The Transformers franchise does not have the greatest track record, film-wise. The original 1980s movie is somewhat dated but still a fun continuation of the show. The live-action flick from 2007 does feature amazing CGI but is a load of bullocks otherwise. Its sequels are somehow even worse. The soft reboot/prequel that is Bumblebee is a lot of fun, though not flawless. Its direct sequel is the most boring of all the titles. Enter director Josh Cooley’s Transformers One, written by Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari, an animated reboot of the robots in disguise. Is it as good as Cooley’s other efforts, or does it suffer the same fate as the poorly conceived Michael Bay outings?
Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) is a mining bot in Cybertron’s capital city, Iacon. He feels a constant need to better himself and remains optimistic that he can achieve the same things as his transforming counterpoints. This drives Orion’s best friend, fellow miner D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry), up the wall. A crazed scheme to compete in the Iacon 5000 race to prove that all robots have value brings an unexpected meeting with the leader of Cybertron, Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm). However, Darkwing (Isaac C. Singleton Jr.), who Orion and D-16 busted up during the race, banishes them to an unknown level of the planet as revenge.
“…[Orion Pax, D-16, and B-127] along with Elita-1 make it to the scarred planet’s surface only to discover the truth.”
There, Orion Pax and D-16 meet B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key), a robot so devoid of social interaction he’s gone mad. The trio finds a map of the location of an important lost artifact and devises a way to get it. They, along with Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson), make it to the scarred planet’s surface only to discover the truth. This revelation leads D-16 to give in to his anger, while Orion Pax wants to use this knowledge to give all miners their just desserts.
Anyone above the age of 11 or 12 will figure out the big reveal of Transformers One. Luckily, the screenwriters don’t rely on that twist to make the flick interesting. They let the relationship between Orion Pax and D-16 be the engaging element, which works like gangbusters. Orion’s eternal optimism shines through, making him likable, even though he causes mischief. D-16’s obedience turning into rage makes perfect sense with what is discovered. Of course, these opposing viewpoints lead to diverging paths.
"…the best this decades-old franchise has ever been on the big screen."
