Transformers One Movie Review – An Origin Story We Didn’t Know We Needed

Transformers One is a 2024 American animated science fiction action film based on Hasbro’s Transformers toy line. Directed by Josh Cooley from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and the writing duo Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, based on a story by Barrer and Ferrari.

The ensemble’s voice cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne and Jon Hamm.

overview

The untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as arch-enemies but once friends, bonded like brothers and changed the fate of Cybertron forever. Set on Cybertron, the home planet of the Transformers, it depicts the origins and early relationship of Optimus Prime and Megatron.

In March 2015, after the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Paramount Pictures hired Akiva Goldsman to set up a writers’ room to develop ideas for possible futures Transformers Films.

In May 2015, Barrer and Ferrari signed on as writers and came up with the idea of ​​an animated prequel set on Cybertron. The film was announced in August 2017 and in April 2020 Cooley was hired to direct.

Story

Sworn enemies, once friends. An untold story for Orion Pax and D-16. The story covers the early days on Cybertron, when Orion Pax wanted more out of life, while D-16 was simply content to follow Sentinal Prime’s ideas and rules.

The story showed the friendship between the two enemies and how they always looked out for each other, especially D-16, to save Orion Pax from the trouble he got into. History shows that not everything is as it seems, which ultimately ends in a war for Cybertron.

The story provided the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron. The story showed that Orion wanted to find the spark and become something other than a miner, while this was also the beginning of D-16’s transformation into Megatron.

While the story focused on the origins of Orion Pax and D-16, in the background it provided the origins of the two factions that ultimately go to war for centuries. The story offers a new insight into the war, the context and the tough fight for leadership on Cybertron.

Characters

Obviously, the characters in this film are not the same characters we see later in their story, the tough, war-torn Cybertronians we saw in later films. The characters in this film were all easy going, friendly and respected in the sense that everyone got along, there was no Autobots versus Decepticons.

Chris Hemsworth as the voice of Orion Pax was a great choice for voice acting. Chris has a kind voice, but can also be a mean leader when needed. Bryan Tyree Henry as the voice of D-16 was a unique choice, but ultimately managed to capture the slow shift toward evil.

One of my personal favorites in the film was B-127, voiced by the incredibly funny Keegan-Michael Key. While we’ve seen Bumblebee in the early days of various Transformers projects, this one gave us a new look at the character as someone who was virtually forgotten on Cybertron, left behind on a floor of Cybertron that no one visited.

The full cast list can be found on IMDB by clicking here.

Hype

Now the hype around this film seemed to be very big. People were generally excited to see it. I continued to see people talking about the film even after its release in the US. From comments like “The best Transformers movie” to “It shouldn’t have been that hard.”

The hype has been marred by its box office performance so far. The film had a budget of between $75 and $147 million, but only made $100 million at the box office.

Favorite moments

1. Seeing how smart and curious Orion Pax actually was before he joined Optimus Prime. He would break into the archives and search for an answer to the question of what happened to the first prime numbers and the matrix. While he is caught, his best friend D-16 escapes from him.

2. Seeing how easily Orion incorporates D-16 into some adventures. Orion manages to bring D-16 into the race to prove that they are more than just minors, but ends up losing the race and gaining Sentinal Prime’s respect.

3. The introduction to B-127. We see how he was forgotten by other Cybertronians and forced to work in the waste incinerator. He’s just full of life and always at 110% energy, to the point where he still talks even when he’s unconscious.

4. Trion provides the group with gears so they can fully transform and see how obtaining a gear and some information revealed has changed the group. You’ve seen Orion, B-127 and Elita-1 all get better while D-16 slowly started to turn evil.

5. After a fight. D-16 shoots at Orion, but catches him before he falls to his death. However, this was the moment Megatron was born, as D-16 tells Orion that he is done capturing him and lets him go. Orion falls into the mind of the Primes, where he receives the Matrix of Guidance, reviving him as the new Prime, Optimus Prime.

Dislikes

Honestly, going into this I thought I would have some dislikes, but I was surprised to see that I didn’t have a single dislike.

Recommend?

Would I recommend this? Secure! It’s everything. This movie is for kids who like Transformers and cartoons, and this is for Transformers fans who want to see the early days of Cybertron.

Verdict

A fantastic prequel film that sheds new light on the time before Cybertron was ravaged by war and destruction. The film depicts a friendship between Optimus Prime and Megatron long before they were enemies. The action was fantastic. The story was great and the animation was incredible.

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Rating: 9.4/10

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Transformers One is available in cinemas worldwide. More information about Transformers One can be found here.

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