THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The Transformers franchise is at its peak when explored via animation, as in the shows that have been produced since the 80s, which surprises me there is a big gap between making animated films compared to live action because there is an impressive track record on said medium.
PLOT
2024’s Transformers One takes place in Iacon, a city in Cybertron and follows two sentient robots who are the closest friends. Orion Pax and D-16 work as miners to find enough Energon that’ll keep the planet thriving, but grow up in a generation where they don’t have cogs to transform. D constantly defends Pax for being rebellious in cases such as sneaking into archives and being blamed for a cave-in. When the planet’s leader Sentinel Prime returns from an expedition searching for the missing relic, the Matrix of Leadership, he hosts a race and promises a reward to whoever wins. Pax and D join illegally and compete with jet packs to prove their worths, but despite the advantage, they come up short. Sentinel promises to reward them due to their participation boosting the mining morale, but don’t get it when sent to garbage incineration by dockworker Darkwing (Isaac C Singleton Junior) who was embarrassed of being upstaged. There, the bots an eccentric B-127 who’s been on his own for a long time due to coming off as abnormal compared to others. They also unintentionally find a distress message from Alpha Trion, one of the Primes (first creation by the god Primus) that had defended Cybertron for years against the opposing Quintessons. B joins Pax & D to the surface coordinates the message came from and they also get joined by the recently demoted Elita-1. Once they reach the coordinates, the find Trion deactivated and surrounded by deceased Primes. When reactivated, he reveals Sentinel is a traitor by giving Energon to Quintessons in exchange of ruling Iacon and removing cogs from younger transformers before activation. Disappointed if the truth, D believes Sentinel should be killed for his betrayal and nothing more. The bots get spotted by Sentinel’s consigliere Airachnid (Vanessa Liguori) and just as they retreat, Trion gives the group cogs for them to transform. Once they escape, he sacrifices himself in his last stand against Sentinel. As the group evades their new enemy, they encounter the High Guard, former warbots of the Primes who are also against Sentinel’s motives. Pax expresses an alliance, but the leader Starscream doesn’t budge until D displays aggression and dominance. Shortly after this standoff do Sentinel’s forces find them and capture half of the High Guard, as well as B, D, and Starscream. Although Trion’s evidence chip is destroyed, Pax & Elita encourage the remaining High Guard to join them in Iacon and stand against the false Prime. At Iacon, Sentinel confesses to D of killing his favorite Prime known as Megatronus and took his cog. He further rubs salt on the wound by branding him with his symbol. As that happens, Pax & Elita free the miners, convincing them to happen after successfully exposing his confession by broadcasting one of Airachnid’s memories. D takes advantage of the situation to subdue Sentinel, but Pax still debates with him on execution. Still upset, D chooses to pull the trigger but inadvertently shoots Pax who gets in his way. Although in shock of hurting his friend, he chooses to leave him to die and extracts his vengeance. As he kills Sentinel, he takes his cog and renames himself MEGATRON. Simultaneously, Pax is revived by the spirit of Trion and past Primes, granting him the Matrix of Leadership for his selflessness. Reborn, he becomes OPTIMUS PRIME and halts Megatron’s riot. He remains true to his morals and chooses to exile his now former friend and the High Guard. As he leaves with what would become his Decepticon army, Optimus uses the Matrix to restore the cogs to all miners. The film ends with the new Prime warning the Quintessons to stay away as he assembles his Autobot army with B and Elita.
THOUGHTS
Again, I prefer animation over live action when it comes to this franchise because there is a lot of time put to make sense of everything. That was missing for the most part when you look at entries like Age of Extinction and The Last Knight, so you can understand how easy it’d be to feel upset on lack of passion. Josh Cooley, who previously helmed Toy Story 4, definitely knew it had to be done right and boy did he pull it off with the weight in his hands. You already know Hollywood in the 21st century relies on computerization like crazy for their blockbusters, so it made sense for this to join the party. This is very different from the series Transformers Prime that first used that filmmaking style for this franchise, because every second was so sharp when witnessing the landscape of Cybertron, the design of the characters and the details on their transformations were all splendid to witness. As I say that, scenes like the Iacon 5000 race or the climactic riot were well edited and so well paced that you didn’t want those sequences to stop happening. That is the joy & excitement I felt as a kid and I’m glad I felt it again. With this feeling, this whole movie works in a similar vein to the very first film from ‘86 because this was a tale that teaches us the importance in sticking to your morals when you find out how the truth is far from what you’d expect. This is the dynamic between both leads in this sci fi adventure. There have been multiple iterations exploring the origin between Megatron & Optimus Prime’s rivalry via previous shows and comics, but this is likely gonna grow to be the definitive version as time goes by due to how fluent it was to see a good thing come to an end. It’s hella hard to match the aura that Peter Cullen has been known for when voicing the iconic Autobot, so expectations were high when it came to the idea of Chris Hemsworth playing a younger version of the character. It was refreshing to see him start out as an individual who started out reckless but builds maturity with each setback he goes through, which made him worthy to wield the Matrix. That is where he came to differ from his former friend because Megatron because although he started out as one who acted rational and originally befriended Pax due to appreciating the heroes that paved the way. The big difference he had was letting his emotions get the best of him and his disappointment towards Sentinel is what led to him being just as much of a threat as the Quintessons. Brian Tyree Henry did a great job in reflecting such a transition and becoming the gritty antagonist that was famously defined by Frank Welker. It was such a shocking moment when he chose to give up on Pax because it was the moment he gave up on his morals and it was a decision he couldn’t undo. He fought playing fire with fire was the solution to a better tomorrow, but his lack of a clear conscience is what prevents him from making it work. Starscream and the High Guard end up siding with him because they agree with the philosophy that dominance is the key to survival and Steve Buscemi nailed it in making the original leader an eager individual willing to follow anyone stronger than him. Prime chose to spare him when he could’ve ended a long lasting war because his mercy is what maintained them being different from one another. It definitely seemed worth it because on his end, there were still others who felt the same as him. Scarlett Johansson was a welcome addition as Elita-1 because her strictness comes from pride as a hard worker and she gets on the same page with Prime for having the latter. Had she not encouraged him to keep fighting, lord knows how worse things would’ve been for Cybertron. Because I was so used Bumblebee (B-127) not talking in the live action movies, I don’t even think of fan casting the character but Keegan Michael Key was an excellent choice for matching the upbeat energy he’s known for. The guy is so talkative that Shockwave (Jason Konopisos-Alvarez) would annoyingly gag him to stop hearing him when unconscious. It was even sweet Pax took him in because he’s not annoyed the way everyone else would be and accepts him being different the way D did for him. And if I was still a kid the year this movie came out, I’d probably ship the nickname ‘Badassatron’ but Bumblebee is still too damn good for me. When it comes to the term of not meeting heroes, it’s because of the preference of avoiding disappointment. That was definitely the case when it came to the presence of Sentinel, which felt like a red herring after seeing Dark of the Moon. There is a big difference though because Jon Hamm shows him to be a sadistic fraud who is more concerned of saving himself and basically ignores everyone else in the long run. Seeing the twist unfold with him, you can’t blame Megatron for wanting to extract vengeance but are aware it wouldn’t undo the past. Thankfully, Laurence Fishburne was able to make a good mentor out of Alpha Trion in his given time for expressing the importance of bravery which he displayed in his final moments. If he didn’t remain such, Pax would not be the hero we remember him for. This movie was hella fun, but were still a few things that didn’t make sense as I rewatched it. For example, Sentinel makes way too many mistakes that fail to cover up his tracks. He doesn’t encourage miners to take part of the race if he wants to inspire them work harder, nor did he take the other cogs of the Primes. I mean if he never wanted anyone to know what he was up to, he should’ve done the things he didn’t. Also, why doesn’t he take Pax and D-16 to his facility himself if he wants to reward them however? I understand he likely would be in a rush to continue his business relationship with the Quintessons, but the bare minimum would’ve favored him in the long run rather than rely on who doesn’t and allows Darkwing dispose of them. Another thing, how come Elita never joined the race? She could’ve proved herself in the same way Pax did and totally would’ve gotten promoted to the moon. I don’t even think the Quintessons need Sentinel to scavenge for the Energon if they can invade Iacon and get the rest if they want it so bad. Lastly, how was Pax sure Airachnid recorded memories? No one brought it up before him, so I’m a bit confused. Other than that, you can still have a blast overall. In short, Transformers One is the step back needed to show how entertaining this franchise can be. Whatever kind of fan you are, see this when you can.
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