Transformers One (2024)
Directed by: Josh Cooley
Premise: An animated prequel to the Transformers series. Orion Pax (voice of Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (voice of Brian Tyree Henry) are mining robots who set on an adventure that will lead to them becoming Optimus Prime and Megatron.
What Works: Beginning with the 2007 film directed by Michael Bay, Transformers One is the eighth film in the series and it is easily the best of the lot. Many of the previous Transformers films were overlong and lacked any emotional appeal; they were exercises in mayhem and many of these movies were about as appealing as watching metal grind against metal for two and half hours. Transformers One is primarily the origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron and that is the strongest aspect of the film. The characters are presented as likable proletariat heroes and the friendship between Orion Pax and D-16 has humor and a human touch. The filmmakers manage the exposition well enough. At the opening of this story, Orion Pax and D-16 are friends working in the mines of Cybertron. The planet’s naturally occurring source of energy has disappeared and the robots extract deposits of energy rich minerals. Orion Pax and D-16 are low level miners looking to prove themselves and improve their lot in life and they inadvertently discover the exploitative truth about their society. The friendship story and the larger political story fit together with each element informing the other. As Orion Pax and D-16 evolve into Optimus Prime and Megatron we can see their friendship breaking up and it is surprisingly affecting. The movie has the action and speed that viewers look for in this kind of film but unlike a lot of the Bay-directed films, Transformers One has a sense of pacing and stakes that keeps it fun.
What Doesn’t: The dialogue and mannerisms of the characters in Transformers One are very human and contemporary. They speak with twenty-first century human slang and use gestures like fist bumps. It is oddly specific since this story takes place long ago on another planet. The dialogue is also quite different from the way Optimus Prime and Megatron speak in the other Transformers movies. Although this prequel is much better than the live action movies directed by Michael Bay, Transformers One does carry one of the key flaws of those films: the frantic action scenes. The set pieces aren’t nearly as overwrought as some of Bay’s films but the movement and the editing are so fast that some of the action becomes impossible to follow.
Bottom Line: Transformers One is an entertaining prequel that stands on its own. While still a little too kinetic for its own good, this picture is more fun and engaging than many of the other Transformers films.
Episode: #1015 (September 29, 2024)