Transformers One ★★★★

Released: 11 October 2024

Director: Josh Cooley

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson

It’s been almost 40 years since Orson Welles’s voice last graced the silver screen with his final performance as the almighty Unicron in The Transformers: The Movie. That was a historic film event for many reasons: not only was Welles recording his lines 5 days prior to his passing, it was also done for a film that meshed the intrinsically capitalist American toy sensibilities with the relentless action of Japanese mecha. The result was one of confusion, as not only did the film perform poorly at the box office, it also became infamous for traumatising an entire generation of unsuspecting kids by graphically killing off most of the G1 Autobots led by Optimus Prime. Fast forward to present day and after years of fan demand for a new theatrical animated film, Transformers One waltzes onto the screens as a bit of an enigma: a standalone prequel feature with no ties to last year’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts or the Michael Bay films of yesteryear, Josh Cooley’s rivalry tale of two legendary robot aliens is a charmingly unique, back-to-basics return to planet Cybertron with more on its mind than what meets the eye.

Utterly devoid of human presence. Transformers One shifts the focus entirely on two young Cybertronians, Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry). Overworked and underpaid, the Energon mining duo strive for something more than just an aimless existence under the rule of the ever-so-cool Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm), whose approval seems to be the biggest privilege the friends could ever receive. Upon setting their sights at the prestigious Miners race for the T-Cog-powered robots and forming an unlikely alliance with a shift supervisor, the pair embarks on an adventure that would change their lives forever… and shape their destinies as Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Building on the foundation established by Hasbro’s eponymous toyline, the latest Transformers film feels more akin to last year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem than any of its namesake counterparts. Gone are the Witwicky family members or the war-torn Cybertronian landscapes – instead, we’re transported to a time when Autobots and Decepticons lived in harmony, united by a common threat in the form of a powerful ancient force, the Quintessons. Fortunately, Cooley’s film doesn’t shy away from the inherent silliness of its premise, structuring the story as a sort-of Saturday Morning Cartoon tale stretched to a feature-length runtime. It’s a refreshingly low-key approach to a Transformers film, free of needless grandeur or genocidal undertones – perfect for its target audience, and the film very much taps into the vibe of a kids movie.

The comparisons to Bay’s films here are largely unfounded: where one is a franchise notably devoted to being a post-9/11 reflection of American blockbusters, Transformers One tries to make a case for the simple pleasures of a classic friends-to-enemies story. While it could be easy to dismiss the structure as conventional, Cooley is adamant on framing the conflict as a genuinely emotional tale: the quippy first half of the film segues into the high-stakes clash of the frenetic finale. Even though the emphasis is firmly on the two up-and-coming leaders of the resistance, the supporting cast balances the scales by bringing intense earnestness and levity without succumbing to the overly familiar pitfalls of kids animation.

Perhaps, the “baby’s first foray into socialism” aspect of the film isn’t helped by its origins as a toyline, yet the intent feels genuine: Cooley’s film takes the larger-than-life personas of Optimus Prime and Megatron and renders their hardships universally relatable. The villain’s origin story is one of disillusionment with capitalism, a tragedy of a toy figure whose hopes and dreams were physically taken out of their system by the Overseer. There’s a sequence here that establishes Optimus Prime as a leader of the workers’ uprising set against the backdrop of oppressive, crumbling mines – honestly, for a studio animation film in 2024, that’s more than anyone could ask for.