Transformers One

Transformers One delves into the untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron. Once bonded like brothers, the two embark on a journey to find the Matrix of Leadership, hoping to return peace and prosperity to their homeworld of Cybertron.

Transformers One Review

It may be by the numbers and predictable, but thanks to director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4), Transformers One is also one of the clearest and most cogent stories in the Bayverse. Cooley’s crisp tempo, balanced by focused storytelling, helps keep the almost nonstop frenetic action and indistinguishable locales and background characters from overwhelming or confusing the senses. Combined with a theme that universally resonates with audiences – betrayal and overcoming tyranny and persecution, the film might not break any new ground, but it does a fair job of entertaining.

                   

Delivering something of a mixed bag of performances, the film’s core quartet consists of the voice talents of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry (Bullet Train), Scarlett Johansson, and Keegan-Michael Key. None are bad, but there is more than one scene in which Hemsworth and Johansson seem to be phoning it in, and Henry isn’t given much to work with, especially considering the importance of his character. However, of the four, only Key seems to understand the hyper-reality of the medium, and he infuses Bumblebee with high-octane energy in scene after scene. With that said, he again plays the same bumbling goof he’s been dining out on for years, which has the potential to get a little grating. Fortunately, neither the script nor Cooley overutilizes him, and most of Bumblebee’s humor beats land.

Actually, Transformers One is a challenging film to critique. On the one hand, aside from the above nitpicks, the voice talent is more than sufficient to keep audiences engaged, and the story itself, although simple and done a million times before, is economical with no fat. It offers great pacing, decent action, and an attractive animation style. Furthermore, most of its characters are likable, and it doesn’t abuse nostalgia like many other prequels and sequels in long-running franchises. However, the story is lean to the point of feeling rushed, with little time given to meaningful character development, which leaves the major story beats feeling somewhat unsatisfying. The plot is equally rushed and, therefore, driven solely by convenience as the protagonist luck their way from one story beat to the next.

Then there’s Scarlett Johansson’s Elita-1. If there is one element in Transformers One worthy of nothing but scorn, it is this haphazardly placed decal of a Woman’s March insert that gets slapped onto the movie for no narratively relevant reason other than to be an unlikable jerk whose off-putting abrasiveness is treated as charming and delightful. Every moment that she opens her mouth, the movie is momentarily darkened.

There’s also an attempt, mostly via Scar-Jo’s Harpycon, to paint young Optimus as something of a goof. However, each of the negative consequences of his admittedly brazen actions in the film ranges from disproportionate to utterly evil, and all are the symptoms of systemic corruption rather than Optimus’s perceived incompetence. Yet the writers don’t seem to understand this. The result is a confusing character arc featuring a very competent and brave young Optimus who is regularly criticized for flaws he doesn’t seem to actually possess.

PARENTAL NOTES IN TRANSFORMERS ONE

What The H3!! Is Wrong With These People?

• This PG children’s program uses several instances of adult language. Why is this so frequently done? The violence may be fake, but the curse words are real.
  • The Lord’s name is taken in vain at least twice.
  • “What the hell,” and variants thereof are said at least twice.
  • Bumblebee calls himself “Badassatron” (Bad ASS ah tron) a minimum of six times.
  • It’s not a curse word, but one of the main characters tells his companion to “stop being a glitch,” clearly alluding to the B word.
  • One of the main characters says, “We are so screwed.”

Murder, Now For Kids

• By now, everyone should know that violence is baked into the Transformers franchise. However, Transformers One pushes its PG rating to the limit. In addition to numerous intense battles…
  • Bumblebee (the movie’s comic relief) slices several anthropomorphic sentient robots to pieces, including an onscreen decapitation – all for laughs.
  • One of the film’s primary antagonists is shown to brutally murder several Transformers. The deaths, including executions by beheading, happen just (and I mean just) off-screen.
    • This same character briefly tortures another character – again, just off-screen. The audience can hear his screams of pain.
  • The film’s other primary antagonist violently rips a Transformer in half. The victim is already defeated, and the animators do a credible job of making his wires and cables look like intestines, muscles, and other organs as he is murdered on screen.
• The brutality isn’t limited to onscreen violence. The film’s intensity never lets up for long, and there are several moments in which one character graphically expresses a desire to “kill” another Transformer. It gets rather dark.

WOKE REPORT

Mommas, Don’t Let Your Daughters Grow Up To Be @$$h0!3$

• Scarlett Johansson’s snarky character is an arrogant, rude, and generally unpleasant girl boss whose entire crappy demeanor is narratively celebrated. Treated as perfect in nearly every way, not only is her character entirely unnecessary for the plot, but she seems only to exist to upstage or put down Optimus at every turn. It is so persistent throughout that even her pep-talk to him late in the movie is riddled with disparagement. She actually starts by telling him, “I’m better than you in every way.” The one caveat she grants him is that his hope/optimism (get it, Optimus?) exceeds hers. Yes, his feelings are better than hers because she’s too tough and career-driven to have had time for feelings.
  • If Optimus had been portrayed as remotely as flighty as she treats him, I’d have given the movie a significantly more severe Woke Score. However, even though she regularly berates him, she’s not in the film much, and he is actually quite brave, bold, competent, and successful in his efforts. Only she sees/treats him as a buffoon.
  • Scar-Jo immediately and rudely takes over the group’s expedition, stealing the map from Optimus. She does so because she blames him for their predicament, even though she is with them based on her actions and desire for career advancement.

You Load 16 Tons

• Much of the film revolves around a class system of elites and everyone else, with an entire subclass of Transformers being little better than slaves who are worked to death in underground mines. However, this is done for narrative purposes only and is never ever treated as a sanctimonious opportunity to proselytize about current events. In fact, the film’s message is that with a good attitude, hard work, and perseverance, you can raise yourself up and throw off the shackles of mediocrity.