Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Hamm
Genre: Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Animation, Action, Adventure
Director: Josh Cooley
In Irish Cinemas: Now
Fans might have always understood that the origins of the Transformers franchise began when Hasbro collaborated with a Japanese toy company to import a line of tiny robots that could transform into various vehicles and gadgets. However, the upcoming animated film Transformers One introduces a different fictional backstory for these iconic characters—one that takes place before they even can transform. For most of the film, the characters are technically not Transformers. They are significantly less than the “robots in disguise” we’ve come to know. This is how we are introduced to the franchise’s central figures, Optimus Prime and Megatron. However, in this prequel, they go by different names: Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry). Instead of the leaders of a bitter civil war over their home planet, Cybertron, Orion and D-16 are portrayed as “no-cogs”—a class of robots born without the essential “transformation cog” that would allow them to change into vehicles, like an 18-wheeler truck or a tank.
The inability of Orion and D-16 to transform marks them, along with other “no-cogs,” as lower-class citizens in Cybertronian society. They, and those like them, are relegated to performing menial yet crucial tasks, primarily mining Energon—the vital fuel that powers all life and technology on the planet. Energon, as legend has it, once flowed freely across Cybertron. However, this is repeated so often that if you took a drink every time someone mentioned “flowing Energon” in Transformers One, you’d risk alcohol poisoning. However, 50 “cycles” ago, a catastrophic war with another planet nearly wiped out the ruling “Prime” Transformers, leaving only one survivor. This war severed the once-abundant flow of Energon, plunging the earth into a power crisis. In the aftermath, the all-important “Matrix of Leadership,” which once energised and sustained the entire planet, was also lost. Only one Prime remains—Jon Hamm’s Sentinel Prime—charged with protecting and governing Cybertron while warding off potential alien threats.
In Transformers One, the exposition is delivered early on by Orion Pax, who sneaks into an abandoned archive and stumbles upon a Cybertronian history lesson—essentially a PowerPoint presentation, narrated by Laurence Fishburne. This crash course on Cybertron’s past convinces Pax that he can locate the lost Matrix of Leadership, and with some persuasion, he ropes a hesitant D-16 into joining him on the quest. What follows is a classic adventure filled with high-speed chases, awkward one-liners, and a growing cast of sidekicks. Among them are Elita (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), a self-righteous miner bot, and B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key), a chatty trash incinerator. B-127’s incessant talking isn’t particularly funny, but his nonstop chatter is meant as a wink to long-time Transformers fans since B-127 eventually becomes Bumblebee. Fans know that Bumblebee, in later (but technically earlier) Transformers films, is famously mute, only able to communicate via radio snippets.
Transformers excel more as toys than as movies. As toys, they offer the fun of puzzle-solving, letting you transform a jeep or fighter jet into an intricately designed robot. In contrast, the movies often overwhelm you with convoluted lore about advanced alien machines, leaving little room for engagement. Transformers One, for instance, asserts that these alien robots are “born,” not constructed, which opens up a flood of unanswered questions about how robots reproduce—questions that a PG-rated film isn’t equipped to explore. The movie also introduces the idea of a tiered Transformer society, with a lower class of robots unable to transform due to a flaw in their design. While this concept could have paved the way for a story rich with social or political commentary, Transformers One seems determined to avoid delving into such themes. Instead, it glosses over these intriguing ideas, opting for surface-level action and spectacle rather than exploring the more profound potential of its world-building.
Orion Pax and D-16 eventually gain the cogs that allow them to transform, but this critical moment doesn’t occur until nearly an hour into the 100-minute film. As a result, for most of Transformers One, the film misses out on one of its biggest potential strengths: the limitless creative possibilities of animation. Unlike the physical constraints of a Transformers toy, which must obey the laws of physics and engineering, animated robots can be designed to look and transform in virtually any way imaginable. However, creative freedom is restricted mainly because of the story’s premise. Most of the film is bound by the plot’s limitations, preventing truly inventive character designs from coming to life. There’s only one standout Transformer in the movie—Airachnid, a hovercraft surveillance drone that transforms into a sleek, spider-like robot, bringing a rare spark of uniqueness to the film’s otherwise restrained visual style.
The rest of the main cast in Transformers One is drawn from familiar characters in the universe. However, they appear slightly simplified until they receive their cogs and start to resemble their more iconic versions. Even their signature voices have been recast. Instead of Peter Cullen’s deep, commanding voice for Optimus Prime, Chris Hemsworth offers a younger, somewhat more generic take on the battle-hardened leader. While his performance captures some of Prime’s gravitas, it lacks the weight Cullen brought to the role.
On the other hand, Brian Tyree Henry delivers a standout performance as D-16, infusing his rapid transformation into Megatron with such emotion that you almost believe he could go from Orion’s loyal friend to his bitter enemy in just a few minutes. For the younger core audience, Transformers One is likely to be an enjoyable experience. The film is vibrant and visually energetic, echoing the chaotic action of Michael Bay’s Transformers movies, though thankfully with a more coherent storyline. Still, for franchise fans, a Transformers movie where the characters spend most of the time not transforming may feel like a missed opportunity. One puzzling choice is the repeated use of Bumblebee’s catchphrase, “Badassitron,” in a film aimed at kids and rated PG. While it may seem like harmless fun, it’s easy to predict children imitating the line, which could become an annoyance for parents. Speaking as a parent myself, this type of humour quickly becomes a significant “pain in the passion.”
Interestingly, Transformers One shares a thematic link with another central kids’ movie this fall, Wicked. Both films tell prequel stories about a famous hero and villain duo who were once friends before their relationship unravelled. If another blockbuster follows this trend, we might be looking at a new pattern in family films!
Overall: 5.5/10
Movie Reviewer
