Transformers One is an animated origin story built for Transformers’ original audiences: the kid in all of us.
DIRECTED BY: JOSH COOLEY/2024
Before they were leaders of the Autobots and Decepticons. Before they were known as Optimus Prime and Megatron. Before their planet was destroyed. Before all we have seen in the live-action Michael Bay films there were two friends named Orion Pax and D-16. Transformers One is their origin story, and an animated soft reboot of the Transformers franchise…one this series desperately needed. Can the series itself transform into something more cohesive that can lay the foundation for the future of where this Transformers series can go? Can it transform itself from live-action back into animation where it originally began to rediscover what made this toy-line so fun and successful? These are the questions that need answered if there is to be a way forward.
Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) are bots working in the mines along with Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) and B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key). Orion longs to be more than just a worker bee in the mines. He is always dragging his best friend, D-16, into his crazy romps for adventure, to worsening results. After entering a race unofficially meant only for those bots who can transform, as the miners cannot, they seem destined for greatness as they do remarkably well, catching the eye of their leader, Sentinal Prime (Jon Hamm), who semingly sets them up for greatness. Instead, they find themselves at the lowest possible location of their underground world until the opportunity to head to the surface puts them on a path to their true destiny.
The Quintessons, another alien race, has driven them from the surface and destroyed their ability to flourish forcing them to mine for the substance that fueled their world and once flowed freely. The Quintessons were responsible for the death of the “Primes” that once justly ruled their world. What Orion Pax, D-16, Elita-1, and B-127 discover will set them on a path to not only try to save their world, but also divide them into the eventual enemies we know they will become, forming the factions of the Autobots and Decepticons.
Transformers One is an animated origin story built for Transformers’ original audiences: the kid in all of us. More so than any of the live action stories, this is the first project that harkens back to the 1986 The Transformers: The Movie. Unlike the Spider-Verse films, which cleverly integrates multiple animation styles to great effect, the animation style here is consistant throughout with plenty of easter eggs scattered throughout for those who grew up in the 1980’s, read the comics, played with the toys, and who can deep dive into the lore of this universe. This should make Transformers One a mostly satifying experience.
The voice talent is very good, and Chris Hemsworth slowly starts to emulate Peter Cullen as the film progresses. Notice similar shifts in Megatron’s voice. As their characters shift, so do the voices. This seemed intentional on screen and helps give some practical effect to their journey’s from Orion Pax and D-16 to Optimus Prime and Megatron. While Bumblebee (B-127) is mostly silent in the Michael Bay films, apart from using his radio as his voice, under Keegan-Michael Key’s steady hand, he talks a mile-a-minute here, including a nice reference to Key & Peele’s “Substitute Teacher” sketch.
Transformers One should satisfy Transformers fans, and maybe earn a few ones. While the film is not groundbreaking, it should prove a good foundation for where the franchise should head in the future. Namely, moving away from the multi-hundred million blockbuster live-action films that have been an exercise in diminishing returns, and back to the place where Transformers first captured the hearts of fans everywhere…in animation. It also feels like more of a natural fit for selling and playing with more of the Transformers toys. As this is a Hasbro production, isn’t that what its all about?
