Transformers One
Apple Cinemas Xtreme
Hartford
Sept. 23, 2024
Transformers One serves as the origin story for perhaps the two most famous Transformers in history: Optimus Prime and Megatron. However, at the outset of the story, they are simply Orion Pax and D‑16, best friends who can’t transform, and are therefore relegated to mining for the precious resource that makes life possible, called energon. Eventually, the two set out on an adventure where they meet B‑127/Bee and Elita‑1 and other allies to find out the truth about what has made energon so rare.
Visually, Transformers One is a treat. We’ve come a long way from the ’90s-era CGI of Beast Wars, the first Transformers project to be done completely with computer animation (and still the best Transformers show, don’t @ me). Cybertron is a technological marvel, from the monotone but still vibrant colors of the mechanical desert on the surface to the bursting color palette of Iacon City. The Transformers themselves are expressive and the care in their animations is evident in one particularly well-done scene where the heroes struggle with their newfound powers. Action scenes are busy but never cluttered, and the individual background elements of the shootouts stand up to scrutiny just as well as the foreground where the main fights take place.
The characters are voiced by an all-star cast. Scarlett Johansson and Keegan-Michael Key play Elita and B‑127 with humor that doesn’t reach annoying levels of quipiness, instead letting the humor flow naturally from the character interactions. Chris Hemsworth plays Pax/Prime, and by the end of the movie he sounds nearly indistinguishable from Peter Cullen, the legendary actor who has voiced Prime for decades. The standout voice work came from Brian Tyree Henry, of Atlanta fame, as D‑16/Megatron. The cruelty and anger in his voice by the end of the film has truly transformed D‑16 into the villainous tyrant that will plague Cybertron for centuries to come.
Unfortunately, the transformations that both Pax and D‑16 undergo are the weakest parts of the movie. Pax is a goofball who dreams of proving that he can be more than his lot in life, while D‑16 is a serious but affable bot that believes in following protocol to make the best life possible for himself eventually. The two were fast friends from the beginning, as a flashback establishes, and their friendship is genuine and warm and one of the best elements of the movie.
So when a major betrayal happens later in the movie, the transformative effect it has on Pax and D‑16 start them on their road to greatness/infamy, but the change just isn’t believable. Neither Pax nor D‑16 demonstrate the qualities they become known for as Prime and Megatron until the plot demands it.
In fact, the movie says so itself. When all seems lost and Elita delivers her pep talk to Pax, she points out that she’s better than Pax in every way possible. So why is Pax in charge instead of her?
“You have hope,” she says. Pax can inspire people in a way that few others can.
When it comes to leadership, the power to inspire is certainly more important than combat skill or experience. Yet we never actually see Pax inspire or lead anyone prior to his promotion to leader of good guys. He can’t even convince D‑16, his best friend, to go along with his hairbrained schemes most of the time.
Similarly, we never experience the dark side of D‑16 until the betrayal occurs. D‑16 says at one point that he should have just followed protocol instead of letting Pax drag him along on their misadventure. D‑16 never utters a violent word, much less a violent action, until more than halfway through the movie, despite there being ample opportunities for him to respond to slights and insults in that manner. He doesn’t sound or act like a tyrant in training at all, and he doesn’t demonstrate the leadership qualities that convinces evil Transformers to follow him either.
The incredulity of their changes undermines their fated battle. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Megatron and Optimus Prime fight, but any trace of the friendship that defined the movie is gone. While the fight was thrilling, it rang hollow emotionally. I still couldn’t accept that Pax and D‑16 would be willing to try and kill each other given the strength of their bond. They were two halves of the same whole throughout the movie, and nothing happened to truly explain or justify their split.
I suppose that’s a major complaint for people who care about the characterization of their ’80s action figures, but not so big of a deal for anyone simply looking to go to the theaters and have a good time. Transformers One more than delivers on that front. As for the characterization, there’s always Beast Wars to rewatch.
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