The best part of Transformers: Rise of the Monsters is Pete Davidson

It only took more than a decade, however transformers The franchise eventually figured out that maybe the movies should be about giant fighting robots joking. (especially If only those giant combat droids could also transform into cars, trucks, and planes.) However, while it may take a while (not to mention five lackluster and increasingly important entries in Michael Bay) to get us to this point, it at least means That’s the latest transformers film, Monsters Riseis a really entertaining summer movie, with Pete Davidson as Mirage.

Highlighting the voice performance as the best quality for a movie like Monsters Rise It could be seen as awful with faint praise, but that’s not the case here. Rather, it is an appreciation of how much Davidson’s work has improved monsters As a production, these films continue to move away from Bay’s ultra-serious atmosphere in favor of a fresh, lighter approach.

Monsters Rise It is set in 1994 — thus, seven years later Bumblebeebeyond the former Gulf transformers The film, though neither film is heavily inclined to its chronological setting, other than how it affects the soundtrack (director Stephen Capley Jr. does a great job packing tracks from the Wu-Tang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, and more). And the movie actually begins with an extended prologue that introduces the ultimate clan of robots and monster hybrids, who are fleeing their home planet as it is being destroyed by the evil Whip of Terror (voiced by Peter Dinklage), one of the planet’s most evil henchmen. An entity known as Unicron (voiced by Colman Domingo).

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The Maximals take refuge in a small blue marble called Earth; They do such a good job of the resort that they don’t turn up again for at least another half hour or so. Instead, we meet Noah (Anthony Ramos, who ticked the “lead a big-budget action movie” item on the checklist for all up-and-coming young actors), who will aid his efforts to find a job caring for his mother (Luna Lauren Vélez) and little brother (Dean Scott). Vazquez) will fail. So he agrees to help his friend Rick (Toby Noegwe) boost a Porsche that’s been hidden away for years… a Porsche that turns out to be a Transformer Mirage.

Mirage is overjoyed that he is no longer trapped in a parking garage, and after using his special abilities (such as the ability to project multiple versions of himself, as well as generic Transformers-ing) to get Noah out of a law enforcement jam, he quickly forms a bond with the bewildered human. It’s the Mirage that convinces Optimus Prime and the other Transformers who happen to be hiding on Earth to allow Noah to help them track down the Trans-Warp Key, an alien device that has just been activated by intrepid museum researcher Elena (Dominique Fishback) and can help the Transformers find a way back to their home planet.

A treasure hunt and treasure hunt ensues, with Noah and Elena agreeing to help both the Transformers and the now-no longer hiding superpowers. This is still, of course, the kind of movie where a bad guy would say a line like “Once I have the key, I’ll rule on my own” — it’s a movie about giant robots, robots, and giant hybrids getting into fights that, frankly, would be disappointing if there weren’t any. least file a little So. monsters He still manages to keep things light, and Davidson’s work is a big part of that.

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Transformers: Rise of the Monsters (Paramount)