Transformers One Movie Review – A 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. It was directed by Josh Cooley from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and the writing duo of Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, based on a story by Barrer and Ferrari.

The ensemble 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 sworn enemies, but who once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever. It is set on Cybertron, the home planet of the Transformers, and depicts the origins and early relationship of Optimus Prime and Megatron.

In March 2015, following the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Paramount Pictures tasked Akiva Goldsman to set up a writers’ room to create ideas for potential future Transformers films.

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

Story

Sworn enemies, once friends. An untold story for Orion Pax and D-16. The story followed the early days on Cybertron where Orion Pax wanted more from life whereas D-16 was just happy following the ideas and rules of Sentinal Prime.

The story showcased the friendship between the two enemies and how they always looked out for each other mainly D-16 saving Orion Pax from the trouble he gets into. The story shows that not everything is what it seems which ultimately ends in a war for Cybertron.

The story delivered the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron. The story showed that Orion wanted to find the spark and become something other than a miner whereas this was also the beginning of D-16 turning into Megatron.

While the story focused on the origins of Orion Pax and D-16, in the background it delivered the origins of the two factions that ultimately go to war for centuries. The story delivers a fresh look into the war, the connections, and the uphill struggle for leadership on Cybertron.

Characters

Obviously, the characters within this movie would not be the same characters we see later in their history, the rugged, war-torn Cybertronians we saw in later movies. The characters within this movie were all light-hearted, friendly, and well-respected in the sense that everyone got along with each other, there were no Autobots vs Decepticons.

Chris Hemsworth as the voice of Orion Pax was such a great choice for the voice acting, Chris has a voice that is friendly but also can be a mean leader when needed. Bryan Tyree Henry as the voice of D-16 was a unique choice but ultimately was able to capture slow turn into evilness.

One of my personal favorites within the movie was B-127 voiced by the incredibly funny Keegan-Michael Key. While we’ve seen some early days of Bumblebee within different Transformers projects, this one gave us a new spin on the character as someone who essentially was forgotten about on Cybertron, left on a floor of Cybertron that no one went to.

For the full cast list, you can visit IMDB by clicking here.

Hype

Now the hype for this movie seemed to be very well. People were generally excited to see it. I continued to see people talk about the movie even after its release in the States. From comments such as “The best Transformers movie” to “It didn’t need to go this hard”.

The hype has been hurt because of the box office performance as of now. The movie had a budget of 75 – 147 million dollars but at the box office has only reached $100 million.

Favorite Moments

1. Seeing just how smart and curious Orion Pax actually was before coming Optimus Prime. He would break into the archives searching for the answer to what happened to the first Primes and the matrix. While he does get caught, he gets away by his best friend, D-16.

2. Seeing how easily Orion gets D-16 into some adventures. Orion manages to get D-16 into the race to prove they are more than just minors but ends up losing the race and gaining the respect of Sentinal Prime.

3. The introduction to B-127. We are seeing how forgotten he was by other Cybertronians and forced to work in the garbage incineration. He’s just full of life and is always at 110% energy to the point where he still speaks when knocked out.

4. Trion provides cogs to the group to allow them to become full transformers and see how gaining a cog and some information revealed changed the group. You saw Orion, B-127, and Elita-1 all become better while D-16 slowly began to turn evil.

5. After a battle. D-16 shoots Orion but catches him before he falls to his death, although, this was the moment Megatron was born as D-16 tells Orion that he’s done catching him and lets him go. Orion falls into the spirit of the Primes where he receives the Matrix of Leadership and revives him as a 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? For sure! It’s everything. This movie is for the children who like Transformers and animated movies and this is for the Transformers fans who want to see the early days of Cybertron.

Verdict

A fantastic prequel movie that sheds new light on the time before Cybertron was ravaged by war and destruction. The movie showcases 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.

Rating: 9.4/10

Transformers One is available in cinemas worldwide. You can visit here for more information on Transformers One.

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