‘Transformers One’ Review: ‘Toy Story 4’ Director Josh Cooley Constructs A Genuinely Moving Robot Tragedy

Fred Topel
·4-min read

The eighth theatrical film in Paramount and Hasbro’s Transformers series, Transformers One returns to the property’s purely animated roots. Yet, the story has more humanity than the films that co-star human actors, and ultimately makes you feel the operatic tragedy of Megatron.

In the early days of planet Cybertron, Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D16 (Brian Tyree Henry) are miners working in the depths of Cybertron for the transformative mineral energon. Energon has been in short supply since Primus, Cybertron’s creator, lost the Matrix of Leadership. Now, only half of the robots on Cybertron can transform. Pax and D-16 belong to the half that was born without transformation cogs.

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Spoiler alert: Pax and D-16 eventually figure out how to transform — it is still called Transformers after all. Also spoiler alert: Pax and D-16 become Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively — it’s clear from their designs. So getting there is fun and effectively sows the seeds of D-16’s turn into the enemy Megatron.

Pax begins in the Disney hero mold. He dreams of something bigger than his station in life, like Ariel, Belle and Simba. It doesn’t deter him when others, including D-16, tell him it’s not possible, he can’t transform, just follow the rules. Pax is the one who decides to venture out to find the Matrix of Leadership and convinces D-16, Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) and B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key) to join him.

As prequels go, Transformers One succeeds in showing that Pax and D-16 were once good friends; the Star Wars prequels were less successful at showing as much between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Pax is the one who keeps getting the duo in trouble with his boyish shenanigans. D-16 is trying to follow the rules so he can get promoted, but always ends up having to bail Pax out of jams. That co-dependence is a part of real friendships where different personalities navigate a mostly cooperative relationship.

When the gang discovers the truth about the ruling class of Cybertron, it provokes diverging reactions between Pax and D-16. Pax aims to do better than the leaders who have let them down. D-16 wants to use his newfound powers to make them pay for their lies. It turns out D-16’s passivity was only a defense mechanism. Once he gains power himself, he’s more interested in retribution. Hurt robots hurt robots.

Amid these hefty themes, there is humor. References to catchphrases and competing robot toys of the ‘80s are worked into dialogue, “Go-bots” and “you’ve got the touch” more organically so than “more than meets the eye.” Despite being a robot society, Cybertron has problems with technology just like we do, only theirs are holograms. When the gang first learns how to transform, their growing pains are humorous. And B-127, who will become Bumble Bee, annoys both Elita and bad guys in equal measure.

The animation is sleeker than even the computer-animated TV series, though stops short of photorealistic like the live-action movies. Most notably, the characters have faces with eyes, noses and mouths like they did in the toys and old 2D cartoons, as opposed to the Michael Bay movies which fashioned their faces out of mechanical auto parts. Industrial Light + Magic still designed this animation.

Megatron still doesn’t turn into a gun, which was a smart adaptation from the original toys in the Bay/Spielberg films that holds true for the animated film. He transforms into a sort of tank, though he does sprout a massive canon on his arm in robot form. The quest takes the characters out to the wilderness of Cybertron, which is still mostly robotic but intertwined with nature.

Transformers One sets up Optimus Prime to lead the Autobots against Megatron’s Decepticons. The ultimate message is that Prime’s inimitable hope makes him a good leader. It’s nice to see a hopeful, forgiving, compassionate Prime again as opposed to the Bay films, which made Prime a ruthless killer. Whereas Megatron’s anger consigns him to becoming a villain himself; Megatron is tragic because he had the opportunity to remain on Prime’s side. But we see that in humans all the time, so it ensures the Transformers series will continue until we figure out our own conflicts.

​​Title: Transformers One
Distributor: Paramount
Release date: September 20, 2024
Director: Josh Cooley
Screenwriters: Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari, Eric Pearson
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jon Hamm
Rating: PG
Running time: 1 hr 44 mins

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