Written and directed by Josh Cooley (Inside Out co-writer and Toy Story 4 director), Transformers One is a new origin story for the war between the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth), and the Decepticons, led by Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry). Before those two were enemies, they were best friends named Orion Pax and D-16 – bottom-rung mining robots of Cybertron’s underground Iacon City. The two search for meaning and purpose, and this leads to a reluctant voyage across the ravaged surface of Cybertron to find the lost Matrix of Leadership, uncovering a conspiracy that could lead to war.
A new animated film in the Transformers franchise was a welcome announcement, after the suffocating 7 live-action Michael Bay (directed and/or produced) films that ranged from the surprisingly watchable (BumbleBee) to the offensive and incompetent (Revenge of the Fallen, Age of Extinction, The Last Knight). The first trailer for Transformers One, however, was something of a disappointment, relying too much on kid-friendly humour, sitcom gags, and a pointless use of the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up”.
But Transformers One is far more than meets the eye.
I wasn’t entirely convinced from the beginning, to be fair. We plod our way through clunky exposition, formulaic dialogue, and mild chuckles for the first 30 minutes. We spend more than enough time setting up a big race for Iacon City that Orion Pax and D-16 sneak their way into, only for the result to amount to nothing beyond our characters meeting the city’s hero transformer Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm). One could say it’s world-building, but this does feel aimless.
Once our heroes get stranded on the surface of Cybertron, along with the annoyed Alita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) and annoying B-127 (Keegan Michael-Key), possessing secret information about the Matrix of Leadership’s whereabouts, everything gets better.
Cybertron in Transformers media has only ever been seen as a darkened battleground or a flat metallic planetoid, but Transformers One changes all of that with a living steel environment; mountains and valleys shifting like ocean waves or desert dunes. The more our heroes explore this planet, the more we are visually stunned and emotionally compelled, and the film finally finds its groove.
When the truth of Sentinel Prime, the war with the colonising Quintessons, the reason why our heroes cannot transform, and the entire purpose of Transformer’s existence is revealed, it comes as a legitimate twist. We know by the midpoint of this narrative just who Orion Pax and D-16 are, and how all of this painful truth will affect them, so now you are absolutely locked in.
Everything that follows is excellent storytelling that feels surprising and immensely satisfying. This isn’t even the first time that Josh Cooley as a director has taken on an animated project that felt like an uphill battle. Many cried out how pointless Toy Story 4 was, but twice now Cooley proved his intelligent understanding of communicating real emotion through CG animated characters, working with the best animation artists in the game and a fantastic voice cast to boot.
Chris Hemsworth has heavy shoes to fill taking on Orion Pax/Optimus Prime, with Peter Cullen owning this character almost unopposed for 40 years. Hemsworth’s American accent may be obvious, but he gives an excellent weight to the character when the story calls for it. Brian Tyree Henry’s D-16/Megatron is the standout character, finally given a real heart and soul after decades of being a one-note villain. Henry is one of the finest and most versatile working actors today and exudes truth and understanding through the character’s rage.
Johansson’s Alita-1 and Michael-Key’s B-127 aren’t given as much depth as our main players, but certainly fill out their roles nicely, with comic-relief B-127 (or BumbleBee) being grating at first but his humour grows on you. Jon Hamm is always an underrated player and makes the Sentinel Prime twist work based on how charming he initially is, and the additional voices of Laurence Fishburne and Steve Buscemi are welcome surprises.
Animated movies, I feel, can get too easily disregarded as “kids movies” just because they’re not live-action. Some companies make their animated movies solely for the younger demographic, but Transformers One rises above this preconceived notion to become a fantastic picture, simply because it cares. The filmmakers clearly love this world and the characters, the same way that generations of fans have, and the result is a surprise to be sure but a welcome one.
The action, animation, music, sound, and voice performances are spectacular in a way we’ve never seen from this franchise, inspirations of The Lion King and X-Men: First Class create a stirring emotional core, and for all of these reasons Transformers One is the best Transformers movie yet.
Transformers One is in cinemas Thursday September 10 courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
