When it comes to how the Transformers themselves has fared in the world of medium, the one area where they managed to fit themselves the most admirably is with animation. Between the classic 1984 cartoon and the 1986 animated feature film, those were able to bring out the best in the Autobots themselves. By placing colorful characters in colorful environments with bright textures and imaginative cybertronic worlds, that is the area which best suits the Transformers we all know and love.
All of which is quite odd how it has taken literally 38 (!!) years before we FINALLY got a proper theatrically released animated Transformers film. We’ve gotten SEVEN live-action Transformers film, all of which (outside of the superb Bumblebee) ranged from decent to guilty pleasure to outright bad to downright abysmal. And at least 90% of those couldn’t come close to topping an animated flick from the 1980s, which basically acted as a toy commercial for the animated series. Nevertheless, director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) has finally stepped up and gave us all an animated Transformers film in the year 2024 with Transformers One….and it’s actually pretty darn good.
It’s certainly no masterpiece and not gonna change anyone’s viewpoint to those that have never been fond of the brand but for longtime fans of the franchise and even newcomers, Transformers One should definitely leave them with a smile on their face. It’s able to avoid most of the trappings that most prequel origin stories fall victim to, the world of Cybertron has never been more intriguing to explore, the main autobots we follow get their own unique development and moments to shine, and it’s able to stand strong as it’s own unique, enjoyable flick while leaving room for potential sequels and spin-offs. I don’t know if this is my absolute favorite of all the Transformers movies (I still have more of a soft spot for the Transformers meets E.T. and The Iron Giant riff known as Bumblebee!) but it certainly comes close and will make you realize the full potential of an animated Transformers cinematic universe.
Premise: Brothers-in-arms Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Bryan Tyree Henry) become sworn enemies Optimus Prime and Megatron.
The most unique aspect of Transformers One is how it’s willing to tell it’s origin story of the early days of the Autobots without making the required plot elements feel like things that need to be checked off of a list that has to happen in a Transformers prequel. The major turning points we already know is going to happen such as Optimus Prime turning into a noble leader, Megatron turning into his villainous self, the war on Cybertron, and all the Transformers turning into their iconic selfs, is all in the service for it’s central story about betrayal, deception, and gaining optimism when both of those things occurred.
So much so that the overall premise of seeing Prime and Megatron going from allies to enemies is actually pushed to the wayside. The major of the focus is centered on Orion Pax, D-16, Elita-1, B-127, before they become Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee (Elita is still the same!), looking to retake Cybertron having it’s been corrupted by Sentinel Prime, a leader that they once looked up to and respected from down below. The actual evolution of Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively, seeing the former growing into the ultimate hero and the latter growing into the ultimate villain, is more of a psychological conflict as the events of the war of Cybertron are happening around them and the ways they respond to it. It’s done so well that I was shocked how invested I was when that relationship does take an inevitable dark turn during a key turning point moment. That in of itself allows the majority of the runtime being spend on fleshing out the main Autobots and fleshing out the world of Cybertron in ways that hasn’t been done before in a Transformers movie.
It does start off a bit rough though, mostly leaning into the water-down comedy and slapstick that the trailers and marketing put a major focus on. There’s only so much one can take of seeing Optimus Prime in his more kid friendly self and being unable to actually transform before it gets tiring. It’s elements like that that let many people question, including myself, of whether or not an animated Transformers prequel could actually work. Thankfully, once the ball starts rolling, and the grand mission gets revealed of what needs to be done, the film committees to it’s drama to a surprising degree without letting it’s more family friendly tone and humor weigh it down.
The animation is beautifully done, being able to portray Cybertron as a very colorful landscape environment that makes one all the more curious to explore that world. The film’s unique animated style also helps the Transformers stand out much better with their designs, making one clearly different than another and very rarely making you feel like you forgot which Transformers is suppose to be which. The Autobots have never looked more appealing in film form. Not to mention, the action is able to stand out pretty well with plenty of fun fight sequences and spectacle battles, although you can tell the animators do clearly like them robot parts coming off. This was clearly a labor of love from Mr. Cooley and he shows once again why animation can and should be viewed as a top tier art form.
When it comes to the voice cast, it’s….adequate for the most part. It will definitely take getting used to hearing our beloved autobots and eventual deceptions before they grow into their badass vocal cords. Not to mention, the celebrity heavy cast is clearly on display, with hardly anyone sounding any different than these actors usually are in anything else. Even so, you can tell most of them are having fun, which makes it slightly more forgivable.
Chris Hemsworth is having a good time at playing a younger version of Optimus Prime and subtlety does start to sound more like the iconic Peter Cullen as the movie goes on. Brian Tyree Henry gives one of the funniest and most unique voice performances of 2024 as D-16/Megatron. Scarlett Johansson stands out in incredibly amusing ways as the girlbot Elita-1 (including one big plot beat or moment designed to trigger die hard cultural warriors). Keegan-Michael Key’s Bumblebee can get a bit tiring after awhile but he’s able to make his typical brand off humor work with the character. Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime is exactly what you expect for any role that Jon Hamm takes with a character in complete control of power. Also, did you know that Soundwave is voiced by the Honest Trailer voice guy.
While it does fall short in being the Into the Spider-Verse/The Last Wish/Mutant Mayhem animated gamechanger it clearly wants to be, Transformers One delivers the action, laughs, and heart you could possibly want from an animated Transformers movie. The origins story of the early days of the Autobots is told remarkably well with hardly any beats feeling like they are in there just because it’s an origin story, the animation is gorgeous, all the Transformers get there own moments to shine, and the overall theme of different ideologies can get the best/worst out of us all is one that surprisingly works wonderfully for a Transformers movie. Plus, unlike Transformers One, you can jump right into the story and not feel lost.
It does take a while to get going and the celebrity filled voice cast, while fun, definitely doesn’t hold a candle to previous voice cast for Transformers but for those that want an animated flick with our favorite Autobots that has them front and center with no human presence to wear it down, Transformers One is definitely the Transformers movie for you.
Other comments:
- Also, I think parents should beware that there is quite a bit of swearing in the movie. It’s mostly mild swear words such as “hell”, “damn”, and “ass” but they are in there.
- Like Bumblebee spends over half of the movie referring to himself as the BADASS-ATRON!
- I imagine parents will be as stunned of such swearing as the parents in my screening for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish were.
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