Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: June 9, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 51 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
22
Negative:
16

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Radheyan SimonpillaiJun 16, 2023
If we’re ranking those films, the latest lands somewhere between the ‘80s-set prequel Bumblebee and Michael Bay’s 2007 original, which is pretty much as good as it gets. Rise of the Beasts splits the difference between the former’s Steven Spielberg-light likeability and the latter’s alternately thrilling and mind-numbing spectacle. Read full review
60
NMEJames MottramJun 16, 2023
A notch above its predecessors. Read full review
60
Time OutOlly RichardsJun 7, 2023
New director Steve Caple Jr (Creed II) isn’t as slick a director as Michael Bay – it’s sometimes hard to orient yourself in his larger battles – but he’s efficient and can land some solid gags. It feels generally similar in tone to Bumblebee, by far the most fun Transformers movie. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithJun 6, 2023
Sixteen years on from the Shia LaBeouf original, though, the many brains behind this franchise have still to figure out how to satisfy an audience without leaving it bludgeoned. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJun 5, 2023
The many, many action sequences are spectacularly conceived and executed, including a car chase on the Williamsburg Bridge that’s probably still tying up downtown traffic. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanJun 5, 2023
There’s a bombast built into the material, but let it be said that the “Transformers” movies have been transformed. They’re no longer the kind of fun you have to hate. Read full review
58
ColliderRoss BonaimeJun 7, 2023
After the dregs of the first five Transformers films, Bumblebee felt like the shot in the arm that this series needed to make it what it should’ve been all this time. Coming off that, Rise of the Beasts feels like both a step forward and a step back. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredMatt WaytJun 9, 2023
What an annoyance to have a Transformers movie with well-drawn humans, only to have them choke on the exhaust fumes of franchise expectations. Read full review
50
ABC NewsPeter TraversJun 9, 2023
Wait a hot minute here. Can a new Transformers movie actually be bearable? Let’s not get carried away, but a diverse cast and the absence of ham-handed former director Michael Bay qualify as a step in the right direction. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeAbigail LeeJun 8, 2023
The result is a formulaic, underwhelming set-up for another era of Transformers movies. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubBrett BuckalewJun 8, 2023
It’s an easier-to-follow variation on the template than most of its predecessors, but still one dependent on long-winded exposition dumps. And the character-based material here lacks Bumblebee’s sweetness, coming off as cloyingly manipulative instead. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJun 7, 2023
Finally, a sci-fi action mega-movie filled with CGI battles in which barely distinguishable foes hurl each other about while delivering unspeakably corny lines, as we hear hip-hop hits on the soundtrack. Read full review
50
Screen RantGraeme GuttmannJun 6, 2023
There are a few bright spots in Rise of the Beasts, but these are largely overshadowed by a lot of generic parts that would not be out of place in any of the previous six Transformers movies. Read full review
50
SlashfilmJeremy MathaiJun 5, 2023
There are bursts of inspiration here and there, such as when the plot shifts to Peru and suddenly takes on an "Indiana Jones" flavor (which, annoyingly, the characters can't help but comment upon) or when an early horror-tinged sequence puts a new spin on the famous "Raptors in the kitchen" scene from "Jurassic Park." But such joys don't arrive consistently enough to make this venture worthwhile. Read full review
42
The PlaylistMarshall ShafferJun 6, 2023
Rise of the Beasts proves that Bayhem is still strong within the series. Worse, the parts that linger are not the visual signature of sweaty, sun-streaked bedlam. It’s the noisy, nonsensical insistence that submission to sensory overload should outrank any other storytelling consideration. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeJun 11, 2023
Plus points include a punchy soundtrack of 90s hip-hop, and Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, heroically holding their own as the hapless humans roped into the Transformers’ thunderous mess. Read full review
40
The New York TimesAmy NicholsonJun 9, 2023
The plot is a bust. Five credited screenwriters and not one compelling stake. Read full review
40
Film ThreatAlan NgJun 9, 2023
The only thing wrong with Transformers: Rise of the Beast is that it’s bland and boring. Read full review
40
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyJun 8, 2023
Ramos and Fishback are talented enough actors that they are able to perforate the chaos with some genuine emotion. Read full review
40
CNNBrian LowryJun 8, 2023
A simple-minded strain of giant-robot combat. Much in need of a script tune-up, it’s a less-than-meets-the-eye summer-movie machine, and not a particularly well-oiled one. Read full review
40
EmpireDan JolinJun 6, 2023
Lacks the ‘ick’ factor of the earlier Bay-directed efforts, and Fishback and Ramos do a great job as the token humans, but this is still just silly and derivative. Read full review
40
Screen DailyTim GriersonJun 5, 2023
Creed II director Steven Caple Jr. brings a little playfulness and emotion to the series but, unfortunately, the clattering action and self-important tone remains. Read full review
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