Transformers One (2024)

Transformers-One-(2024)
Transformers One (2024)

Now, more than 40 years since Hasbro introduced their first set of Autobots and Decepticons, it’s finally the time for the first animated franchise edition after the 1986 movie ‘The Transformers The Movie’ titled Transformers One. In a beautifully epic style, it chronicles the history of the franchise and the events that explain the duality within it. Michael Bay had made the franchise infamous with his brute and over-the-top movies but Josh Cooley, the Toy Story 4 director has somehow managed to grab it by its roots and steer it the right way.

The new movie loses the earthly feel most of the movies showcased and goes back to Cybertron which is fascinating yet somewhat dystopian at the same time. Sam Witwicky alongside a group of other insufferable humans who just cannot help but annoy the viewer are nowhere to be seen. Only a cast comprised entirely of robots trying to recuperate from a traumatic war against some Quintessons is left.

To the writers Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari, Cooley, and his fellow screenwriters are bold enough to actually use Hasbro’s toy chest for inspiration, lifting well-known cliches and making them feel new again.

The action develops around the early romance between Orion Pax, who evolves into Optimus Prime, and D-16, who’ll soon wear the helmet of Megatron. What stands out, however, is their childhood bond that gradually morphs into a quest; two boys who once shared a dream to become miners and are now engaged in a war of attrition against each other.

The character of Hemsowrth’s Orion is nothing short of stunning he starts off as an uncontrollable boy with big dreams and gradually grows into the role of a quiet adult who now has to bear other people’s expectations. Brian Tyree Henry’s D-16, for instance, is constantly achieving things that combine massive insecurity with fierce ambition, great success, and a horrible fury.

The relationship between Orion and D-16 overlooks an early tenderness, a sort of teenage recklessness, before evoking an unmistakable sense of inevitable doom. The break between these two characters is inscribed in their story; how could their relationship ever break and leave the world standing beside them? It’s a big question that casts a shadow over the two characters from the start.

The central struggle of the story lies in the social order of Cybertron, a planet dominated by the “cogs,” those who possess the very tools of transformation, as opposed to the unfortunate cog-less bots who mine in search of collapsing energy supplies and are kept in the dark. It sounds, in other words, blunt and crude. And yet, perhaps because of this sincerity, it breathes new life into a franchise whose previous incarnations too often squandered their potential with too much pomp and circumspection. There seems to be a tale of injustice lying in reserve ‘the injustice of oppression,’ presented through flashy exciting colorful metallic sequences and interspersed with some genuinely funny storytelling from Keegan-Michael Key’s Bumblebee.

Cooley stays relaxed but never goes soft. His work tends to go both ways, slowly storytelling the lore in simple yet colorful animation styles, while never putting a heavy emphasis on realism. The truly over-the-top, plainer aesthetics of Bay’s movies are history, with leaner and more expressive Cybertronian models on show. What Industrial Light & Magic provided was astounding, a vibrant universe full of activity, and yet unspoken moments the panoramic views of Cybertron’s exquisite landscapes, or the close-up shot of Orion talking to D-16 these are the ones that capture the essence of this film.

Nonetheless, the pacing of the film is poor. Transformers One has a very rapid pace which at times does not allow viewers to absorb the emotional rhythms properly. In particular, the first act is fairly brisk in its approach to a lot of world-building and leaves the audience with overly perfunctory characteristics. However, despite the hurried segments, the film’s Shakespearean trilogy of ambition, betrayal, and regret does not get buried too much.

While it is easy to get lost in watching these giant machines throw heavy punches at each other for the better part of three decades, it might be difficult to remember that the very basis of the Transformers saga was toys. Toys, however, that came with the proclamation, “I am Optimus Prime.” Cooley lingers on the material with a storyteller’s touch that brings the film beyond the confines of a mere toy commercial. This time around, we are witnessing a film that seems to care about its lore as the characters have, up until now, only been used as props to sell bombs and explosions.

Transformers One might not revolutionize the genre of animated pictures for sure, but it certainly shines forth as one of the finest works in the franchise that has thrived on mindless top action. And if Transformers were on the verge of being obsolete, this film shows that they are nowhere near dead. There is much more to them than what meets the eye.

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