Man Of Steel) and his Krptonian army. To fix things Barry, along with an 18 year old version of himself, enlist the help of this universe’s Batman (played by Michael Keaton) and none other than Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle), who is known as Supergirl. Can Barry and his new allies prevent the destruction of not only this universe, but all of the other universes affected by his well-meaning but ignorant actions?” (What do you think?)
First, the good stuff. “The Flash features very good performances from Miller and Keaton, whose return as Batman is a welcome sight and, as it stands, necessary for the story. The story, from scribes John Francis Daley and Jonathan Golstein has a nice emotional hook and really makes Barry’s journey an emotional and relatable. Livingston and Maribel Verdu are very good as Barry’s parents and some of the best scenes in the film revolve around them. Also good is Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, potential love interest of Barry, although she is somewhat underused. The action is pretty good for the most part, with director Andy Muschetti (“It”) exhibiting fluid control of the camera.
The problems with “The Flash” are twofold. For starters, some of the CGI is dodgy, especially during some of the battle sequences later in the film. The compositing is just off enough to create this uncanny valley effect that resembles kind of a cut-and-paste format. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does happen it’s notable and distracting as hell.
The most important flaw in “The Flash” is the decision to devote a good deal of film to what’s known as “fan-service.” Having Keaton return as Batman is important to the story, having George Clooney appear in a 10 second cameo as his version of Bruce Wayne is not. Neither is including the unused idea of Nicholas Cage from Burton’s unused “Superman Unbound” for a couple of minutes. No one but hard-core fans are going to understand or appreciate that particualr cameo, so why use it? In an era in which comic book movies are struggling with overly complicated storylines and franchise fatigue, it’s important to make these films more accessible to general audiences, not less. Save it for an extended cut on home release fellas. Still, “The Flash” has enough to recommend as lightweight summer entertainment, but be sure to see it at a matinee price for maximum value. 3 Out Of 5 On Kendog’s Barkometer! So Sayeth The Kendog!
