Transformers One
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 "What defines a movie is not the visual style, but the emotional weight it lies in its core. Watch this movie... and see our true greatness!"
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Transformers One is a 2024 American animated science fiction action film based on Hasbro's Transformers toy line. It was directed by Josh Cooley from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and the writing duo of Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, based on a story by Barrer and Ferrari. The ensemble voice cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Hamm. The film depicts the origins and early relationship of Optimus Prime and Megatron and how they forever changed the fate of Cybertron, the home planet of the Transformers. It is the franchise's first theatrical animated feature film since The Transformers: The Movie (1986).
In March 2015, following the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Paramount Pictures tasked Akiva Goldsman to set up a writers' room to create ideas for potential future Transformers films. By May 2015, Barrer and Ferrari had signed on as writers, and they came up with the idea of an animated prequel set on Cybertron. The film was announced in August 2017, and by April 2020, Cooley had been hired to direct. Animation services were provided by Industrial Light & Magic.
Transformers One premiered in Sydney, Australia on September 11, 2024, and was released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on September 20, 2024. The film received largely positive reviews from critics, who praised the story, animation and voice cast performances.
Why It's More Than Meets The Eye
- For starters, the film is a big improvement over the Transformers franchise (aside from Bumblebee) in the Bayverse which ranged from mediocre to terrible and corrected its issues (with the exception of the first two or three Bayverse films being the only solid ones out of the 5).
- The characters are likable.
- Optimus Prime, here called Orion Pax, wants to be a hero but lets his head get in the way.
- Megatron, here called D-16, is a tragic figure who lets his anger get the best of him after feeling betrayed, leading him to kill Sentinel Prime.
- Bumblebee, here called B-127, is great comic relief.
- Elita-1 is an excellent action girl and while staying on protocol, ultimately helps Optimus take down Sentinel Prime.
- Sentinel Prime is a villain you easily want to hate, especially when it's revealed that he killed the other Primes. His death is the most shocking, especially for a Transformers film.
- Outstanding animation, which was provided by Industrial Light & Magic. Every Autobot is shown through wear and tear while heavily pristine with their transformation cogs.
- Great humor like Optimus transforming only to run for it from security, B-127 talking even though he was unconscious, and Elita screaming so hard that robo-deers can hear her.
- Amazing performances from Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johannson, and Jon Hamm.
- While Chris Hemsworth voices may not memorable and amazing for some, it's still great.
- Incredible action scenes, most notably the scene where Megatron rips Sentinel Prime IN HALF.
- Splendid soundtrack with amazing techno music for its credits.
- The cinematography is amazing.
- The story's tone is very consistent. It does a good job at being more serious despite what the trailers said otherwise yet still makes its dark moments feel natural and not forced. It gets even more serious as time goes on especially when you realize how much of a dirtbag Sentinel Prime is in reality.
- The moment where Megatron shoots Optimus Prime while he's ready to kill Sentinel Prime is the scene that solidifies them being sworn enemies. Several movie-goers reported that their theaters went dead silent at this moment.
- Excellent quotes such as:
- "Badassatron."
- "What defines a Transformer is not the cog in it's chest, but the Spark that resides in their core. A Spark that gives you the will to make your world better. And that Spark... Sentinel can never take from us!"
- "I'm done saving you."
- It completely saved Paramount Animation's reputation after two poorly done films they've distributed: Rumble and The Tiger's Apprentice.
- Overall this movie is an amazing way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Transformers franchise.
Bad Qualities
- The marketing for the film was incredibly poor, as the trailers treat the film like it's a kid-friendly comedy, when in reality, it's a serious film (albeit with comedic moments) about how those who are betrayed by others will go down the deep end to the point where they could become just as bad if not worse than those who betrayed them.
- While the animation is great, there has been criticism regarding some of the Transformers character designs looking too humanoid, which can be uncanny.
- Some of the casting choices for a few of the robots do feel unbefitting and odd.
- Sentinel Prime's death, while amazing, feels way too inappropriate and gruesome for a kid's film. He gets ripped in half in gory detail. At least there was no blood.
- Unfortunately, despite being a production of Paramount Animation, the 2011-present Paramount Pictures logo is shown instead. This is most likely due to the Paramount Animation logo being phased out after their previous film The Tiger's Apprentice.
- The Badassatron joke does get old pretty quickly despite not being too overused.
Reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 145 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Dramatically satisfying with a dash of good humor, Transformers One suggests that animation might be the optimal medium for this oft-adapted franchise." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an average five out of five stars, with 75% saying they would definitely recommend it.
Trivia
- Starting with this film onwards, all films from Paramount Animation now use the 2011-present Paramount Pictures logo.
- Steve Buscemi, who voiced Starscream in this movie, also voiced Dorsal Dan on SpongeBob SquarePants (who made his first appearance in "The Getaway" on Season 10).
- Brian Tyler and Keegan-Michael Key were both in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.