First appearing in stores in 1984, the Transformers toyline soon morphed into a cartoon series as well as a comic book. In 2007, the Hasbro toyline was brought to the big screen with the use of CGI and live actors. Now comes the origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron in Paramount Pictures’ animated film Transformers One.
The film opens with Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) sneaking around unauthorized areas, trying to dig up hidden secrets about his planet, Cybertron. After setting off the alarm and instigating an exhilarating chase scene, he and his best friend D-16 (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) return to working in the mines of the planet for the power source, Energon. The planet is divided between two social classes: those who can transform and those missing power sources who cannot; they are the miners and working class of the planet.
Determined to learn about his planet and what the surface of it is like, Orion Pax uses “borrowed” jet packs and tricks his pal D-16 into going with him to the surface. Also along for the trip to the surface is a new friend they made in waste management named B-127 (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), and Elita – 1 (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), the ex-Autobot foreman of the mines.
Once on the surface, Orion Pax and his friends meet Alpha Trion (voiced by Laurence Fishburne), an Autobot from the old days who reveals the shocking truth about their planet and its tyrannical leader. Alpha Trion also gives them power sources so they can transform.
Now, determined to free their fellow Autobot miners and take back their planet, Orion Pax and D-16 set out on a path that will eventually lead to them becoming sworn enemies Optimus Prime and Megatron and to the birth of the Civil War of Cybertron.
Visually stunning and action-packed, Transformers One is an engaging and exciting adventure that doesn’t just do justice to the franchise; it’s the best film of the franchise. This animated prequel’s a fun, creative, and entertaining science fiction fantasy with a fantastic voice cast.
Chris Hemsworth is nothing short of perfect as the young and daring Orion Pax who only wants to learn the truth about his planet and rise to be all he can be. Hemsworth brings both humor and a moral compass to the role of the future leader of the Autobots, as well as some humor and likeability. He also stays true to the classic character in the third act of the film when Pax becomes Prime and displays great leadership and strength.
Brian Tyree Henry does a wonderful job of bringing D-16 to life. D-16 is a dedicated worker and best friend to Orion Pax, always defending him and getting into trouble by being tricked into joining him on his crazy quests. Henry also slowly shows the building rage in D-16 as he begins to learn the truth about the past of Cybertron and how he and all the miners have been manipulated and lied to.
Without a doubt Keegan-Michael Key steals every scene as the voice of B-127, who eventually becomes Bumblebee. Key is hilarious as B-127, the comic relief of the film, first as an Autobot who’s been cut off a little too long from other Autobots and is more than just quirky. And then in the second half as he learns to transform and becomes a powerful fighting presence.
The script is smartly written with solid dialogue and plenty of humor. It also holds true to the characters and is even emotionally intense when the devastating break-up of the friendship happens between Pax and D-16.
Full of action and brought to life with lavish animation, Transformers One is an exhilarating thrill ride for the entire family and sure to please all Transformers fans of any age. It’s also one of the best animated films of the year. Don’t miss it.
GRADE: B+
MPAA Rating: PG for language, animated action throughout, and sci-fi violence
Release Date: September 20, 2024
Running Time: 1 hour 44 minutes
Directed By: Josh Cooley
This post was last modified on September 22, 2024 5:39 pm