Transformers One Movie Review: If I may be honest, I walked into Transformers One with zero expectations. The trailers did look good but over the past few years, films of renowned franchises have not lived up to the expectations set by the trailer. However, Transformers One managed to break that streak. Directed by Josh Cooley, the film is a hoot!
The animated sci-fi film is voiced by actors Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm. As we already know, this one is an origin film and roots back to how Orion Pax became Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and D16 aka Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) came into being. We also meet Elita-1, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, which brought back memories of the OG 6 Marvel days, and B-127 aka Bumblebee, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key.
Transformers One revolves around a group of no-cogs miners who embark on a journey to the surface in the hunt for the Matrix of Leadership. They hope to find it and hand it over to Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm), the head of Cybertron, to revive the Energon rivers. However, their train trip takes a dark turn when they land in a cave with Alpha Trion and the corpses of the original Primes. Their mission takes a new meaning, with the miners not only acquiring cogs but also promising to bring Sentinel down. While Orion remains loyal to the mission, D-16’s intentions get tainted, resulting in an epic climax.
The turn of their hearts, especially in the case of D-16, is organic. Even though fans of the franchise know the outcome, Transformers One doesn’t let the baggage of knowledge from the previous films affect the portrayal of D-16 and Orion’s friendship turned enemity. Director Josh Cooley plays it smart by keeping things as is, thus leaving almost no room for loopholes or timeline issues.
Although it has sprinkles of nostalgia, Transformers One delivers a story that stands out and keeps you hooked. The writing is fresh, crisp, and perfectly layered. It also doesn’t add unnecessary drama to elevate the film. Instead, the time is spent on developing the characters of Orian and D-16 – a welcomed move. The film’s screenplay, written by Eric Pearson along with the writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, holds your attention from the word go. The scenes involving a race sequence in Iacon and the fight sequences that sum up the climax, will have you cheering.
I also enjoyed the dialogues. Instead of constantly resorting to unnecessary callbacks (no MCU film was hurt here), the film had a few original jokes that landed well. Chris and Brian’s camaraderie was fun, whereas, Scarlett voicing the badass metallic warrior was a scene stealer. A special shoutout needs to go out for Keegan-Michael Key for seamlessly carrying the humour aspect of the film on his shoulders.
The world building of Transformers One was interesting to watch, from the visual perspective. The animation was flawless, and the detailing, especially in the scenes involving the battles and mines, is applaud-worthy. Kudos to the visual team on this front.
Transformers One might be one of the most entertaining films of the Transformers franchise. It had the heart of the franchise in place – to keep things fun – which will make fans of the Michael Bay Transformer movies happy. I’d recommend it to everyone. Even if you have not watched the previous Transformers movies, a tad bit of research would be enough to walk into the theatres and watch this one.
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