The Transformers have become entirely animated on the big screen with a prequel film, “Transformers One.” Set entirely on the planet Cybertron, it told the origin story of the robots in disguise, focusing on how Optimus Prime and Megatron became sworn enemies.
The film was directed by Josh Cooley, who also directed “Toy Story 4.” The film starred Chris Hemsworth as Optimus Prime and Bryan Tyree Henry as Megatron. It was the first “Transformers” film since 2023’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.”
Highs
The film expertly knew how to be a prequel, understanding the balance needed between referencing the franchise and being a fresh, standalone story. The film focused on the ideological and world-building reasons behind the conflict between Autobots and Decepticons, breathing complexity into it, and presenting it as less black and white than expected.
This was mainly done by having Optimus and Megatron’s relationship act as the emotional core. They started off alien because of how audiences are familiar with them. Both underdogs, they were lifelines for each other in a monotonous world. As they dealt with the politics of Cybertron, their relationship slowly burned away, lending the film a heavy emotional weight and impactful character arcs.
Benefitting these, the film was cleverly plotted. Despite being a prequel, the twists managed to be surprising and satisfying. As previously stated, the film’s conflict was not simply heroes vs villains, this played into the plot as well as battle lines were often blurry.
Along with strong conflict, the film was incredibly humorous. The jokes were well placed amongst the action and emotion, lending to a well balanced tone. It tastefully used running gags, using them enough to make them funnier each time, but not so much as to get annoying. Bumblebee was an especially funny character, yapping his way across Cybertron.
All this was done with a beautifully immersive animated world. Truly, the ideal medium to tell a story on Cybertron. It made use of bright, vibrant colors and luminosity to make each scene eye-catching. And it was realistic enough to be well-textured but stylized enough to be cohesive.
Lows
“Transformers One" needed stronger voice acting. Though there were some decent performances, such as Scarlett Johansson as Elita and Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, by and large, the voice cast struggled to match the emotional weight of their characters. In particular, Hemsworth was miscast as Optimus, struggling to keep a consistent accent and coming off as a bit flat.
The film’s action sequences were fast, way too fast. This wasn’t just because of how quickly the characters were moving, but also because of how quickly the camera moved. Arguably, the characters should move fast for a sense of realism, so that wasn’t necessarily a problem. But had the camera remained more static, it would have made the battles easier to keep up with.
Verdict
Vastly superior to Michael Bay’s live-action Transformers films, though that is admittedly a low bar. “Transformers One” was the origin story the Transformers needed, adding lore and context that enriches these characters and this world, while having a strong enough plot and pathos to be enjoyed without prior knowledge of “Transformers.” “Transformers” began as a cartoon, and “Transformers One” proved that the series still thrives in its root medium.
Rating: 8 out of 10.
