“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” injects some new acting energy and new characters into this shopworn franchise. The Maximals are portrayed for the first time in a live-action film, along with their backstory. Anthony Ramos (“In the Heights,” “Hamilton”) gives a bravura performance that hits all the right notes and elevates the picture beyond its sometimes pretentious Autobot/Maximal dialogue.

The action begins on the Maximals’ home planet. Unicron (voice: Colman Domingo), a planet-eating god, has arrived to try to get the TransWarp Key. This device would allow Unicron to enter other galaxies and consume even more planets than he already does.

To prevent his subordinate Scourge (voice: Peter Dinklage) from getting the Key, Apelinq (voice: David Sobolov) sacrifices himself. The other Maximals use the TransWarp key to escape to, where else? Earth.

Now in 1994, we get a look at the Brooklyn family of Noah Diaz (Ramos). Noah is ex-military and is a whiz at fixing electronic devices. He is trying to get a job as a security guard.

He needs money because his family is behind in paying the hospital bills for his younger brother, Kris (Dean Scott Vazquez), who has sickle-cell anemia.

Noah arrives at his interview to discover that it has been cancelled. He confronts the interviewer only to find out that his previous military superior did not give him a glowing review.

Elsewhere, museum intern Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback) is clearly suffering under an idiot boss who uses her to do research and then steals credit for it. A bird sculpture (that looks amazingly like the Maltese Falcon) has arrived. Initially thought to be Egyptian, it has strange symbols on its front that Elena feels are not of that origin.

Later that night, her boss leaves a jacket for dry cleaning. Containing a pass to the lab, Elena sneaks in to do some research on the bird statue. She breaks it, revealing half of the TransWarp Key. This sends up a signal invisible to humans.

Noah, desperate for cash, agrees to participate in an auto theft from a parking garage for his friend Reek (Tobe Nwigwe, who also performs a song for the soundtrack). He enters the Porsche only to have an Autobot alert come over the car radio. The vehicle starts going on its own accord at very fast speed.

The car is none other than Mirage (voice: Pete Davidson), an Autobot. After a high-speed police chase, Mirage rejoins the other Autobots. They can see the signal and decide to go to the Museum to get the Key.
Noah gets into the Museum and confronts Elena. Suddenly Scourge and his allies attack to get the Key. They succeed in obtaining it after a battle.

Airazor (voice: Michelle Yeoh) arrives to join the fight. After their collective defeat, she reveals that it was only half the Key. Elena recognizes the symbols as being from Peru so off they all go to find the other half.

In Peru, they will encounter the other Maximals. But can they all working together succeed in saving Earth from Unicron?

Chronologically, this is the second film in the Transformers live-action series after “Bumblebee,” set in 1987. I felt that “Bumblebee” brought new life to the franchise. Likewise, I liked the inclusion of the Maximals as a counterpart to the Autobots in this picture.

Aside from Pete Davidson’s Mirage, much of the Autobot and Maximal dialogue is presented as pretentious announcements. You get tired of hearing utterances from both groups about the fate of the universe and how they are going to fight no matter what obstacles face them. Mirage, with his carefree attitude, provides some necessary levity and contrast to the over-seriousness of the others.

The lack of meaningful dialogue for these characters means that actors providing their voices have zero to work with when it comes to their performances. Again, only Mirage, who develops a relationship with Noah, seems to overcome this screenplay barrier. It seems a shame to waste an opportunity to flesh out Airazor, for example, when you have an actress of Michelle Yeoh’s stature voicing this Maximal.

Of course the main draws of these films are the action scenes and the visual effects. As far as the latter is concerned, these are rendered in a spectacular fashion, such as a massive dark cloudbank over New York City. The movie is a visual treat when it comes to these sequences.

The action scenes are generally good. It doesn’t help that the enemy, except for Scourge, is not provided with any compelling characters or significant markings to indicate who they are. In one major battle sequence toward the end of the film, it became difficult to see who was fighting whom. I think that focusing more on individual Maximals and Autobots in their one-on-one fights would have been a better strategy.

It is worth noting that when it comes to the human companions of Autobots and Maximals, they always are young. Why would it be the case that only young people would stumble onto them? Wouldn’t it be possible to have an older museum intern or an older car thief?

That aside, I will say that Anthony Ramos is a tour de force. He is given much better lines than his mechanical friends. But he can be sensitive with his family, scared and uncertain when in battle, and dynamic when he needs to be. He was so great in “In the Heights” that you can see that he should have a bright future ahead of him.

I also enjoyed Tobe Nwigwe’s performance as Reek. He could have been portrayed as a stereotype. Instead his character has delightful idiosyncrasies and presence. Nwigwe makes the most of his limited screen time.

I enjoyed the fact that this movie was set in 1994. From the clothes to the cars, it was fun to go back in time. The inclusion of period songs added a nice flavor to that time.

The shots in Peru are strikingly beautiful. They actually filmed at Machu Picchu. I felt that the portrayal of local Peruvians was done with great cultural sensitivity.

So go for the visual effects, the debut of the Maximals, and to see Anthony Ramos’ performance.

Three and a half out of five stars

Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new faction of Transformers – the Maximals – to join them as allies in the existing battle for earth.

CAST: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Velez, Dean Scott Vazquez, Tobe Nwigwe, Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Liza Koshy, John DiMaggio, David Sobolov, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Pete Davidson, Colman Domingo, Cristo Fernández, Tongayi Chirisa
DIRECTED BY Steven Caple Jr.
SCREENPLAY BY Joby Harold and Darnell Metayer & Josh Peters and Erich Hoeber & Jon Hoeber
STORY BY Joby Harold
BASED ON Hasbro’s Transformers™ Action Figures