TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS

Here's the decision. This is a four-star crowd-pleaser — a rollercoaster of an adventure that ebbs and flows with the fight, builds to a big final battle full of cheer-out-loud surprises, and puts a real heart underneath the metal. The good guys are fighting to preserve life against a villain bent on consuming it, and the movie honors sacrifice for others every step of the way.

The costs are modest but worth knowing. There are 21 obscenities and one light profanity, a good deal of action violence between robots, and the supervillain, Unicron, is called a god. A minor character tosses out a couple of yoga-mysticism comments. It's not squeaky-clean, and the language is why this isn't a film for your youngest.

So: if your kids are old enough to handle the rough words and the intensity, this is a genuinely fun night out. For older children, watch it together and be ready to talk. For little ones, wait.

A band of robots shaped like animals — the Maximals — flee their home planet to escape Unicron, a planet-devouring giant who wants their Transwarp Key, a device that lets them travel across space and time to preserve life.

Thousands of years later, in 1994, a young ex-military electronics expert named Noah and a young archeologist named Elena, both from Brooklyn, find themselves swept up with Optimus Prime and the Autobots. Together they race to keep the Transwarp Key — and Earth itself — out of Unicron's grasp. The chase runs from a New York museum all the way to the mountains of Peru.

Four stars, and here's what they buy you. The movie sends moviegoers on a genuine roller coaster of emotions — the fight with the bad guys ebbs and flows, the stakes feel real, and the good side takes real losses before the tide turns. A fan-favorite Autobot falls; Optimus Prime himself is nearly finished off.

Then comes the payoff. The final big battle carries some exciting, crowd-cheering surprises that turn things for the heroes and will pull cheers right out of the audience. It's confident popcorn filmmaking that knows exactly what it's for and delivers it.

Underneath the spectacle, this is a surprisingly moral story. Its dominant worldview is strongly pro-life: the heroes are fighting to preserve life against a godlike supervillain who exists to destroy and consume it. Better still, the film exalts sacrifice — a leader lays down his life so others can escape — and carries redemptive echoes of death and resurrection. There's even a passing nod to a church. For a summer blockbuster, that's a lot of the right instincts.

The blemishes are real but contained. The supervillain, Unicron, is called a god once or twice — a false, pagan note in a story that otherwise honors self-giving love. A minor character makes a couple of comments about yoga mysticism. And a street thug justifies stealing cable signals because he "hates capitalism," a throwaway line more silly than sinister.

The heart of the film is that fight to preserve life against something that only devours. Scripture names both sides of that battle plainly: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). The self-sacrifice this movie cheers points, however dimly, toward the One who laid down His life to save many.

This one's a blast — a four-star adventure with a real pro-life heart and a battle-worn love of sacrifice underneath all the explosions. The rough language and intensity are why it isn't for the little ones, so gather the older kids, watch together, and stay for the surprises. Our answer stands: worth the trip — ages 12 and up.