REVIEW: “Transformers One” (2024)


WRITER’S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on September 24, 2025. 

This CG original story marks the first animated feature in the Transformers film series since the inaugural 1986 adaptation of the popular Saturday morning cartoon. The Hasbro toy brand has arguably been on an uphill climb since the live-action Bumblebee (from 2018) and Rise of the Beasts (from last year). 

For longtime fans who thought the previous movies spent more time with the human characters than the titular bots, they will not be disappointed by Transformers One. In fact, I may go as far as to say that director Josh Cooley’s take on these characters and their home world (brought to life in a retro and state-of-the-art look—and a real sense of depth and vertigo in 3-D—by Industrial Light & Magic) is the most invested and dimensional version by far. And there’s not a single human character in sight. 

Like Chris Pratt did with Mario, Chris Hemsworth succeeds Peter Cullen as a younger Optimus Prime (then known as Orion Pax) and manages to put his own spin on the iconic leader, who was once friends with eventual enemy Megatron (er, D-16, voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) on a mining colony. (Apparently, Alien: Romulus isn’t the only movie this year with a mining element.) Rounded out by a solid supporting voice cast with colorful and distinct personalities, including Keegan-Michael Key (B-127), Scarlett Johansson (Elita-1), Jon Hamm (Sentinel Prime), and Laurence Fishburne (Alpha Trion), the engrossing story takes viewers through the ancient history and mythology—before our heroes could shape-shift—of not only the heroic Autobots and the misguided Decepticons, but also the original Prime leaders/warriors and the much-sought-after Matrix of Leadership. (Henry has, perhaps, the most layered and complicated arc in the whole movie.) 

The result is a deeper story than you might expect, with themes and parallels (some, spiritual or Biblical) of identity, betrayal, and discovering where we really came from, what was stolen from us, and what we are made of. “More than meets the eye” never looked more visceral. (The “Surface” world combines technology with nature.) It certainly handles those elements a lot better than, say, 2009’s Revenge of the Fallen did. Transformers One is a roller coaster ride on an epic scale. In short, it’s fun and cool. 

#filmfreeq #bekerianreviews #21stcenturycinema #paramountpictures #hasbro #joshcooley #transformersone2024

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