Forty years have passed since the original “Transformers” cartoon and toys debuted. Since then, numerous iterations of the franchise have captured the imagination of children and the young at heart alike. Now, a new animated film has been released – the first to do so theatrically since 1986’s “The Transformers: The Movie.” That film is entitled “Transformers One.”
While the new movie contains allusions to the entire franchise’s four-decade history, the main plot serves as an origin story for the conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons. Before becoming Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively, Orion Pax (voice of Chris Hemsworth, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”) and D-16 (voice of Brian Tyree Henry, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire”) are fellow laborers in the capital city of Iacon. Defying the rigid hierarchy on Cybertron, Orion ropes companions Elita (voice of Scarlett Johansson, “Lost in Translation”) and B-127 (voice of Keegan Michael-Key) into a journey to discover their true selves under the tutelage of Alpha Trion (voice of Laurence Fishburne, “The Matrix”).
Though you will definitely get the most out of the movie as a longtime fan of the franchise, director Josh Cooley (“Toy Story 4”) has made a story that’s an ideal launching point for newcomers. The balance of dramatic weight and humor ranks the movie among the best efforts to date, with the voice cast making the characters their own. The journey of Optimus Prime and Megatron’s rise to power and their subsequent falling out is among the most compelling adaptations of the story across the franchise’s 40-year history.
The film sports a budget of $75 million, just half of the $150 million budget of the 2007 live-action film by Michael Bay (who serves as co-producer alongside his company Bayhem Films). However, that budget is well-spent. On top of the characters sporting unique spins on now-iconic designs, the shot composition and VFX skills of animation cinematographer Christopher Batty depict a Cybertron as lively as the robots who inhabit it. Industrial Light & Magic have joined forces with Paramount to deliver a must-see animated film, marking their first co-production since 2011’s highly-acclaimed “Rango.”
Overall, “Transformers One” is much more than meets the eye – a truly special reimagining for longtime fans and newcomers alike. Setting a new franchise benchmark, it takes the material “beyond good, beyond evil and beyond your wildest imagination.”
At a glance:
Directed by Josh Cooley (Based on the action figures by Hasbro)
Starring the voices of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan Michael-Key, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Hamm, and Steve Buscemi
Rating: PG
My rating: ★★★★★
