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I’m not going to bury the lead here… This movie ROCKS!
Before I get to that, here’s what you need to know about this movie. Transformers One goes back to the beginning to tell the story of Optimus Prime, then Orion Pax and Megatron, then D-16 as they attempt to become More Than Meets the Eye! (See what I did there?)
To be completely honest, I was not looking forward to this movie after seeing the first glimpse a few months ago. However, a solid final trailer and the excitement of my children had me slowly raising my hopes that this could be something worth watching. Let me tell you, it was so much more than I could have hoped. So let me break down what worked and did not work for me in this film.
Voice Cast:
First things first, the cast of this movie was fantastic. While Scarlett Johansson and Keegan-Michael Key were great as usual. Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion and Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime stood out as incredibly memorable characters. But, Steve Buscemi as Starscream was inspired casting, while his voice is so very recognizable, he still managed to become the Starscream we all love to hate!
Which brings me to the two stars of the show, Brian Tyree Henry as D-16/Megatron and Chris Hemsworth as Orion Pax/Optimus Prime. Brian Tyree Henry did a phenomenal job of bringing a character that the audience knows will be on the wrong side of the fight by the end pathos and heart, leading the viewer to understand his reasoning. Henry took me on an emotional roller coaster with his performance in this.
Chris Hemsworth, while I truly love this work and understand his talent, was the one major concern I had going into this. As a child of the late ’80’s and early ’90’s, Peter Cullen is and always will be Optimus Prime. The last thing I wanted to see was Chris Hemsworth doing a poor man’s imitation for two hours. Thankfully, that is not what he did. Hemsworth made this role his own while giving some, not so subtle vocal nods to the man who’s voice made Optimus Prime so memorable.
Animation:
This is a visually stunning film. The animation style was crisp and clean, the colors were vibrant, and the action was visceral. Each scene was a spectacle and I found myself disappointed if I had to look away for even a moment, fearing I would miss something. I appreciated the fact that the filmmakers went with the clean and crisp style, instead of the popular “sketched” quality of the Spider-Verse films and recent TMNT movie. That style fits those stories, but when you are dealing with robots in disguise, the hard lines are what are needed.
Final Thoughts:
At the end of the day, Transformers One is the story of the best of friends becoming bitter enemies. While this is a familiar trope in storytelling, this films succeeds because it takes the time to get to know these characters. What do they want, what are their lives like, how do they feel about each other? By the time this movie wrapped up, I felt completely satisfied with the story and where the characters ended up. There were great moments of humor, intense action, and heart wrenching emotional beats. For long time fans of the franchise, you will love the subtle, and not so subtle, call backs to past Transformers projects. One towards the beginning, I won’t spoil it but you’ll catch it, had me chuckling for hours after seeing the movie. To reiterate my first point of this review, this movie rocks!
The Verdict:
Equal parts nostalgia, action, and heart make this the perfect package! Excellent voice acting, stellar visuals, and a heartfelt story combine to make this a must see film and the best Transformers movie to date! I said that I would break down what worked and what did not work for me with this movie. In case you haven’t noticed, I did not write any negatives… that’s because I have none, I’m giving Transformers One a…
5/5 – Transform and Roll Out!
