‘Transformers One’ movie review: Rip-roaring Shakespearean genesis story sparks new life in beloved franchise

Surely, a new Transformers movie paired with a Linkin Park resurgence in the same year, cannot be chalked down to coincidence? Is the universe plotting a comeback tour for our collective nostalgia?

Nearly 40 years since Hasbro first rolled out the first Autobots and Decepticons, Transformers One — the first animated franchise outing since 1986’s ‘The Transformers: The Movie’ — ambitiously rewinds the gears to their origin that roars to life like an operatic tale of betrayal, class struggle, and the tragedy of friendship undone. After years of the franchise being bogged down by Michael Bay’s heavy-handed, explosion-laden spectacles, Josh Cooley (of Toy Story 4 fame) steps in to steer the ship back to its mythological origins. 

Transformers One trades the earthbound chaos of previous installments for a return to Cybertron, a world that’s part Orwellian dystopia, part retro-futuristic dreamscape. Sam Witwicky and the gang of self-righteous humans aren’t around to spoil the frame anymore — just a roster of robots reeling from a brutal war with the Quintessons. Cooley and his team of screenwriters (Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari) take the liberty of digging deep into the mythos of Hasbro’s toy trunk, brushing off familiar tropes with just enough flair to make them feel fresh again. 

The narrative narrows in on the nascent relationship between Orion Pax (the future Optimus Prime) and D-16 (soon to be Megatron). Their storied friendship, filled with the innocence and vigor of youth, is the emotional core of the film, charting their rise from lowly miners to the leaders of rival factions.

A still from ‘Transformers One’
| Photo Credit:
Hasbro Entertainement

Chris Hemsworth’s portrayal of Orion is a revelation — a bright-eyed idealist with a bit of a reckless streak, who goes from a mischievous youth to a stoic leader, burdened by the weight of responsibility. Opposite him, Brian Tyree Henry’s D-16 is a ticking time bomb of insecurity and ambition, a character who seems both fated for greatness and consumed by the bitterness that accompanies it.

There’s a lightness in the early moments between Orion and D-16, an almost teenage recklessness that feels tender. And yet, there’s a palpable sense of tragedy waiting in the wings. The inevitable fracture between these two characters carries the weight of their myth; when the bond finally shatters, it feels as though the world might divorce itself with them.

The core conflict revolves around the social hierarchy on Cybertron, a world where those with “cogs” — the literal mechanisms that allow transformation — lord over the poor cog-less bots, who toil in mines for dwindling supplies of Energon, unaware that they have been deliberately stifled. If the imagery sounds heavy-handed, it is, but it’s precisely this earnestness that injects new life into a franchise whose previous entries often buckled under the weight of their own spectacle. There’s a sense of injustice bubbling beneath the surface — a parable about oppression, wrapped in colorful, metallic action sequences and some hilarious moments of levity from Keegan-Michael Key’s Bumblebee.

Cooley keeps the tone breezy but never lightweight. His direction finds a delicate balance between nostalgia and novelty, wrapping the lore in vibrant animation that doesn’t lean too hard on photorealism. Gone are the hyper-detailed, overwhelming designs of Bay’s films, replaced by sleeker, more emotive versions of the Cybertronians. Industrial Light & Magic have outdone themselves, creating a visually rich world that brims with life, and yet, it’s the quieter moments — the lingering shots of Cybertron’s gorgeous surface or the intimate exchanges between Orion and D-16 — that give the film its heart.

A still from ‘Transformers One’
| Photo Credit:
Hasbro Entertainement

The film’s pacing, however, leaves something to be desired. Transformers One moves with a breakneck speed that doesn’t always allow its emotional beats to land as deeply as they should. The first act, in particular, rushes through the world-building with such efficiency that it risks feeling perfunctory. Yet, even with its rushed moments, the film’s Shakespearean central conflict of ambition, betrayal, and regret somehow shine through.

Where these metal titans have waged explosive battles for decades, it’s easy to forget that the Transformers saga started with a simple premise: toys… but toys with — “I am Optimus Prime”  gravitas. Cooley approaches the material with a reverence for storytelling that elevates it beyond its toy-selling commercial trappings. This is a film that, for the first time in a long time, seems genuinely interested in the mythology of its characters, who, until now, have been trapped in a cycle of mindless action and explosions.

Transformers One may not be the most groundbreaking animated film ever made, but it is, without a doubt, one of the most thoughtful entries in a franchise that has often been synonymous with excess. If the Transformers were ever in danger of becoming relics of a bygone era, this film proves that they still have plenty of fuel in the tank. There is more to them than meets the eye.

Transformers One is currently running in theatres