Transformers One – A Marginal Improvement From Live Action (Early Review)

After a slew of polarizing live-action films, the Transformers are given better justice on the big screen with their first theatrical animated film in almost 40 years. Coming off a surprising success with Toy Story 4, Josh Cooley pursues his first non-Pixar project with Transformers One. The film tells the origin story of Orion Pax (Hemsworth) and D-16 (Henry), otherwise known as Optimus Prime and Megatron, highlighting the events leading to how they went from the best of friends to the worst of enemies, changing the destiny of Cybertron forever.

One of the few redeeming qualities of Michael Bay’s attempts at the franchise is the effort in getting experienced voice actors to tackle the robots, including Peter Cullen iconic work as Optimus Prime, and even recruiting some established actors who at least make an attempt at creating different voices for their respective roles. However, fans of the franchise can relax knowing that this latest film does not focus on uninteresting human stories. That being said, the trade-off is that instead of A-listers stealing the spotlight like in the live-action films, they have taken the spotlight here through their voices with little attempt at providing any differentiation from their normal speaking voices. Hearing Steve Buscemi as Starscream, for example, is extremely hard to take seriously the second he appears on screen. It is a glaring issue that many audiences can get over easily, otherwise, it will continue to be an annoyance for the remainder of the film.

Transformers One sees Cooley use his world-building experience from Pixar to capture an intricate and peculiar world that will spark curiosity as Optimus and Megatron guide audiences through their origin story and the many conflicts that followed. Though as an origin story, once the plot progresses towards the current status quo, it feels incredibly abrupt and forced. While major revelations can cause a huge rift in the emotions of characters, the quick turn in motivations heading towards the back half of the film will be puzzling for some audiences as to the direction of the story. The argument can be made, however, that audiences should not try to overthink an animated film targeted towards families. On the flip side, an animated film should not have to dumb itself down for audiences, as Cooley should understand from his extensive past experience in collaborating on compelling and emotionally intelligent Pixar stories. Meanwhile, the film periodically features aspects of menacing and brutal action in a visually stunning setting that, at times, channels the lively animation of the Spider-verse films. These aspects shed light on a potential darker tone that it seemingly fails to commit to as the action, humor, and plot progression culminate in an unfocused lack of vision.

In the end, fans of the Transformers franchise can rest easy knowing that they finally got another animated theatrical film. Although nowhere near as troubling as the preceding live-action entries, it is a missed opportunity as the film struggles to choose a proper tone and is stuck in between providing a compelling story, delivering menacing action, and serving aimless humor. Additionally, the lack of differentiation in voice talent will be sure to turn off those who respect the voice acting industry and wish for better opportunities for those seeking to hit the big screen. While a lot of audiences may not be familiar with the lore, there is plenty of reason for optimism that there are those who will gladly enjoy the film regardless of its flaws.

still courtesy of Paramount Pictures

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Costa Christoulas

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