Steven Caple Jr: If I can’t find myself in a story, I won’t get involved

Whether it is a moving character study, an independent film about relationships or a large-scale cinematic event like The Transformers, an artist invariably pours a little of themselves into their art. “Every project that I say yes to has a piece of me in it; if I can’t find myself in a story then I won’t get involved. This film, as massive as it is, is no exception,” says Steven Caple Jr, the director of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

The seventh instalment in the Transformers franchise opened worldwide on June 9. Apart from being a commercial success, the film was lauded for providing fresh vigour to the franchise. The film is based on the 1996 animated television series Beast Wars: Transformers, which introduces a new group of Transformers known as Maximals. As someone who grew up watching the animated series, Caple wanted to capture the nostalgia of his childhood by setting the film itself in the nineties. He explains, “Everything I put in this film is something specific to how I grew up, from the colours to the settings to, of course, the 90s hip-hop soundtrack. Every person you see here is, in some way, a reflection of a real person from one of our upbringings. With this film, we set out to make something authentic, which captures that unique, nostalgic, beautiful experience of being a kid in the 90s.”

The connection to the 90s extends far beyond being just an aesthetic choice, as the director reveals how one of the central characters in the film was a homage to his producer and predecessor Michael Bay. Talking about how he came up with the idea of making the Transformer Mirage as a Porsche 911, Caple says, “It’s actually a homage to Michael Bay’s Bad Boys. That movie was my first real introduction to Porsche, and when I saw it, I was like, ‘Damn, Will Smith is driving a really cool car!’ So I thought it would be fun to pay homage in that way.” The character of Mirage, who becomes the connection between Transformers and humans, was further developed by Pete Davidson. The director reveals how Pete brought his stand-up comic flair and memories of his own childhood to the character. “Pete brought a lot of unique ideas to the table. He came up with the idea of paying homage to the era by adding a lot of funny ’90s references, like Jim Carrey in The Mask, and some Adam Sandler characters. So we played with that throughout his recordings,” he reveals.

Action being a staple part of the Transformers franchise, the expectations around Rise of the Beasts were understandably high, and judging by the response, Steven Caple Jr seems to have met these expectations. The director attributes his flair for filming action scenes to his days spent directing Creed 2. Talking about the evolution from crafting personal hand-to-hand combats to giant robots shooting laser cannons at each other, Caple says, “I learned a lot from Creed 2. Every fight mattered in that movie. It wasn’t just punching for the sake of punching. You want to make sure the audience understands exactly what the characters are fighting for.”

The film shows Optimus Prime years before he develops empathy and warmth towards humans. Caple reveals how Maximals— in particular the character Optimus Primal— was fundamental to inciting Optimus Prime’s character evolution. The film begins with an irate Prime, who then gradually learns to understand the beauty of humanity through Primal by the end. The director explains, “Primal understands humanity and all the global threats we face better than Prime does, and he knows we need to work together. So that’s probably one of the biggest surprises people will find when they watch the film. Prime and Primal are not buddies at the jump. We see the origin story of how they unite.”

The film ends on a high note, promising a bigger cinematic universe, with an unexpected crossover. “It’s such a big universe, and now every time I watch the old animated series, I think to myself, how can we bring that into the live-action films?' signs off Caple, with a hint of optimism that lends the future of the series a sense of hope and childlike joy.