Transformers One – REVIEW

Still from Transformers One


It’s nuts to see that there’s actually a pretty well-received Transformers movie out there now. I know I’m very late to the party with this one, but I just kept hearing about Transformers One and how good it is, from non-fans and fans alike. I know I should take out that bias when I’m reviewing something, but it was so overwhelming that it felt unescapable. One is apparently a prequel to Michael Bay’s live-action Transformers films, but there’s no real connection to them. I honestly don’t even know why this is tied to it. One follows two lonely workers: Orion Pax and D-16. They work in the mines on Cybertron, where the intelligent robots are divided into two classes: the ones who can transform and the ones who can’t. Why they mine for Energon, the fuel that powers Cybertron, is because the planet lost the Matrix of Leadership. Gaining this back could end the need for what’s basically slave labor and restore Cybertron to its former glory. It’s refreshing to see a Transformers movie actually have a new story after the utterly insane but still boring Bayformers (as it’s been dubbed by fans) movies, even if it’s still familiar. Honestly, a little under halfway into Transformers One, I was fully ready to say that this was overrated. It was the Transformers fans that were happy that they finally got a new animated movie, on top of it being an actual good one. I’m not going to spoil anything, but once a shift happens in the story with Orion Pax and D-16, it all started to click with me. It became much less of a kids movie, and that shift is handled excellently, thanks to both stars Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry. Hemsworth ended up being a very good choice for Pax, the bot who would eventually become Optimus Prime. He does a good job of transforming his voice (ha ha) throughout the movie to sound more and more like original voice actor Peter Cullen. It really is Henry who steals the show as D-16, who becomes Prime’s sworn enemy, Megatron. Even if it’s in animation, seeing him finally get his flowers on a big scale is great to see. Outside of them, though, this movie just didn’t do a lot for me. The story is still predictable, but maybe that’s because I know the basics of Transformers. The animation is pretty to look at, but it didn’t blow me away. I could say the same about the rest of the cast. While it’s star-studded (Scarlett Johansson, Jon Hamm, Laurence Fishburne), they just didn’t do anything for me. Keegan-Michael Key has a great joke at the end of the movie, but even the humor just never landed for me. I’m very happy for the Transformers fans out there that adore this, but maybe I’m just not a big enough fan.


Ryan’s Grade: B-