Review: ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Doesn’t Quite Rise to the Top

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (dir. Steven Caple Jr.) is an anticipated addition to the Transformers franchise that serves as both a prequel to the 2007 Transformers (dir. Michael Bay) and to the 2018 smash hit Bumblebee (dir. Travis Knight). It largely focuses on the Autobots, once again led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), as they attempt to save Earth once again from the Decepticons with the help of some new technorganic beings and human friends including military veteran electronics expert Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) and artifact researcher Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback).

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Review: ‘Gunpowder Milkshake’ Serves Up a Copycat Meal

Netflix’s newest action-comedy-thriller-John Wick knockoff known as Gunpowder Milkshake can best be described like this: what if that one female-superheroes-assemble scene from Avengers: Endgame was expanded into a full 90-minute-long movie, starring one of the actors from that specific scene, incorporating plenty of A24-style lighting and featuring a cute kid for good measure? The simplicity and superficiality of this kind of “girlboss” energy is the fuel that drives this unnuanced, ungraceful, often uninteresting film. While there are brief delights and satisfying action sequences, numbness sets in like you’re actually drinking a milkshake.

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