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| ‘Transformers One’ poster. Taken by William Beavers. Copyright 2024, Paramount Pictures. |
“What defines a Transformer is not the cog in its chest, but the spark in its core.”
Josh Cooley of Toy Story 4 fame directed Transformers One, an epic, tragic, funny origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron and their factions, the Autobots and the Decepticons, respectively. Watching Transformers One felt like watching Marvel Studios films and Disney animated classics all rolled into one, and it was the best film I’ve seen in 2024 and the best portrayal of Transformers.
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| Chris Hemsworth voices Orion Pax/Optimus Prime in 'Transformers One.' Courtesy of Paramount Pictures. |
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| Brian Tyree Henry is the voice of D-16/Megatron in 'Transformers One.' Courtesy of Paramount Pictures. |
Transformers One was an origin story of Orion Pax and D-16, voiced by Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry, as brother-in-arms before becoming Optimus Prime and Megatron. As the young automatons sought their purposes while mining for Energon reserves during a war between Cybertron and the Quintessons, they chanced upon a mission in the surface world that changed their lives forever in good and bad ways. Joining them were excitable B-127/Bumblebee, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, and their feisty mining supervisor Elita-1, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
It was amusing how young Orion Pax and D-16 had a role reversal, with Orion being a renegade and D being the voice of reason. Also funny were the personality clashes with Bee's energetic behavior and Elita's sassy and distant outlook. Hemsworth, Henry, Key, and Johansson sure brought some fun to their voice roles.
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| Scarlett Johansson voices Elita-1 in 'Transformers One.' Courtesy of Paramount Pictures. |
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| Keegan-Michael Key voices B-127/Bumblebee in 'Transformers One.' Courtesy of Paramount Pictures. |
The landscape of Cybertron gave nostalgic views of Asgard from the Thor movies, Haven City from Daxter, and some parts of Star Wars Episode I-II. For a moment, the surface above Cybertron looked like the beautiful aurora borealis lights you could see in the Arctic areas. The animation also made it look like The Lego Movie.
Jon Hamm voiced Sentinel Prime, and his character brought Apollo Creed-level flamboyance acting like a big shot in his role in the war between Cybertron and the Quintessons.
It took a minute to recognize that the musical score was from Brian Tyler because it echoed parts of Steve Jablonsky's scoring from Michael Bay's live-action Transformers movie. Nevertheless, it was powerful music, and you should all feel free to bob your heads to the cool song "If I Fall" written by Tyler and performed by Quavo and Ty Dolla Sign.
As the main Autobots continued their trek, it was funny how it took them a minute to master transforming into their alternate vehicle modes, such as Orion feeling he lost his head while turning into a truck. But they made up for it with excellent mecha action, Autobots and Decepticons, e.g. Bee showing off his knife hands.
As I said, Transformers One talked about Megatron before he became Optimus Prime's archenemy. But the nice thing about it was this film kind of humanized him; gave him a reason why he became a tyrant. Something heavy and comical was when he started sounding like The Rock as he became more arrogant.
And though Orion was running around like Aladdin before learning to be the man of valor he is today, with guidance from Alpha Trion, voiced by Laurence Fishburne, and his teammates, he learned transforming isn't just about morphing into cool vehicles, but about transforming one's world for the better./
Fishburne sounded like a wise sensei as his character helped Orion and his friends save Cybertron.
Great voice acting, story, animation, and scoring were all why I loved Transformers One. I hope the same cast and crew can bring the great vibes to another animated power tale. 10/10!
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