Transformers One review – The touch, the power, and the heart

Travel back in time, for a brief moment, to 1986. That’s the year that Transformers fans got their first chance to see their favourite Autobots and Decepticons battle it out for the fate of the galaxy on the big screen. Based on who you ask, The Transformers: The Movie was either a feature-length toy commercial, or a grander, more nuanced continuation of the cartoon TV show. Regardless, its legacy remains intact as a franchise entry truly for the fans.

Return to 2024 and Transformers is back in cinemas in animated form once again. It’s been just over a year since the live-action Rise of the Beasts released, and the new film is coming out during a period where Transformers films can actually be written about in a positive voice. Transformers One continues that trend, because if you’re not a fan and taking in what is arguably the best Transformers movie since the 1986 instalment, you’re still watching one damn good movie.

Transformers One tells the story of Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry), two members of a race of sentient mechanical beings on the planet Cybertron. Incapable of transforming and relegated to working as miners, Pax and D-16’s opposing views over their places in Cybertronian society are put to the test when they discover clues that lead to an ancient artefact: one that could change their lives and the fate of the planet as they know it.

Accompanied by the yellow and enthusiastic B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key), and the pink and unimpressed Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson), Orion and D-16 embark on the transformative journey that culminates in a rivalry between the eventual Autobot and Decepticon leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Right out of the gate, it’s apparent that Transformers One has been made for the fans. There are some problems with that approach – how can you expect general audiences to react to your deep-cut references and humour? – but there’s no denying that this is the most faithful adaptation of Transformers lore since the 1980s, ensuring the biggest reaction from viewers seeped in the franchise. The fact that the film is CGI-animated also means you get to stay as faithful to the source material as you can in terms of visual depiction and storytelling.

And what a stunning animated film it is. Transformers One may not boast the eclectic or visceral animation as some of its recent peers (see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and the Spider-Verse movies), but it is clean and sharp, doing justice to the characters and the world they embody. It’s very easy to imagine Orion Pax and D-16 as action figures come to life, while the Cybertronian homeworld is realised in exquisite detail, especially in terms of showing how natural elements would exist on a planet made entirely out of metal. The action scenes are distinct and exciting too, rounding off what is a powerful execution by director Josh Cooley (who also directed Toy Story 4, and is a Pixar animating veteran).

But what gets Transformers One up and running is the fact that it has powerful storytelling, propelled along by truly compelling characters. Sure, key figures are archetypal in terms of one being good and one being bad, but the reasoning for their alignment makes complete sense and is backed by legitimate circumstances. Another strength of the film is that Optimus Prime and Megatron are shown as having contrasting perspectives even back when they were still Orion Pax and D-16.

The development of the characters’ viewpoints is well structured and cohesive, and as much as D-16 goes on to become a big and scary bad guy, he’s a bad guy with a very good point. That said, while the leads’ political motivations are clearly defined, their journey from friends to enemies doesn’t have the same level of substance. Though it’s not distracting enough to lead to dissatisfaction by the time the credits start rolling.

All-star voice casts can be more gimmicky than appropriate or effective, but that isn’t the case with Transformers One. Chris Hemsworth quickly proves himself worthy of the Optimus Prime title card with a commanding and inspiring voice, while Brian Tyree Henry steals the show, running the full performative gamut as disciplined miner D-16 becomes the tyrannical Megatron.

B-127, who eventually becomes known to fans as Bumblebee, is once again an audience favourite with the help of Keegan-Michael Key, while shoutouts must go to Jon Hamm as Cybertron’s leader, Sentinel Prime; and Steve Buscemi as eventual Decepticon second-in-command, and everyone’s favourite wannabe king, Starscream.

Transformers fans will also appreciate the excellent score from composer Brian Tyler, who previously did a great service to the franchise with his work on the 2010 cartoon series Transformers Prime (and whose score motifs can be heard throughout Transformers One).

Back in 1986, The Transformers Movie proved that films in the franchise could rise above their commercial toy-flogging underpinnings and speak to the emotions, values and spirit that creators and fans have associated the series with for nearly four decades. And while Travis Knight’s Bumblebee fired the starting gun and, debatably, started to realign the Transformers movies with all that, Transformers One is probably the closest we’ll probably ever get to the core of why Transformers means so much to so many people. The bonus prize is that, like the model car, truck or fighter jet many of us got in our Christmas stockings back in the day, there is way more to the new film than meets the eye.

Transformers One is in cinemas, including large format screens, now, having released on 27 September.