Though it has been years since this was the case, there once was a time when watching a Transformers movie was defined by the experience of spending time with characters who were a distraction you had to put up with rather than get invested in. Originally, it was Shia LaBeouf’s consistently grating Sam Witwicky, who went from being an annoying teenager to an annoying college student and beyond until stepping aside. Then, it was Mark Wahlberg’s Cade Yeager who was a controlling dad, who we were assured was an inventor, with few other dimensions to his character otherwise. Never once did you really care about either of them as you just went for the spectacle that soon revealed itself to be empty without any emotion to give it weight. While these movies are always about building towards the main event of seeing robots beat each other to literal pieces, there was a general sense that everything to do with its humans was disposable at best and distracting at worst. However, as we’ve now seen with Bumblebee and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, this doesn’t have to be the case.
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While the latter is not quite as good as the former, both of these movies are miles above what their predecessors managed to achieve. Even though they aren’t the most rich of character studies—especially in the final act where the smashing and crashing comes to the forefront—we get a strong narrative foundation beyond just the basics. While there was a persistent complaint about the human element of the prior films, with some saying that it should just shift to focus solely on the robotic characters, we have now seen that the better solution has been to actually put some care into the characters beyond the bare minimum. Even while the main draw will always be how much chaos can take hold of the story when the action kicks off, there has to be something human underneath it all. It provides a reminder of what is being fought for in the story, so when everything is predictably under threat, we are actually invested in them saving the day rather than rooting against them so that we don’t have to spend another second with the humans meant to be the center. More than the interchangeable item they seem to always be chasing down throughout these films, it is the characters who will always remain the key to making any emotionally engaging story work.

Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie Makes ‘Bumblebee’ the Best ‘Transformers’ Movie

Image via Paramount Pictures

Of all the movies that this franchise has gone ahead with, Bumblebee remains the one that does its own story the most justice. Rather than feeling haphazardly assembled with generally superficial and vapid characters, Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie actually feels like a real person with deeper motivations. Sure, the film is about her forming a bond with Bumblebee and having to do battle with the military as well as the Decepticons in the way most of the stories are. What makes it feel fresh is that there is actual texture and complexity to Charlie’s life before she gets roped into the intergalactic conflict. Some of this is funny, as we see the awkwardness of her home life, but in a way that is still very much in service of the character. In particular, the great Pamela Adlon brings a lot to the experience as Charlie’s mother even as she only gets a couple of scenes. It is a film that is efficient yet still impactful precisely because of the way it writes the characters to all feel genuine and ground the story. This culminates in a surprisingly moving ending when Charlie ends up taking a dive to save the day before going back to her life. It is frequently cheesy and sentimental though never cloying, earning every development because of how patient it was in setting it all up.

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While Rise of the Beasts is not quite as patient on the whole as Bumblebee, especially as the final act feels like more of the same old Transformers, it still brings a similar emphasis on exploring the quiet moments with the characters before everything goes boom. Much of this is because the cast is stellar with Anthony Ramos as the down-on-his-luck Noah and Dominique Fishback as the wickedly smart though undervalued Elena, who end up being fundamental to saving the world. Each has their own respective skills and dynamic personalities, making it easy to get swept up in their lives. In particular, the relationship between Noah and his younger brother Kris (Dean Scott Vazquez), who he shares endearing conversations with over the radio, really works. Their banter is bittersweet as we come to learn Kris needs medical care, instilling the genuinely humorous interactions with a weight that we can see taking a toll on this family. All of this could easily feel forced in another blockbuster, but the willingness to embrace a sense of sincerity and execute it ensures the journey we then go on means something more. In getting to see glimpses of the world of these characters, we are actually along for the ride as they attempt to save it from annihilation.

‘Transformers’ Should Continue With This Emphasis on Characters Like Noah and Elena

Image via Universal
 

All of this may sound like it is a bare minimum element of any movie actually worth its salt, but it still is something far too many modern blockbusters never seem even to try to put any work into. While Rise of the Beasts is not without its problems and does lose sight of Fishback’s Elena in the chaos towards the end, it still feels like a movie that at least puts in an attempt to create multidimensional characters. Where many of the prior films either merely went through the motions or relied on just the broad strokes to create only lightly sketched protagonists, the last couple of Transformers films feel like a throwback in how unexpectedly heartfelt they were. If this franchise is going to continue pumping out entries into the future, they would do right to either stick with these new characters or carry on the same emotional emphasis that has been utterly lacking up until recently. It won’t guarantee they make for great films by any means, but at the very least they could be ones that have something at least approaching a soul in what can far too often be an otherwise soulless blockbuster landscape.