Transformers One: Best Outing in The Franchise
One of the highlights of the film is the action, once again, owing its prowess to animation
Director: Josh Cooley
Run Time: 1 hour 44 mins
Transformers One expertly taps into and delivers the origin story that the franchise could have started with when it appeared as a feature film in the 2000s for a new generation. Ignore how large Cybertron is and the difficulty of displaying that in live action because similar to Across The Spider-Verse, audiences are once again witnessing the power and efficiency of animated film. Transformers One is convincing, fast-paced, layered, and a joy to keep up with.
Through narration, the film opens with exposition to catch audiences up on the basics. Cybertron was once a peaceful society, protected by guardian Primes who fought to protect their plant. During a larger war, some of them sacrificed their lives and all-spark, while also losing access to energon at the same time. Only one Prime, named Sentinel (voiced by Jon Hamm), survives.
Sentinel Prime graciously takes on the role of protector and cheerleader, encouraging the workers of Cybertron to mine daily in order to maintain the reduced flow of energon. Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) is the dreamer of the film and knows there’s more to this story, but after recruiting D-16 (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) for a mission, they begin to discover the truth about their planet.
Transformer films typically don’t show the daily life of autobots or their levels of hierarchy and class, so this film's choice to spend most of its time with Pax and D-16, two autobots of millions without a spark, is a change of pace. They are basically grunt workers and it seems most of the planet fits the same role.
The voice actor highlights are definitely Tyree and Keegan-Michael Key as B-127. One aspect that sets them apart from others is the internal trajectory of their characters. It’s steeper so there’s more to work with. Hemsworth is still endearing, passionate, commanding, while Scarlett Johansson as the voice of Elita-1 is direct and upstanding, but her character, along with a few others, don’t experience as much growth during the narrative. Regardless, Transformers One is a fun blend of well-known and seasoned actors and voice actors, with snappy dialogue, superb sound design, and energetic soundtrack.
One of the highlights of the film is the action, once again, owing its prowess to animation. The transformations and fights are enthralling and it’s especially fun to follow along and see the capabilities of transformers as they develop. There are tons of references here and a real respect for the franchise.
There are purposeful jokes and puns for adults that are slightly obvious, but not a distraction. An early screening crowd with a range of ages and backgrounds enjoyed every minute. Transformers One speaks to superfans, newcomers, those who grew up with the 80s TV series and films, and even the Michael Bay era. This movie is made for everyone.
3.5 out of 5
