In a franchise that has experienced extreme highs and extreme lows, Transformers One is the newest film in the series. It is safe to say that this film was one of the extreme highs for the franchise that started in 1984.
When it was first teased, the film was advertised as a complete comedy that went over the backstories of the main protagonist, Optimus Prime, and the main antagonist, Megatron. It also introduced key characters into the newest film, such as the beloved Bumblebee and the ever-vigilant Alita One.
When the movie was released, I was reluctant to go because I didn’t think the comedy would be well balanced with the seriousness of the backstories of all of these characters. It was also the first time that I was going to hear the voice of Optimus Prime, not come from Peter Cullen, who has been Optimus since the original show.
I was blatantly wrong.
Chris Hemsworth does the role of Optimus Prime justice and was one that multiple fans were worried about from the beginning. The film itself shows how each of these new voices encapsulates the characters and makes them more real than ever.
The beginning of the movie shows a lot of comedy elements as we are introduced to Orion Pax and D-16, who later turn into the main hero and villain. The two miner bots are attempting to work their way through life in the great city of Lacon. Orion wants to become more than just a miner bot while D-16 is reluctant and wants to be left to his work.
The savior of Lacon and the World of Cybertron, Sentinel Prime, has been searching for the famed Matrix of Leadership, and when he returns is when we start to delve more into the seriousness of the movie. Orion and D-16 are joined by Bumblebee and Alita One on a mission to the surface to find the Matrix of Leadership, but they get much more than they bargained for.
This movie has every single element necessary to tell an incredible story about two brothers dividing and becoming sworn enemies. The tonal shift between comedy and a darker topic was executed to perfection; there wasn’t a single moment that felt out of place or like a random jolt and to me, that is a skill not many directors or writers have.
From the beginning of Transformers One to the end, I was hooked. Despite some minor changes to the previous lore of the characters, it was exactly what I had hoped for in a backstory film. It took inspiration from the original cartoon that aired in 1984, including the designs of the transformations of each character and the designs of the past primes.
If there were any Transformers fans on the edge of watching this movie, I was right there with you, but I didn’t regret a single minute of it. I would recommend this film even to people who haven’t seen any other Transformers film or show. It is the perfect introduction to the franchise for the next generation. It has every element to captivate audiences of multiple age groups and other demographics. A truly incredible movie for such an incredible franchise.
