“Transformers: Rise of the Beast” (Science-Fiction/Action: 2 hours, 7 minutes)

Starring: Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback and Peter Cullen

Director: Steven Caple Jr.

Rated: PG-13 (Intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence and language)

Movie Review: An improved movie is in store for audiences. This addition to the Transformers, the fourth in the series, contains a less mechanical plot.

“Rise of the Beast” turns back to being about the Transformers as much as the humans they protect.

Noah Diaz (Ramos), a veteran turned car thief, and Elena Wallace (Fishback), an anthropologist staff worker at a museum, ally with Optimus Prime (voice of Cullen) and the Autobots and new Transformers called Maximals, that appear like several of Earth’s animals.

Together, they face one of the Autobots greatest foes, Unicron, a massive planet-eating transformer, and his heralds the Terrorcons, whose general is Scourge (Peter Dinklage). 

The animated series “Transformers” which has aired on television in many versions throughout the years was more about the Transformers with humans being secondary characters. The big problem is no one observes these movies for humans. The Transformers are the main stars.

This movie tries to return to those roots, although humans remain a pivotal part of the action.

The Transformers universe is larger for storytelling but producers of this series are scared to move away from Earth. A movie about just the Transformers could be revolutionary à la James Cameron’s “Avatar” style of animation.

“Rise of the Beast’s” best this outing is the fact well-known actors voice the Transformers. Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh and Pete Davidson are part of a large cast. Their vocal talents are good. The animated Transformers actually render better performances than their human counterparts. Again, good vocal talents aid in this process.

The characters’ abilities are not always consistent. This causes the movie to be uneven but that does not interfere with this entertaining screenplay.

At its best, this action, sci-fi feature has an emotive element. A group of writers added emotive elements to all of the characters that work. They all have reasons for wanting to achieve their goals and must make sacrifices to accomplish their tasks. 

“Transformers: Rise of the Beast” should get a rise out of audiences to return it to blockbuster status.

Grade: B- (Audiences rise and roll out to see more Transformers.)

Playing at Valdosta Stadium Cinemas 

“Sanctuary” (Drama/Thriller: 1 hour, 36 minutes)

Starring: Christopher Abbot and Margaret Qualley

Director: Zachary Wigon

Rated: R (Sexual content and strong language)

Movie Review: “Sanctuary” is not the place if one has Puritan-based beliefs about the nature of physical and psychological relationships between women and men.

This is very much like “Fifty Shades of Grey” (2015), except “Sanctuary” has better acting and dialogue. 

Hal Porterfield (Abbot) is a wealthy man and recent heir to a major hotel chain. Rebecca Marin (Qually) is his dominatrix who has a business background. Their relationship is strictly business.

When Porterfield decides he wants to end their business relationship to appear as a more respectable business leader, matters do not go as planned.

Zachary Wigon (“The Heart Machine,” 2014) directs this psychological drama written by Micah Bloomberg (television series “Homecoming,” 2018-20). Their efforts create a movie that appears like a good stage presentation in several aspects.

Although audiences see pictures of Porterfield’s family and the characters talk to people on the phone, we only see Porterfield and Marin. The movie consists of them having a long conversation after a lengthy role-play scenario. Even more, the story’s setting is Portfield’s penthouse and the corridor just beyond his front door.

This movie captivates as much as the characters bickering irritates in some scenes. Yet Abbot and Qualley are engaging in their roles. Their characters’ mental play with each other is taxing at times but always intriguing. The actors play their parts in a tense approach that works well.

Bloomberg’s ending for these characters could be a more authentic execution. His writing does allow these characters the space to expand.

Porterfield and Marin appear at the beginning of something grander together. Bloomberg leaves that door open, an unknown future for the characters while coupling these people in a predictable manner.

Grade: B (Interesting character’s find a welcoming sanctuary in cinemas.)

“Mending the Line” (Drama: 2 hours, 2 minutes)

Starring: Sinqua Walls, Brian Cox, Perry Mattfeld, Patricia Heaton and Wes Studi

Director: Joshua Caldwell

Rated: R (Strong language and violent imagery)

Movie Review: William Tecumseh Sherman, during the occupation of Atlanta, said “War is cruelty and you cannot refine it.”

Years later, during a Michigan Military Academy address in June 1879, he shortens the phrase to “War is hell.”

Sherman’s words could easily apply to the main characters of “Mending the Line.”

This nice drama involves military men surviving the horrors they experience during war. It may not be a tidy script but it offers a real look at war and its after-effects.

Sgt. John Colter (Walls) is a Marine wounded in Afghanistan. He recovers from his injuries at a veterans’ hospital in Montana.

There, he meets Isaac ‘Ike’ Fletcher (Cox), a Vietnam veteran suffering from his own battle scars. Fletcher teaches Colter flyfishing as a means of coping with physical and emotional trauma.

Director Joshua Caldwell helms a decent movie despite well-intentioned script errors about the brave people who serve in this country’s military.

This is a nice turnaround for Caldwell after his mediocre reception for “Infamous” (2020).

“Mending the Line” loses focus occasionally by spreading a dramatic narrative throughout for three characters. This diverting writing by Stephen Camelio detracts from the lead character John Colter, causing the movie to ramble at times with unexplained moments that take time to relate to a broader picture.

Good acting for likable characters and nice, picturesque cinematography make up for rash story elements. The cast, especially from a talented Cox, rescues the movie. The nice views of a mountainous river area also become relaxing eye candy. These facets remedy the slack in the story.

Grade: B- (Mend the lines the fish are biting.)

Adann-Kennn Alexxandar has been reviewing movies for more than 25 years for The Valdosta Daily Times.