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Film Review
Tinashe Kusema
IT has taken eight long years, a failed launch and a lot of leaks and spoilers that turned out to be nothing but fake news.
However, the Hasbro Cinematic Universe (HCU) has finally arrived and there are plenty of reasons to be excited.
Paramount appears to have taken a page out of Marvel Cinematic Universe’s playbook, as a post-credit scene from the “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” movie confirms that Hasbro’s most popular property does, in fact, share the same universe as another prized asset, “G.I. Joe”.
This week’s review contains a lot of spoilers on the second release of the rebooted “Transformers” movie franchise.
Rather than give you a straight-up review of the movie, I have decided to concentrate on the flick’s most pivotal scene and give a little context on what this part means for Paramount Pictures going forward.
“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” takes place some eight years after the events of the 2015 reboot (“Bumblebee” movie), as we are introduced to an advanced race of Transformers with beast modes known as the Maximals.
We pick up the movie as they get attacked by the Terrorcons, emissaries of a planet-eating dark god by the name Unicron, who have been sent to retrieve a device that can open portals through space and time to other planets.
The Maximals barely escape and decide to hide in plain sight on earth, making an oath to protect the device from Unicron and his loyal servant Scourge (Peter Dinklage).
We are then introduced to Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and his Autobots crew, who later decide to use the device to get back home to their planet Cybertron.
It is during their mission to find the said device that they meet Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos), an ex-military electronics expert struggling to feed his family, and an artefact researcher by the name of Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback).
In true Transformers fashion, the Autobots join forces with the two humans and the remaining Maximals as they fight Scourge and stop him from retrieving the device that would allow Unicron to come to earth and devour it.
The storyline is rather basic, with the action and computer-generated imagery top-notch, but the movie barely passes as good.
However, it was refreshing to see another Transformers’ villain who is not Megatron, and getting a famed actor like Peter Dinklage to voice the character is a big steal for Paramount and Hasbro as a whole.
In fact, the ensemble cast is full of A-list or very hard-to-miss actors and actresses. They include Pete Davidson (Mirage), Michelle Yeoh (Airazor), John DiMaggio (Stratosphere), Cullen (Optimus Prime) and our very own Tongayi Chirisa (Cheetor).
As alluded to earlier, this movie is set to introduce the HCU.
While the wait has been agonising, 2023 appears prime for the arrival of a new player on the whole extended universe landscape.
Marvel, while still the blueprint, appears to have gotten a bit stale and the disappointments of their latest releases like “Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania”, “Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness” and “Thor: Love and Thunder” have not done them any favour.
Yes, they still have a few aces up their sleeve with the “Deadpool” and “Wolverine” movies, and the introduction of the “X-men” and “Fantastic Four”.
Even at their worst, Marvel still appears leaps and bounds ahead of DC. A new player to fill that vacuum could be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Back to the Joes.
The G.I. Joes are officially introduced right at the end of the “Transformers” movie, as we see Michael Kelly’s Agent Burke reward Diaz for helping Autobots save the world and then offer him a gig to join the G.I. Joes.
We are then given a slight glimpse of Joe’s secret bunker, filled with nifty gadgets and foot soldiers.
I found that scene to be akin to “Ironman” (2008), where Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury attempts to lure Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr) to join his Avengers Initiative.
While there is little information that has been officially released about the HCU and its future plans, it is safe to say both the “Bumblebe” and “Snake-eyes” movies will have loose ties to whatever comes next.
The “Bumblebee” alluded to in this movie and “Snake-eyes” were initially supposed to launch the HCU.
Also, Paramount has already gone on record saying they intend to release origin stories for the key G.I. Joe members, something to look forward to.
In Unicron, the HCU already has a big bad and his ability to devour planets will give him the Thanos-level threats that could call for the Transformers and Joes to unite.
Much like Marvel, Paramount and Hasbro already have 40 years’ worth of literature and storylines to turn into live-action movies.
A Transformers and G.I. Joe’s crossover is nothing new as these two entities have come together countless times in the comic books.
I just pray that Paramount does not get tempted to bring back Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s “Roadblock” from “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” (2013).
He does not necessarily have a good track record with franchises.
Online Reporter