Transformers One
This animated Transformers movie is definitely aimed at the younger end of the audience, and while it starts off fairly unmemorably, the second half provides some interesting insight into the origins of the Cybertronian civil war.
Premise: On the Transformers’ home-world of Cybertron, Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) work underground as Energon miners, while their leader, Sentinel Prime (voiced by Jon Hamm), searches the planet’s surface for the lost Matrix of Leadership. But an unexpected chain of events leads to Orion Pax, D-16, B-127 (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) and Elita-1 (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) embarking on their own quest to the surface.
Review:
This movie is, for all intents and purposes, entirely unconnected to the live-action Transformers movies (which themselves have veered into prequel territory with 2018’s Bumblebee and 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts). In many ways, Transformers One feels more like a spiritual prequel to the 1986 animated film The Transformers: The Movie, which for my generation was a cornerstone of our childhood viewing choices. Like the 1986 movie, Transformers One may not necessarily draw in many teenage/adult viewers, but for younger audiences, there’s plenty to enjoy (as well as some unexpected edge in the second half).
The first act of the movie is, from an adult viewer’s perspective, the weakest section as it focuses on the friendship between Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) and the hijinks they get up to (which includes illegally gatecrashing a cross-city race). There’s plenty of humour and spectacle that should keep younger viewers engaged, but the “real” story doesn’t begin until the duo make an unexpected discovery that leads them, their mining supervisor Elita-1 (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), and an eccentric garbage operative B-127 (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) to the surface of the planet.
“…the movie’s second half doesn’t shy away from some more morally complex issues…”
From there, the movie really starts to find its feet, with revelations about the history of the Transformers, the fate of the original Primes, and the war with the Quintessons. It also becomes far more interesting when it starts digging into the events and motivations that transform (no pun intended) the lowly miners Orion Pax and D-16 into the mythical figures Optimus Prime and Megatron. Brian Tyree Henry has the showier role, charting his character’s descent from genial miner to bitter radical, but Chris Hemsworth also gives a very subtle performance as his character grows from being an immature, happy-go-lucky rogue to a respected leader.
Although there’s no doubt that the opening section of the film is very “kiddy-friendly”, this is arguably only to set up the contrast between the light-hearted humour that the characters display in the opening section, compared to the moral rift which opens up between the two main characters as the movie progresses. Looking at the grey areas between justice, vengeance, punishment and retribution, the movie’s second half doesn’t shy away from some more morally complex issues, and also does a pretty decent job of giving D-16/Megatron an understandable (if not acceptable) moral viewpoint for the extremist that he becomes.
“…has enough to keep older Transformers fans engaged too…”
The impressive voice-cast is rounded off by Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, with Steve Buscemi appearing as Starscream and Laurence Fishburne appearing as a figure from Cybertron’s past, so there’s certainly no shortage of talent in this movie. But ultimately, the fact that this is an animated movie may put off most older viewers – but if you do have a younger relative that wants to see this movie, stick with it through the weaker opening section, and the rest certainly has enough to keep older Transformers fans engaged too.
