One would assume a film focusing primarily on robots would be a no-brainer for a franchise that’s lasted 40 years off the strength of an ongoing war between two alien robot factions. Surely someone would understand the draw is the robots, right? Sadly, 2007’s Transformers and 2018’s Bumblebee are the only installments of producer Michael Bay’s Transformers film series to fit that bill. The other films? They baited with nostalgia but switched to bloated plots that minimized their titular characters.
Thankfully, Transformers One is here to save the day and the Transformers film universe. One, the first animated Transformers feature under Bay’s watch, tells the story of Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) and how their goal to rise above Cybertron’s caste system yields life and galaxy-altering impacts.
The main thing that makes One work is its script. Part of that is the decision to go way back to move the franchise forward. The plot is grounded in the origins of the battle for Cybertron, so the focus is solely on the robots. No forced human subplots or romances. Just the movie belonging to the characters it should have belonged to the entire time.
But don’t get it twisted; this isn’t merely a robot battle royale. The Robots in Disguise are more human than ever in One, with humor and heart usually reserved for a Toy Story film. Save for One’s explosive third act, the Pixar DNA is everywhere, from Orion and D’s Buzz-Woodyesque, odd couple pairing to comedy that’s kid-friendly but sharp enough for adults to the heart-tugging themes such as friendship and defying labels. It creates an emotional center the Transformers film series has long sought and often failed to achieve.
The star-studded voice cast in One matches the inroads made by the film’s previously mentioned shift in focus. Collectively, the foursome of Hemsworth, Henry, Scarlett Johansson, and Keegan-Michael Key has an organic quality that makes it feel as if they did live-action scenes together instead of an animated film they recorded for separately. And while all deliver fantastic individual performances, along with Jon Hamm’s amusing spin as Sentinel Prime, Henry’s turn warrants special mention.
Based on how things develop throughout the film, Henry carries more dramatic weight than his counterparts and is spectacular when called upon to do so. He’s previously done extraordinary things on the screen, but witnessing him control the mood of the film with only his voice and out of sight is a rarity few actors can pull off. It’s the kind of performance that makes you wish major awards were given for voice acting.
It took us almost 20 years to get here, but we finally have the modern Transformers movie we’ve been waiting on – one where the robots are the main characters. Transformers One’s renewed focus on its titular characters and excellent performances from the voice cast make for arguably the best Transformers film since 1986’s Transformers: The Movie. Honestly, it might even surpass that one. There is no need to do this one in a premium format, but 3D could be fun, given some of the animations.
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