September 12, 2024
by Carla Hay
Directed by Josh Cooley
Culture Representation: Taking place in outer space, the animated film “Transformers One” has a group of characters that are talking robots.
Culture Clash: A group of miner robots that will later become Transformers find out why they have been oppressed and fight back against the enemy.
Culture Audience: “Transformers One” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the “Transformers” franchise and eye-catching action animated films.
For better or worse, “Transformers One” is for die-hard “Transformers” fans. This origin story has appealing visuals and action, but the plot might be too confusing for viewers who are new to the franchise. It’s one of the those movies that rushes through a world-building summary in the introduction and assumes that most people watching will already know the intricacies of the major characters in the “Transformers” franchise.
Directed by Josh Cooley, “Transformers One” was written by Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari. “Transformers One” is one of several “Transformers” movies (animated and live-action) and animated TV series that have been spawned from the original “Transformers” animated TV series that was on the air from 1984 to 1987. The TV series and movies are all based on Hasbro’s Transformers toys of outer-space robots that can transform into moving vehicles.
“Transformers One” begins by explaining that on the planet Cybertron, a being called Primus birthed a race of supreme robots called Primes that can transform into moving vehicles. Primes need a special feul for a healthy existence called Energon. For generations, Cybertron had peace and prosperity, until it was invaded by enemies. Many of the Primes were killed, Energon became scarce, and most of the surviving robots of Cybertron were forced into identured servitude as underground miners, who are forbidden to go to the surface of the planet.
It’s during this bleak period that a rebellious miner robot named Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) tries to find out more about the history of this invasion. He discovers a hologram-like archive that talks about this history. However, the archive cuts off just before it will tell details about a mysterious force called the Matrix and information about the Matrix leadership. Orion Pax believes that finding out the secret of the Matrix can free the miners from their oppression.
Orion Pax’s best friend is another miner robot named D-16 (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry), who has a personality that almost the opposite of Orion Pax. D-16 is very cautious and feels strongly that the best way for miners to live is to not ask questions and always follow the rules. D-16 tells Orion Pax, “We’re miners. We mine. That’s all.”
The tryannical supervisor of the miners is Darkwing (voiced by Isaac C. Singleton Jr.), who doesn’t hesttate to punish anyone who breaks the rules. Darkwing reports to the leader of the land: Sentinel Prime (voiced by Jon Hamm), who is worshipped as a hero for being one of the last surviving Primes. Sentinel Prime is very charismatic and has been telling his followers that he and his team have been searching for the Matrix leadership so that they can find more Energon.
Orion Pax is too curious to listen to D-16’s advice to always follow the rules. Several antics ensure that get Orion Pax and D-16 in various degrees of trouble. Without giving away too much information, it’s enough to say that Orion Pax and D-16 join forces with two other miner robots: outspoken Alita-1 (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and goofy B-127 (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), who was banished to a secret lower level of the planet.
“Transformers One” has a lot of terrific action sequences accompanied by dazzling visuals. However, some of the plot developments are a bit repetitive. How many times does Orion Pax have to “punished” in ways that make it somewhat easy for him to escape? Predictably, there’s also a “secret villain” who is easy to figure out if you’ve seen enough of these types of movies.
The “Transformers One” voice performances are perfectly fine, considering that the characters in the movie are robots, not human beings with complex personalities. The “Transformers One” characters who aren’t the core four heroes (Orion Pax, D-16, Alita-1 and B-127) tend to be a bit one-dimensional. Hemsworth and Henry capably handle the dynamics of the friendship-turned-feud between Orion Pax and D-16.
This very male-centric movie could have had more females in prominent speaking roles. The only other notable female character has a small supporting role: Airachnid (voiced by Vanessa Liguori), a spider-like Transformer that can turn into a helicopter. Other characters in “Transformers One” are elderly Alpha Trion (voiced by Laurence Fishburne), villainous Starscream (voiced by Steve Buscemi) and music-loving Jazz (voiced by Evan Michael Lee).
It’s not a secret that certain characters in “Transformers One” will take on new identities that they have in other “Transformers” movies and TV shows with storylines that take place after the events of “Transformers One.” Orion Pax becomes Optimus Prime, heroic leader of the Autobots. D-16 becomes Megatron, evil leader of the Decepticons, the sworn enemies of the Autobots. B-127 (who also give himself the nicknames B and Badassatron in “Transformers One”) becomes Bumblebee, an ally of Optimus Prime.
“Transformers One” offers an interesting but formulaic look into what these characters were like before they were Transformers and how they got their Transformers superpowers. The movie’s brief end-credits scene is energetic but ultimately not necessary. People who are inclined watch sci-fi animated films should find many entertaining aspects to “Transformers One,” which can inspire new fans to watch more “Transformers” movies and TV shows to get a better understanding of the “Transformers” universe.
Paramount Pictures will release “Transformers One” in U.S. cinemas on September 20, 2024.