Transformers One Hits The Juicy Notes The Series Needs But Gets Cold Feet On The Landing

Talking about Transformers One is going to require a bit of the rare internet nuance: I'm going to start this off by saying this is not one of those reviews comic book nerds peddle that imply a story needs to be a 1:1 recreation of a previously published comic. My windows, while generally safe from flying bearded men are not certified 100% Alan Moore-proof, and so I'd never take that risk.

As a Transformers fan existence is, well, droll. The shadow of the live action Michael Bay movies hangs over the franchise as a whole, to the point you can't even say you like something without having to throw in a stray shot for Shia LaBeouf. The Transformers brand is huge and multifaceted, like if the Fate series had more robots- Kiss Players is just as much Transformers as the 80s animated movie, and the Cybertron roll-call is just as much a beloved entry in the series discography as The Touch.

All this to say that I really, really liked Transformers One. It's kind of the perfect snapshot of what it takes to make a by-all-accounts risky movie: it ditches human characters, heck, it ditches live action to make an animated mega-prequel that doesn't exist to just tie in to another story.

Transformers One: First Class

It's the story of Orion Pax and D-16, two miner-class Cybertronians who can't even transform, and the ramifications that has in a world run by a bunch of transforming robots. There's so much in here I could see that could cause a suit to quake in their boots: what do you mean it doesn't directly tie in to Bumblebee? Why can't it end with them going to Earth?

And to me that's where Transformers One is its strongest. It's a story, ultimately a tragedy, about the relationship of two of the most iconic rivals in toy history. I recognize some of the beats Transformers One tries to hit: while the words James Roberts are never mentioned it's hard to not see very similar beats if you'd read the IDW comics. Even if we don't go into Robot SS or Cyber-Hudud it's really refreshing to see the movie take its setting seriously.

Remember that thing I said about risks? That's unfortunately where you realize that every major decision has a cost. The movie has this constant feeling of sudden brakes, as if someone had scrubbed the script to make sure things didn't get too real. The result is a bizarre feeling that weighs on Orion Pax the most- through visual, music and narrative cues you're given the arithmetic for D-16's descent into Megatron-hood. Even if the jump can feel a little rushed thanks to the movie's timeframe, you absolutely understand where he's coming from.

But because the movie seems to never want to actually go beyond saying "This person is bad!" Orion seems infinitely more 2-dimensional than his fellow protagonist. Orion Pax never once actually explains what he believes in- his entire schism with D-16 makes no sense because unlike D-16 you never actually find out what Orion thinks of other people. If you're going to see this movie actually ask yourself, why exactly do these two disagree, outside of the scene that practically says "And now they disagree!"?

Some of the other risk-recoups are the obvious celebrity casting, formulaic main cast (Elita-1 being the obligatory Girlboss while B is the bumbling ADHD weirdo is so much more dull compared to whatever Orion and D-16 have going on) and the need to have weird forced gags and occasional fanservice shots. They're all minor gripes at best because they pave the way for what is ultimately a good movie- it's visually interesting, thematically tasty and a fun exploration of the bigger world of Transformers beyond "crashed on Earth, befriended a child".

There's More Than Meets The Script

More than any other Transformers movie, Transformers One feels like one of those entries that might have its own mini-offshoot fanbase.

It's so much more than your typical prequel- the movie wants to be its own slice of the Transformers mythos rather than just pave the way to some other movie you already know, and that effort is seen and appreciated. There's some downright gorgeous imagery at play and you absolutely owe it to yourself if you love these transforming mechanical aliens as much as I do.

If anything its biggest weakness is when it does a sudden brake on the good stuff. There's a story that clearly wants to be told here, but every now and again you catch the faintest whiff of bleach as if exploring the story's themes might somehow kill a franchise that survived Kiss Players.

Final Score: 8/10

Early screening courtesy of United International Pictures Malaysia . Transformers One is screening now in local cinemas