When the god-awful Transformers: The Last Knight underperformed financially and critically in 2017, the producers pushed the reset button and created two prequels, Bumblebee (2018) and Rise of the Beasts (2023).  Their box-office was sub-par but I liked both for their charismatic human leads, Hailee Steinfeld and Anthony Ramos.  They’re two of the better entries in the franchise and I’d happily watch them again.

The series has now reached another fork in the road.  Instead of continuing with the current-day universe, director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) and the writing team have gone back to the dawn of time to show the first interactions between two iconic Transformers, Optimus Prime and Megatron.  It’s a risky move as it’s a 100% animated feature with no live-action scenes or humans for audiences to latch onto.  You only need to think back to the 2007 original, starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, to realise how much has changed.

The storyline has been moulded from the “David and Goliath” template of smaller folk standing up against corrupt, dominating superiors.  Orion Pax (Hemsworth) and D-16 (Tyree Henry) are close friends who toil away in the mines of the planet Cybertron.  It’s not long before they learn an evil truth about their leader, Sentinel Prime (Hamm), and they set about righting the wrongs.  The end goal is to locate a long-lost object known as the “Matrix of Leadership” which will make them heroes and ensure the planet’s survival.

The fully animated approach allows the creators to go with a lighter tone.  We don’t need to sweat the fate of a likeable human or Earth’s future.  We also know these two lead characters survive given they have appeared in later movies in the Transformers timeline.  The focus is therefore on a series of small, mini adventures where characters escape from perilous situations… while humorously squabbling at the same time.

The movie works as a comedy but when the drama dial is turned up, I wasn’t as convinced.  Sentinel Prime comes across as a weak baddie with weird motivations.  I don’t think we ever truly understand him.  When it comes to the falling-out between Orion Pax and D-16, it’s similarly rushed and muddy.  I struggled with D-16’s character arc and the suddenness in which he transformers from a nice-guy hero to a stubborn villain.

The big-name cast includes the distinctive voices of Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johannson and Steve Buscemi.  I preferred the last two movies but if you’re interested in this universe and a fully animated product, Transformers One has just enough on offer.

You can read my chat with director Josh Cooley and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura by clicking here.