In recent years, the Autobots and the Decepticons have kept their war for Cybertron and Earth’s future on the silver screen focused on the live-action world. Not since Transformers The Movie, released in 1986, have we seen Optimus Prime and Megatron do battle in theaters in the animation realm. Thanks to the success of the live-action movies, Paramount has decided to once again explore the animated Cybertron with a prequel film that explores the friendship of Orion Pax and D-16, the future leaders of the Autobots and Decepticons. In this new CG-animated film, Paramount has created one of the best Transformers movies to date, injecting new life into the franchise in an unexpected way.
Taking place long before the Autobots and Decepticons arrived on Earth, Transformers One focuses on the future Megatron and Optimus as they fulfill their roles as “mining robots.” Rather than fighting for their world’s future, the pair are attempting to strive in a society where they both cannot transform and are looked down upon thanks to their stations in life. Venturing forth on a quest that introduces them to good and evil robots alike, Transformers One details how the two protagonists both become the Autobot and Decepticon leaders we come to know and explains what smashes their friendship to pieces.
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Transformers One has an exceptionally strong story in relating the friendship between Orion and D-16. Their personalities bounce off one another well, not just thanks to the writing, but also thanks to the voice talents of Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry, respectively. It’s a tough act to follow in terms of taking up the role of Optimus, due to Peter Cullen’s legendary performance, but I was quite surprised with Hemsworth’s work here, both injecting his own identity while making for a worthy fill-in for Optimus’ usual go-to voice actor. The same can definitely be said for Henry’s work as D-16 as the formerly innocent robot starts venturing to the dark side while never feeling like a different character from what we see. The fall from grace for Megatron and the rise to heroism for Optimus feels entirely organic, making for a compelling story that is tragic in how these best friends lose their bonds with one another and create armies that participate in a never-ending war. There are exact moments in the movie’s run time where you, as a viewer, can see the “birth” of both Optimus Prime and Megatron and both feel earned thanks to a strong set-up.
Of course, while Orion and D-16 are the main characters of the film, that doesn’t mean that they are alone in their quest to learn about a dark secret surrounding Cybertron’s world. The friends are joined by Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) and Bumblebee (Keegan-Michael Key), who find themselves joining the leads’ quest. The film itself gives these supporting characters more than enough to work with, especially in the case of Bumblebee, who is put to good use in the run time as the film’s comic relief. Many of Key’s jokes land quite well in his performance here, with a particular running gag never becoming repetitive thanks to its implementation and Key’s comedic timing.
Transformers One’s story ventures into some meaningful and surprisingly dark territory, making for a compelling tale for both new and old Cybertronian fans alike. The threat that faces D-16 and Orion Pax is one that is not so easily dispatched and sees the two of them taking drastically different approaches to how said threat should be dealt with. For old fans of the franchise, there are some serious Easter Eggs that never feel heavy-handed and will give Transformers fanatics more than a few reasons to re-watch the animated film to see if they can spot some familiar faces during its run time. Without spoiling anything, Transformers One doesn’t just lay out the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron, as it gives viewers interesting stories for some of the franchise’s biggest characters.
In terms of the animation itself, Transformers One is a gorgeous movie to look at. The CG-animation used here by Paramount is a style that works effortlessly in bringing Cybertron to life. Unlike the live-action films, this is a movie where there are no human beings to speak of and, in all honesty, it benefits from this strategy in terms of both its animation and its story. The emotions that come from Orion, D-16, and their supporting cast all resonate here thanks to pitch-perfect animation. Alongside its characters, Cybertron as a whole is a feast for the eyes here and it can sometimes be overwhelming in the best way to take in its terrain.
I would be remiss by not calling this the best Transformers film since the 1980s animated film. If this is the future of the Transformers franchise, then Autobot and Decepticons fans have a bright future to look forward to indeed.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Transformers One will be in theaters on September 20th.
