Movie Review – Transformers One
Principal Cast : Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Hamm, Vanessa Liguori, Jon Bailey, Jason Konopisos-Alvarez, Evan Michael Lee, James Remar, Isaac C Singleton Jr, Steve Blum, Jinny Chung, Josh Cooley.
Synopsis: The untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but who once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever.
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Holy mother of Megatron, I think Hollywood is finally starting to get it. And by Hollywood, I mean Paramount, rightholders to the popular Transformers franchise, who have by and large stumbled into bonafide box office gold while delivering films many regard as absolute trash – including yours truly. Michael Bay’s live-action Transformers films were enormously successful and yet reviled by most who saw them, and anyone who sat through 2023’s Rise Of The Beasts with their intelligence intact is doing better than I. About the only legitimately great Transformers film to date was 2018’s Travis Knight-directed Bumblebee, thanks largely to the chemistry between human star Hailee Steinfeld and her CG accomplice, the titular Bumblebee. Now, the franchise has taken a fresh new turn, with a return to animated big-screen filmmaking in the form of Transformers One, an origin story set on Cybertron (so no, there thankfully are no humans to be seen here) and telling the story of how Optimus Prime and Megatron, leaders of the Autobots and Decepticons respectively, came to their legendary enmity, and how a fractured friendship would set both parties on an enduring collision course. And boy, this one is an absolute cracker.
Plot synopsis courtesy Wikipedia: The film is set on Cybertron, a technologically advanced world powered by Energon, and reveals how the eventual leaders of the Autobots and Decepticons were once inseparable allies. Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) is a diligent Energon miner, driven by an unyielding curiosity about Cybertron’s past and the legendary Matrix of Leadership. His best friend, D-16 (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry), works alongside him in the mines, and the two share a brotherly bond. Together, they navigate the oppressive rule of Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm), a duplicitous leader who secretly collaborates with alien invaders, the Quintessons, to maintain his dominion over Cybertron. Sentinel sacrifices the well-being of the planet’s miners, stripping them of their ability to transform and suppressing their freedom in exchange for power. When Orion and D-16 discover evidence of Sentinel’s treachery, including his betrayal of the ancient Primes and the theft of their transformation-enabling cogs, they are thrust into a perilous journey. Guided by the wisdom of ancient warrior Alpha Trion (Laurence Fishburne), and joined by allies like Elita (Scarlett Johansson), Bumblebee (Keegan-Michael Key), and Jazz (Evan Michael Lee), the two attempt to expose Sentinel and restore Cybertron’s balance.
The hardest part of making a Transformers property is giving these sentient robots some agency, something Michael Bay was largely unable to achieve when he wasn’t trying to turn Shia LaBeouf into a stammering imbecile, or Mark Wahlberg into a statutory rape apologist. Giant talking fighting robots have an intrinsic problem as characters, for the most part, in that in giving them any kind of humanoid emotional content or neutering them somehow removes the viewer’s emotional investment in their plight, such as it was in almost all the previous live-action instalments. The writers of those films (Bumblebee excepted) didn’t know how to make us care about Optimus Prime or his cohort of fellow sentient automatons, turning them from powerful forces for good or evil into cheesy, derivative one-dimensional archetypes. This might work for the likes of Megatron, but half the problem Bay’s films had was turning Optimus, the proud and fierce leader of the Autobots, into a one-note rallying-cry delivery mechanism. In Transformers One, director Josh Cooley and writers Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari have stripped the property back to its roots – removing hopeless humans from the story is key to the film’s success, I think – and given us a prequel-slash-origin tale, imbuing it with very real human emotional qualities. Some might snigger that a giant robotic miner might have hopes and dreams, but the filmmakers here make us care for Orion Pax and D-16, thanks not only to the solid writing and carefully constructed “brotherhood” subtext but also the terrific vocal performances of Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry.
They are abetted by a stacked vocal cast including a terrific Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee (who has all the funniest lines), Steve Buscemi as Starscream (who gains his legendary voice in a remarkably surprising manner), and Jon Hamm chewing scenery as the duplicitous Sentinel Prime, one-time Cybertron hero who is really in league with the evil Quintessons. Hearing the voice of Soundwave from Jon Bailey gave me 80’s-kid chills, while Scarlett Johansson, as Alita, is excellent in what the film asks of her. Bryan Tyree Henry is rock-solid as D-16/Megatron, and takes his character from a fairly mild protagonist, the… er, transformation of the character into Megatron is totally earned and believable, and finally makes me, a long time fan of the original cartoon and film, understand why he hates Optimus so much. The film is an ideologue’s paradise, with both the competing belief structures of Optimus and Megatron fighting for the same goal turning the story, and their legendary animosity, into a truly Shakespearean tragedy. Holding the film on his broad Australian shoulders, however, is Chris Hemsworth, who takes over from stalwart vocal superstar Peter Cullen as the voice of Pax/Optimus Prime. While it’s fair to say Hemsworth’s Aussie drawl peeks through from time to time, he really does embody that powerfully heroic primal figurehead of the Autobots, and imbues the character with his own stamp of authority. It must have been daunting to take on such a singularly iconic role, but I think Hemsworth absolutely nails it.
The film gives us Pax and D-16 as friends, colleagues and buddies for the most part, getting into mischief and rebellion with enough sly humour and buddy-comedy laughs you connect with them almost immediately. The mythology of Cybertron, from the Primes to the Quintessons and all the storied history of the franchise, is delivered in a quick and easy-to-understand way that never feels like it’s bogged down in legacy (despite being absolutely rooted in the franchise’s forty year existence). This allows even the most unfamiliar audience member to feel like they can understand what’s going on, and the connective tissue of the film’s layered narrative, while perhaps leaning too heavily into well-worn tropes of the genre, feels enthusiastic and fresh. There’s an… excuse me, allspark here that… um, excuse me again… energon-ises the property in a new way, and despite my terrible Transformers puns I can say without hesitation that this is easily the best written, and best performed film in the post-Bay era to-date.
Equal to the terrific writing is the attention to detail in the animation, with this all-CG affair striking a solid balance between modern techniques and effects with the original 80’s cartoon simplicity of design. Optimus and Megatron have incredibly iconic silhouettes, and the film nails their slight redesign with exquisite skill. It should also be noted that the majority of the original Gen 1 Transformers, from Soundwave, Jazz, Starscream and Elita, all retain their fan-favourite looks, tweaked with the aesthetic of the film’s overall design but instantly recognisable. The animation itself is superb, offering eye-watering action and visual effects alongside tremendously effective editorial flourishes – the film moves like an out of control train, punching well above its weight for what is likely seen as a “kids film” (it isn’t, let’s be honest), and if this is where the franchise is headed in the future you can absolutely count me in for the ride. Transformers One doesn’t just reset the big-screen adventures of everyone’s favourite robots in disguise, I think it resets our expectations of what can be achieved with great writing and story potential to a franchise that’s nearly as old as I am. There’s a lot of life left in Optimus, Megatron, Bumblebee and Starscream yet, and I’m hoping the quality of this film prompts Paramount and Hasbro to recognise that giving audiences a quality product (as opposed to absolute CG slop) is the preferred option for all. Decepticons, rise up! Transformers One is a blast.
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