Transformers: Rise of the Beasts - Cheap Thoughts

We certainly live in an odd time for Blockbuster Movies, or some would say a straight up bad time for them. Many would say the problem lies within the production. Overblown budgets, tight deadlines, a thousand rewrites and IP mining nostalgia-bait. Others would say the problem is external factors such as the simple quantity of them ruins the magic as we used to only get several a year and now its one a week, and with the prices of cinema tickets they hardly seem worth going to as they’re less special yet treated more like a commodity. Naturally the problem is of course both.

There is an irony that a property like Transformers which is heaped in nostalgia-bait as a long running IP, as the newest film has some yearning for the live-action films of the past, which they themselves were lampooned as the lesser blockbusters of their time. On one hand Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a much simpler, crisper and functional film, it has a basic narrative and working character arcs that would pass an introductory screenwriting class, and it is even aware of the praises and shortcomings of prior Transformers films and attempts to offer something new. Instead of Bumblebee being the leading Autobot we now have Mirage (Pete Davidson), instead of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) being a noble altruistic leader he is a desperate soldier who must overcome his flaws, instead of 2000’s Linkin Park we have 90s hip-hop…to each their own.

Are the comparisons justified or even fair? The short answer is yes; the film is very aware of what came before it, and is trying to avoid replicating it entirely, which comes with its own hills & valleys, by avoiding the bad, you also avoid the good. Michael Bay’s Transformers films, specifically the first one is a very polarising film, it has many flaws such as Bay’s reliance on stereotypes, pro-military propaganda and incoherent theming. Yet it is also visually dynamic, memorable characters (not necessarily good, but memorable) and has a very underrated score from Steve Jablonksy.

Rise of the Beasts in comparison feels hollow. It has better theming, but a story just as basic as before, yet the visuals, the action and the effects are all hollow and basic. The Transformers seemingly have no weight to them, you’d never believe these trucks with legs were walking around you, the fight scenes are shot from a distance with little impact and there is no gravitas to the events happening. For all its issues, 2007’s Transformers made it feel epic, like an event, and that the action meant something instead of just being the film equivalent of a seat filler.

In an attempt to avoid having any major lows the film has failed to try for any highs and is left a hollow and forgettable film. It is perfectly serviceable and is far from the worst Transformers film but it is unlikely anyone will feel something while watching it or even remember what happened the day after.

-Danny

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse - Cheap Thoughts

It’s hard to imagine the pressure this team must have been under to produce this film. The original Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is (with no exaggeration) one of the seminal works of animation the film industry has ever scene. It changed the game in a way we haven’t seen since the original Toy Story in 1995, its influence can be seen in the world of animation with the likes of The Mitchells vs The Machines, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish and the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem; and in the world of superhero films with the MCU’s next saga being centred on the multiverse. Even the character of Miles Morales has been permanently shaped by this film, just look at Insomniac’s Spider-Man videogames and see the difference in Miles’ writing & presentation from the first game to his spin-off. So with such a legacy created, how much pressure must have been felt internally? To live up to creating a modern masterpiece and duplicate that while going bigger.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse has gone bigger in every regard. We spent the last movie observing fragments of other universes. Well now we travel to half a dozen of them. We had 6 Spider-Folk in the first film. Now we have 600. Production wise there were 240 animators in the prior instalment. Now the staff is over 1000. Bigger budget, bigger crew and it all shows on screen. Across The Spider-Verse offers a maximalist bricolage of styles clashing with each other in this multi-dimensional crossover. From 70s punk rock anarchy zines, to experimental reinterpretations of artist  Robbi Rodriguez’s water-colour designs, to cyberpunk neo-noir darkness contrasting with neon lighting. The visuals are bright and noisy and cover every frame of the film, trying to be as big as possible, everything wants to stand out and from that we get one of the most distinct animated films we’ve ever had.

Yet with in this clutter of style and indulgence of Spider-Man cameos the film never loses focus on its characters and their stories. The film is happy to tease us early on with the potential of Spider-References but this is a tale about people, mainly Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld), two young Spider-Folk trapped in their home dimensions burdens with the great responsibility of being Spider-Folk and the greater isolation and tragedy you feel from the task at hand. These Spiders are lonely, and they’re young with very little of their journey decided, and so with the introduction of an elite Spider-Force with hundreds of Spider-Folk just like them they find relief in some problems while others just become so much worse.

There is a joy seeing the Spider-Folk effortlessly work together to save the day, to distribute the tasks easily with minimal planning to capture the bad guys, rescue innocent people and save the day. The status of being a Spider Variant means bearing the weight of the world on your shoulders, and now you have endless allies who empathise with you and help lighten the load. Yet with all these Spider-Folk with similar roles come dangerous patterns, a “Canon” to the events that can’t be broken, that they all must experience to truly become Spider-Folk. With Great Power comes Great Responsibility, and also Great Tragedy.

An incredible set up for a narrative that has the unfortunate placement of being the middle-child of a now conceived trilogy, though really it can be better described as a single film, then a sequel split across 2 films. While we don’t have to wait long to see where this story goes, this very much feels like half a film and it’s impossible to say how well the story is told when we don’t have the whole picture just yet, so we’ll just have to wait and see how this one plays out.

This is a path Miles refuses to take, a rebel, a creative, a freethinker but also a family man who loves his parents, his community and his friends. If Spider-Man must choose to save 10 people or 100 people, he’ll find a way to save 110 people. Patterns are not destiny, no one has their story told for them, and Miles will save the day whether it be with 100 Spider-Folk in his corner, or in his way.

-Danny