They finally made a good Transformers movie, but the bar is so low it’s barely an inconvenience. Transformers Rise of the Beasts has compelling human characters, somewhat competent robot characters, and a better(-ish) plot. Still, it could not thoroughly wash off the stain of Bay-verse.

Although a sequel to Transformers Bumblebee, Rise of the Beasts tells a story all its own, the plot is a distilled version of all the Transformers movies before Bumblebee — even the original 1986 movie.

For once, the human characters in a Transformer movie make sense. Noah Diaz, played by Anthony Ramos, is well thought out. What he does and the decisions he makes are understandable. Elena Wallace, played by Dominique Fishback, is almost as good, but her situation is more cartoonish.

As for the Transformers, almost all of them are well-represented. Scourge, Battletrap, and Nightbird make excellent analogues for Galvatron, Cyclonus, and… Scourge from the original animated movie.

Only three of the handful of alien robots from outer space, which have been on Earth for less than a decade, have adopted human stereotypes (an improvement!). Still, Tantrum Prime feels out of place.

Despite the plot having more holes than the perforations on a speaker grill, the minimal use of the Maximals, and the predictable beat, what disappointed me about Rise of the Beasts is the pacing of the third act. It did not make sense, and it felt stretched out.

In that one act, the advantage switches between the bad and good guys so often that the situation becomes trivial. Forgetting that it already trivialised death for characters with merchandising potential, the movie then tries to play the “self-sacrifice” card. But by that time, no one is buying it.

With my head out of the movie, I noticed more things didn’t make sense in the third act, from the end MacGuffin and the end game plan to the power suit and the power imbalance, none of which fit.

Still, compared to other movies that are currently playing, you can do worse and among other Transformers movies, this is the best one. It can be enjoyable even for non-Transformers fans. But, for Transformers fans, there are a few easter-eggs to look out for.

There are no after-credit scenes; the mid-credit scene comes in fast, so stay for that.