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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Movie

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

2023 • Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Woke Score
6
out of 10

Plot

Set in the 1990s, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on an action-packed, globetrotting adventure as the Maximals, Predacons, and Terrorcons join the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth. Noah, a sharp young guy from Brooklyn, and Elena, an ambitious, talented artifact researcher, are swept up in the conflict as Optimus Prime and the Autobots face a terrifying new nemesis bent on their destruction named Scourge.

Overall Series Review

The film centers the story on non-white human protagonists whose struggles are explicitly framed by systemic oppression, diverting significant screen time to these themes rather than the central robot conflict. The narrative establishes the primary male lead, Noah, as a victim of a system that denies him a job due to prejudice, forcing him into a life of crime to afford his brother's medical care. The female lead, Elena, is portrayed as a brilliant artifact expert whose talent is ignored by an incompetent white female superior at a museum, a clear presentation of the 'Girl Boss' trope that elevates the female minority character by demeaning a white woman in authority. Early scenes contain pointed, derogatory dialogue about white people. The quest takes the heroes to Peru, introducing the Maximals and ancient cultures, which contrasts the Western setting, but the core conflict remains a large-scale science fiction battle. The movie contains no elements of sexual or gender ideology, and the cosmic threat of Unicron avoids traditional religious commentary. The film's overall tone is heavily influenced by intersectional identity politics, which is forced into the narrative without enhancing the main plot.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics9/10

The plot is heavily anchored in lectures on systemic oppression and race, with the non-white protagonists' difficulties attributed to white-dominated society. Noah is denied a job by a white employer who explicitly questions the kind of person Noah is, carrying a heavy undertone of racial prejudice. Elena's white female boss is depicted as an incompetent authority figure who fails to recognize Elena's talent, a clear vilification of 'whiteness' in an institutional context. Dialogue includes an unprompted, derogatory statement made by a character regarding white people and laughter.

Oikophobia6/10

The film begins by framing the urban, Western setting of Brooklyn and its institutions (museum, job market) as fundamentally corrupted by racism and systemic barriers that punish the non-white hero. The quest leads the characters to the Andes Mountains in Peru to interact with an ancient, non-Western civilization, the Maximals, and the indigenous culture protecting them, which implicitly contrasts the corrupt Western setting. The narrative deconstructs the American job market and social system.

Feminism7/10

Elena is introduced as the 'Girl Boss' archetype, an unappreciated genius whose knowledge of ancient history and artifacts far surpasses her white female superior. Her brilliant merit is only recognized once she breaks away from the bureaucratic, institutional confines of the museum. The main male lead's character arc is driven by family duty to a sick brother, a more traditional protective role, but his masculinity is emasculated by the systemic failure of society to provide for him. There is no romance between the leads.

LGBTQ+1/10

The movie contains no discernible focus on alternative sexualities, gender ideology, or the deconstruction of the nuclear family unit. The brief, all-male Transformer relationship between Noah and Mirage is presented as a 'Brothers before Hoes' dynamic and is non-romantic. Traditional male-female pairing is not a central theme, but there is no explicit lecture against normative structure.

Anti-Theism1/10

The conflict is based on a cosmic threat, the planet-eater Unicron. The narrative is entirely secular, focusing on science fiction and ancient extraterrestrial technology. There is no presence of human religion, specifically Christianity, to be vilified, and the film does not engage with concepts of objective versus subjective morality in a spiritual sense.