Transformers One (2024) Review: A Visually Stunning Animated Prequel With Solid Character Arcs and Thrilling Action Scenes
It’s hard to believe Transformers One marks only the second full-length animated feature in 38 years since The Transformers: The Movie in 1986. That movie, of course, was a notorious flop upon its release at the time with its darker-than-usual themes including the unexpected death of a beloved character. Going against the grains is bound to be a risky move. But personally, I applaud director Nelson Shin for taking the otherwise kid-friendly Transformers to the next level, a result that I still find the 1986 animated feature remains the best in the franchise since the iconic Generation One series, which ran four seasons from 1984 to 1987.
Nearly forty years later, Transformers One chooses a more tried-and-tested formula for the untold origin story of pre-Optimus Prime and Megatron, re-imagining their characters as best friends. Narrative tropes about friends becoming enemies are nothing new as seen in live-action movies and animations from X-Men: First Class to Spider-Man 3, The Social Network and The Fox and the Hound. But the key to turning this oft-told story lies in the strong character arcs that made us invested in the trials and tribulations of a friendship.
And for that, director Josh Cooley of Toy Story 4 fame, working from Ant-Man and the Wasp (!) screenwriters Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, does a better-than-expected job establishing the brotherhood between Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) right from the get-go. Sure, the trailer did them and the movie’s overall tone no favour with the heavy emphasis on cringey humour and wisecracking jokes. The comedy-heavy approach remains present in the finished product, especially in the first half and could have toned down for its own good.
But if you can get past them, you will be rewarded with a surprisingly well-told story that benefits from Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry’s spot-on voice performances. I have initial doubts about them voicing the two main characters. But casting Hemsworth and Henry turns out to be an unexpectedly right choice after all (no disrespect to the great Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, who still and will always be my numero unos for the respective voices of Optimus Prime and Megatron in the Transformers franchise).
Their charming, brotherly chemistry helps elevate the characters and by the time when the inevitable happens, their subsequent torn and ill-fated friendship resulted in one of the most — I can’t believe I’m saying this — heartbreaking moments ever seen in the Transformers franchise. It works well because the story effectively justifies D-16’s slow descent into darkness. How and what causes D-16 to go a complete 180-degree turn that forever alters his perspective would be spoiler territory so I’ll leave it to you to find out for yourself.
What I can say here about the story is Transformers One takes place entirely on the planet of Cybertron, where Orion Pax and D-16 work as miners mining energon, the crystal-like cube of an all-encompassing power source. As with the rest of the miners, they don’t possess the “cogs” — the bio-mechanisms necessary to transform them from robots into any form of vehicular structures. They are akin to lowly civilians and worker robots.
But Orion Pax, who is prone to looking for trouble and breaking rules, is particularly fascinated with the all-important Matrix of Leadership, which would later become his quest of locating the powerful artefact. Together with the reluctant D-16 alongside mining supervisor Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) and outcast B-127 a.k.a. Bumblebee (Keegan-Michael Key), they set out on an uncharted territory and subsequently learn the truth that changes the fate of Cybertron.
The first half of the movie focuses on the banter between Orion Pax and D-16 and the subsequent introduction of B-127, who loves to call himself “Badassatron” (a recurring joke that gets old pretty fast) and serves as a comic relief. I find the latter annoying as if Keegan-Michael Key tries so hard to sound hip and funny. The mix of lighthearted comedy and broad humour has the feel and tone reminiscent of an overly jokey MCU-style movie — again with the involvement of Ant-Man and the Wasp screenwriters, which may be a turn-off for die-hard fans and some viewers.
And yet, the first half has its few entertaining moments (the scene where Orion Pax and D-16 crash into the Iacon 5000 racing competition comes to mind) while the computer-generated animation looks stunning on IMAX. The same also goes for the thrillingly staged action sequences, offering enough visual clarity and dynamic camerawork. As mentioned earlier, it was Orion Pax and D-16’s friendship that binds everything together and the story gets progressively better once they meet the elderly Alpha Trion (Laurence Fishburne in his commanding voice performance).
From there, the movie embraces the shifting tone from a lighthearted and comedic action-adventure to a dark and mature storytelling approach, notably on D-16’s murky path filled with hatred and dissent. Then, there’s the third act — easily the best and most crucial part of Transformers One, as Cooley culminates in Orion Pax and D-16’s eventual bitter rivalry, complete with an emotional gut-punch of seeing their once-supportive friendship always looking out for each other, has now become sworn enemies.
Don’t forget to stick around for not the mid-credits and post-credits stingers.
