Transformers One

The Transformers we always meant to just be a toy line. After Star Wars blew up the industry by having characters you see on screen also be a toy in your hand, there was no looking back as it’s still a practice that exists today. Now, several toy-lines and decades later. Oh and of course after a series of terrible Michael Bay mash-ups in live action, the beloved robots-in-disguise are back in animated form as they were in the beginning when it was all about selling almost impossible plastic puzzle changing robots into every kids favorite toy, a cassette tape.

Transformers One (all I can gather from this title is that it’s supposed to signal that its a prequel, and that Transformers Zero didn’t test well enough) tells the untold story of the origin of Optimus Prime and Megatron, two sworn enemies that used to be best buds. You can tell because they fist-bump a lot throughout the movie.

Anyway here in the past on planet Cybertron, Prime, known as Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron known as D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) are miner bots who do not yet have the ability to transform like their heroes, the original Primes. They work mining energon to help fund the war with the Quintessons as their leader Sentinel Prime (John Hamm) searches for the mythological matrix of leadership. The pair come across a map when they meet up with fellow garbage worker B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key) soon the be known as Bumblebee. Together they journey to the surface while bringing on an reluctant bot Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) to search for the one thing that bring all of Cybertron together as one (Hey! Maybe that’s what the One in the title is supposed to mean).

Now, even though I sound a bit down on the franchise of the Transformers and even the complex changing toys, I really, really, loved the Transformers. And in a lot of ways I still have a reverence for them all these years later. But I loved the animated show back in the day, with its cool characters, legendary voice acting and incredible storytelling. The mythology even though it was ever-changing depending on what new toys they wanted to sell us, I was always pulled in, whether it was in cartoon or later comic book form. They were just great archetypes for a young mind to grab onto.

Now with this film Transformers One, I have to say, after all the Michael Bay madness, they finally got it right. It’s still without a doubt, aimed at kids with its crazy action, silly humor and simple script. But somehow it still manages to pull in any age audience with its characters and fantastic world building. The origins of Cybertron and the relationship between Prime and Megatron is explored in a fascinating and fun way. It’s mainly brothers-in-arms become rivals story, but how we get there is very entertaining. Directed by Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) backed by a team of writers from the MCU, they do what they do best. Tell an exciting origin while setting up a world with pockets of intrigue for later films and introduce a mysterious villain who somehow are not the main antagonists. It was interesting to see this as more of a Megatron story, which really works for it as his arc is the most powerful by the end. Also being a fan of the franchise for so long I was impressed with the bravery it took to tackle this unknown, previously non-cannon story and have it brought to the forefront. Having Optimus Prime and Megatron being best friends only to know where they end up plays out very well when it could easily have gone sideways. They don’t betray the characters or their past as we know it. Especially since they don’t withhold the eventual fallout for two to three movies in, you see it unravel here. And I have to say, only a mild spoiler, but when the two become the Transformers we now know them as, it was some next level Godfather/Matrix vibes going on there. It was incredible to see it play out in that way.

Unlike the ’86 animated film, there is no hair-band synth-soundtrack, no “You got the Touch” theme, but as we did get screen legends in the voice cast like Robert Stack, Leonard Nimoy, and Orson Welles. Today’s young audiences my recognize Thor and Black Widow trading blows and sarcastic comments as two of the main characters. I do wish John Hamm, well, hammed it up a bit more for his character. But the voice cast is solid, even rounding it out with its own legends like Laurence Fishburne and Steve Buscemi. Overall, this is a great return to form, even though I really enjoyed the last two live action films Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts, with Transformers One they are on track to transforming these beloved characters back to the robots-in-disguise we all know and love.