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citizens of the reject Nation it is John and koi genre here at the beautiful IMAX
HQ in Playa Vista California and we just got done seeing Transformers rise of the
beast but before we talk about that just want to say a huge thank you to the folks
at IMAX for having us out if you follow this Channel at all you know that IMAX is pretty
much our favorite way to see most any movie in a movie like this at the scale it exists on is
absolutely the peak experience so if you got an IMAX near you go see Transformers rise of
the beasts at an IMAX theater if it's in IMAX I see it and I'm actually the point where I have
to schedule my tickets ahead of time to catch it that's sweet sweet IMAX week so see it in IMAX
absolutely sir and also before we hop into the review leave a like leave a like for Greg Greg
is busy at home slaving away on an emergency edit otherwise he would have been here and I
mean he missed a lot because they actually not only did we see the movie Peter Cullen showed
up did a q a it was a lovely and then stayed after to hang out absolutely absolutely he
did but anyway Transformers rise of the beasts seventh live-action Transformers Motion Picture
how does it shape up well let's talk about that neither of us is a huge expert on the
vast lore that these stories come with that these characters come with we got a lot to talk about
and before we do just gonna give a brief synopsis of the film I'm so prepared hey how's it going
just keeping everything on track right now
I love carrots Optimus Prime and the Autobots take on their biggest challenge yet when a new
threat capable of destroying the entire planet emerges they must team up with a powerful faction
of Transformers known as the maximals to save Earth beautiful nice Cameo Your Best Peter Cullen
voice yeah that's actually a pretty sure way to describe the movie A lot of it takes place in the
1990s taking place after the events of Bumblebee Loosely acknowledging that as you know part of
its immediate Canon and I know what you're all first and foremost Champion to hear about the
Transformers across this movie are gorgeous to look at as always and there are a whole
bunch of different kinds because not only do you have the Autobots but you also have the maximals
coming into play and the terror cons the Agents of the god-being Unicron who is essentially like
the Galactus of this universe yeah I love that parallel during the group there was a lot of like
space Cosmic comic stuff and I was like oh they're going there absolutely and things that do sort
of remind you of certain other especially like DC kind of movies visually and aesthetically and even
voice absolutely yeah and and obviously Optimus Prime is you know the sort of central Transformer
but I think the the character who really stole the show this time around was Pete Davidson as
Mirage you know dressed in this beautiful Porsche packaging I'm a Porsche guy so I got a kick out of
that but what did you think of a mirage made me so happy I was thinking the entire time I don't want
to realize who this is because I'm having so much joy not knowing and then when it was Pete Davidson
I was like of course it was absolutely I really think he nailed the I have to be somehow the new
Bumblebee without being bumblebee but also in a movie with Bumblebee and a movie that will also be
Optimus Prime Centric like that's a lot of things to joke you have to be inherently Charming in
small doses you have to be charismatic in a really unique way you have to be something that's new to
the franchise but also familiar it's a really tall order and I think delivered I really think the
bond between our humans and especially Mirage was uniquely strong in this particular installment of
the Transformers yeah absolutely and it certainly brings that sort of endearing quality that your
human main character bonding with him so he's kind of filling the Bumblebee role even though
bumblebee does appear in this movie certainly Mirage is like your your most chummy Autobot
on the team and then obviously you've got Peter Cohen reprising the role of Optimus Prime and
and this is still very much sort of his fight it's an ensemble it's an ensemble piece of these
Transformers but a lot of it does still center around his journey and his growth as a character
we it's a bit of an edgier take on Optimus Prime because he is burdened with a lot of remorse and
just the weight of his decisions in the parts of this war that have you know affected everything up
until now and it's before he's had a lot of time to spend with Humanity he hasn't had the humanity
he hasn't been endeared to us which I really like that take so the Rough Around the Edges
had purpose it wasn't just like edgy prime it was like this is a guy who doesn't yet know what
he's dealing with on this planet in a personal level which I enjoyed yeah yeah yeah and I mean
neither of us is like a great Transformers expert necessarily but there are times when you can tell
Maybe maybe certain lines of dialogue in certain installments maybe don't ring true and here I
thought the the times where they did flirt with the line of you know what his character's supposed
to be what the essence is supposed to be it did serve that sort of challenge to his principles and
and his growth as a character so I thought yeah it was mostly appropriately done and then we have
the character of Optimus primal as well the sort of head maximal these descendants of the Autobots
that have been all through time and space and are now you know joining the fight here in the present
moment there's a lot of timey ones in the store show Absolutely from Beast Wars which Beast Wars
is probably my best Touchstone for Transformers but I can tell you got uh so I mean and a lot of
people are looking forward to the maximals first and foremost from this movie how did you feel
about them I was so enamored by the physicality I was so enamored by the fact that it's hard enough
to make a Transformer look like it's tangible in our world it's even harder to make a Transformer
look like it has authentic animal physicality but also is a machine that also has authentic
textures it's a lot of brilliant Computing like the first Transformers I really think as much as
people don't look back on it as fondly uh because of like the six movies we've gotten through it
doesn't feel as novel anyway like there's not a novelty to Transformers that first one was
mind-blowing seeing those special effects seeing those pyrotechnics seeing the baehem that was a
mind-blowing experience this was that for these creatures this was just as mind-blowing me there's
a scene and it's not a spoiler at all but there's a scene where you see Beast Wars side by side with
humans side by side with cars and if you'd just taken out the cars it would look like a cartoon
that looked photo real but if you just take out the Beast it looks like a car ad like it's all of
your brain going like I've seen this before but I haven't seen it but I have seen it and it was
this really beautiful suspension of disbelief blending all these worlds and I really bought
it in a really fun way yeah absolutely I did too and you know they aren't the most heavily featured
characters in terms of dialogue and skin screen time but their impression is definitely felt and
they definitely do take advantage of that sort of mix between you know the more organic animal
shapes and then you know the train Transformers car mechanics they bring a nice new flavor to it
as do the the terracons who are sort of your main villains LED mainly by Scourge who I didn't even
realize yeah who's he's kind of the Steppenwolf of this movie and I really think it worked I really
think this landed with not only Menace but you're intrigued by him as the character evolves you want
to know more I think that the franchise overall this is the seventh one of these I think the first
one is the bar that said I think the first one is unique and I think it really is what people wanted
a Transformers movies live action and then I think they've kind of strayed from that path like they
took certain notes and went really aggressively one way or the other I feel like they've had to
Chip Away back down to something contained and I feel like this in bumblebee are the most authentic
two Transformers we've had yeah because I mean this has all the action and the Carnage and the
cool stuff that you want but it also comes with I think the right sort of cheese yeah like whenever
it dipped into cheese or haminess it was always in a way that put a big smile on my face and that
brought me back to the spirit of you know just playing with action figures and being a kid in
the 90s and there are certain only tons of 90s just pop culture Spanish characters soundtrack
my favorite character in this movie is the 90s soundtrack absolutely the soundtrack is so good
it's a great throwback and it definitely puts you in the time and place and yeah I mean music
is absolutely transportive that way but I thought what they chose was nicely handled and I thought
this movie did a nice job of acknowledging that debating that and you know even though it is kind
of silly having humans involved still justifying it with enough I don't know just reason to suit
the kind of movie that it is and it led to some really fun moments with the human cast which is
led by uh Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback who are both great like this is a movie that doesn't
heavily capitalize on like the dramatic side of the human stuff but it does give you enough
to care about with them they are very charismatic and and they take the roles just seriously enough
this isn't my favorite franchise this is my favorite movie this summer but what I want
out of a Transformers movie this was so if you love Transformers you're going to love this if
you don't love trying Transformers you might not love this but it is what it promises and I think
there's an inherent 80s Nostalgia 90s Nostalgia joy that is very unique to this franchise and this
is playing The Equalizer of that very beautifully yeah absolutely and I mean people were going off
about like what's the shortest Transformers movie yet and I mean it's not that short of a movie yeah
but it does clip along in a way that does not over bear on you too much and that does maintain that
level of fun and yeah that throwback quality that makes you feel like you're a kid and I mean the
action certainly you're coming to Transformers for an action movie for beautiful visuals and
crazy Contraptions and whatnot it's not like the most everything is a money shot Michael
based style but there are certainly beautiful sequences that take advantage of the Sci-Fi and
then there are sequences that ground you nicely in you know the bits of the human Stakes we do check
in with there are a lot of really good supporting characters and the voice cast you know I didn't
necessarily always you know it's like Ron Perlman is Optimus primal he does a fantastic job for the
time he is there I maybe wanted a little bit more of that Michelle yo is air razor who's probably
the most heavily featured of the maximals even more I mean in terms of screen time than Optimus
primal but she does a fine job in her role Peter Dinklage is Scourge which I had no idea about and
there are a couple other really fun voices mixed into the cast uh for the I mean your main Autobot
team is Optimus Bumblebee Mirage and RC but you do get a few other Autobots as well as maximals
and terracons in the mix chitars in here the whole thing kind of culminates in a really fun adventure
that has again all the Transformers lore stuff that you want and it's more focused on that while
giving enough create it's kind of like a Godzilla movie it gives enough Credence to his human
characters that you can endear to them I agree and I think the pacing was one of its strengths
I think it's going to be good for kids that are discovering the franchise as well as people that
have loved it for 40 years honestly this was uh kind of a greatest hits recall I really think this
is launching a franchise in a really beautiful way I think it allows for us to go forward while
acknowledging the past which I want our equals to do but it does feel like a new world in a really
beautiful way and I'm very optimistic about the future of the Transformers because of this movie
yeah and there are a couple big surprises toward the end that we cannot talk about whatsoever at
the internet but you should avoid the internet and they're absolutely so I'm very excited to see what
the response is because it's something that I had no idea to even think about yeah but yeah
ultimately just overall feelings what would you say I'd say number one or two of the franchise I
think uh I think right up there with the first one on bumblebee like I think uh you know Transformers
one uh bumblebee in this are all at another level and I think I was really impressed with
Anthony Ramos and I was really impressed with the directing I was really impressed with the world
built and I love the almost guy and and his dog story that is the Transformers I feel like there's
always this like companionship that translate between Transformers then their human element that
they really captured well here so it's able to manage uh like a really good equalizer of all my
favorite elements of Transformers in a very unique recoil that feels like it's launching a franchise
while giving some love to the past and I I think that's a really good place for the Transformers
to be right now yeah yeah it clipped right along it has my favorite car uh the skyline is in here
there's a Nissan Skyline r34j ADM Edition which is the car that Brian drives in Fast and the Furious
and the color scheme of the Porsche is the same color scheme as brian's skyline so I had a lot
of Fast and Furious Love happening also RC is Ducati was my favorite motorcycles they have
good taste in vehicles there's a lot of beautiful Machinery on display from Cars to bikes to planes
to otherwise and yeah it's the kind of movie where it works more than it doesn't and even when it is
teetering on Being Cheesy or hammy or whatever it is again in a way that put a big smile on my
face and that I enjoyed from front to back which is kind of all you can ask for from one of these
movies did not outstay its welcome definitely gave me those Thrills great use of setting too between
the New York scenes there's some stuff that takes place in Peru and other parts of the world and uh
and yeah it got me optimistic I would come back and watch more of this version of Transformers so
I am Optimus Mystic myself Adam Optimist Prime optimistic it used to be that was my nickname
a lot of time not anymore Madam Terror John this is the first time we've done one of these on the
street this is fun I know it'll get more refined more opportunities we get I'm just proud of us
doing my best here but uh but yeah guys leave us your thoughts have you seen Transformers rise of
the beasts did you go on IMAX what did you think and uh yeah we'll catch you on the next one don't
forget to leave a like thank you again to IMAX be well people reject Nation roll out [Music]