How It All Began

The last couple of decades have seen a number of long-running franchises come along and then, more often than not, sputter out. There’s the Marvel Cinematic UniverseWhen it first began in 2008 with a little film called Iron Man no one suspected the empire that would follow. Superhero movies in the past, especially those not featuring either Batman or Superman, were usually terrible. And yet, Iron Man would lead to a long series of successful films, launching the most successful cinema brand in history: the Marvel Cinematic Universe., which one could argue is still either carrying on or has lost the goodwill of all of its audiences (in reality, a bit of both). There’s the DC Extended UniverseStarted as DC Comics' answer to the MCU, the early films in the franchise stumbled out of the gates, often mired in grim-dark storytelling and the rushed need to get this franchise started. Eventually, though, the films began to even out, becoming better as they went along. Still, this franchise has a long way to go before it's true completion for Marvel's universe. which started, stumbled, tried to right itself, stumbled again, and then died a whimpering death before becoming the DC UniverseThe successor to WB's failed cinematic universe, the DCEU. Headed by James Gunn and Peter Safran, this new DC Universe carries over some continuity from the former film and TV series while crafting a new, rebooted universe for the future.. There were so many failed cinematic universes, from the Dark Universe (dying due to the failure of The Mummy), to the Valiant Comics Universe (which also died after a single film, Bloodshot), and the Sony Universe of SpidermanSure, DC Comics has Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, but among the most popular superheroes stands a guy from Marvel Comics, a younger hero dressed in red and blue who shoots webs and sticks to walls. Introduced in the 1960s, Spider-Man has been a constant presence in comics and more, featured in movies regularly since his big screen debut in 2002. Villains (or whatever they called it one year into the next). Franchises come and go and even if studios expect the good times to keep on rolling, nothing can last forever.

We’re seeing the same thing happen now with Hasbro’s continued ambitions for the Transformers universe. After multiple successful Michael BayStarting off as an intern for George Lucas, and then moving up to directing commercials and music videos, Bay eventually got his break in film showcasing an ability to blend direction, editing, and special effects to create absolutely thrilling films.-helmed films (from 2007’s Transformers, which grossed $709 Mil, through multiple Billion dollar earning films, until finally sputtering to a near halt with Transformers: The Last Knight), the franchise has been struggling to regain its footing. Bumblebee, a planned reboot for the series, was successful enough at the Box Office without being a massive hit. It at least fared better than Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, a semi-sequel that flopped in theaters. After that, a further reboot was called for and, just one year after, we have Transformers One.

If you pay attention to movies (like I do) then you probably are aware that Transformers One failed mightily at the Box Office. Many that followed the industry wondered why? What caused this film with great brand recognition, a reboot free of the old continuity that could do its own thing and be its own film, to fail? I think the short answer is oversaturation. This was a 2024 film that came out just a year after the 2023 flop, and by that point people were tired of the franchise. They’d sat through seven films already of varying quality, many of which, in retrospect, audiences simply didn’t like anymore. The fever for Transformers was over. This film simply had the unlucky job of debuting at a time when audiences couldn’t care anymore.

Which is a pity, honestly, because this is probably the best Transformers film in years, maybe even the best of the modern franchise. Certainly it beats out the Michael Bay films for character development, storytelling, and, most importantly, putting the focus on the lead characters. This is a Transformers movie that is all about our Robots in Disguise (and not the humans that, so often, the Bay series thought we should care about more). This is the Transformers movie that fans had been asking for since 2007, they just didn’t show up for it.

We’re introduced to two miner bots, Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry). The two are best friends, covering each other’s backs while they work their daily shift in the mines, helping to gather energon to power their world of Cybertron. D-16 is a by-the-book employee while Orion is more of a wild card, going off-book frequently, often causing more problems than he’s helping to solve. Such as in the case of the Iacon-5000, a race around the capitol city, which is open to all transformers. Orion wants to enter, even though he and D-16 are just miner bots who can’t transform. D-16 doesn’t want to, but he gets baited into it and, somehow, they manage to put in a decent showing.

This gets our two bots the attention of Sentinel Prime (John Hamm), the leader of Cybertron. For years Sentinel has been searching the surface of the planet for the Matrix of Leadership, the active device that could let energon flow freely once more. It was lost during a battle against the Quintessons, an alien race that came to take over Cybertron, and Sentinel was the only survivor of the leadership left after the war. With Orion and D-16 having Sentinel’s favor, they think that if they can get to the surface and find the Matrix, they could help their world. Only, once they get to the surface, nothing is as they expected…

It’s best to think of Transformers One as a prequel. I’d say even that information is a spoiler, but if you saw the trailer for the film then you know the basic beats. Our heroes – Orion and D-16 as well as a couple of friends they pick up, B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key) and Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) – are clearly telegraphed to become characters we know from previous works. I won’t spoil it here, but it is fairly obvious. And because of that you can also tell where many of the twists and turns of the film are going to go. This character will be a good guy, this one a bad guy. They will gain these powers. They will find these clues. Every step of the way, if you know anything about the Transformers franchise, you’ll be able to pick up on what’s going on.

I would consider that a bit of a double-edged sword, if I’m being honest. On the one hand, if you are a kid, then this somewhat simple bit of twisty storytelling probably seems mind blowing. I could see how, if you were a young fan of the series, seeing how everything plays out, how this film sets up so many story beats for the franchise to come, this could feel like one of the most epic stories ever. “So this is why they’re enemies!” and “this is why this character acts this way!” It’s the standard prequel setup where things you didn’t really need to have answered get answered anyway, but maybe that hits the right buttons for certain fans (especially young fans).

At the same time, though, being a prequel does also mean that we can have unfamiliar versions of familiar characters, and we can just enjoy the ride they go on. And it is actually a pretty fun ride. The characters are fun and funny, with the writing giving each and every one of them a chance to shit. The animation is actually really pretty, feeling like the toys brought to life but in the best way. The action is clear, well directed, and fun to watch. This isn’t at all like the Michael Bay films, which were the movie making equivalent of power-slop. Yes, the story in Transformers One is easy to predict, but that also means you can kick back and enjoy all that the film has to offer without needing to stress too much. It’s a well made popcorn film.

If I had any other real qualm with the film it’s the fact that so many of the characters are voiced by A-list actors. I know actors sell films, but that’s usually when you can see their faces and enjoy their physical performances. While none of the actors in the film are bad, there are dedicated voice actors that could be better in these roles. Nowhere is this more clear than with Hemsworth. While I think he’s a great, fun actor, he’s not really good for Orion. By the end of the film, when this character becomes who they are meant to be, Hemsworth’s voice talents falter, failing to deliver the power and gravitas the moment requires. It’s pretty clear they needed a better voice actor for this role but they went with a “name” instead. It’s one clear area that could have been improved in the film.

Still, overall I didn’t have much to complain about with this film. It’s pretty, it’s fun, and it provides a lot of adventure. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it improves in every way on the glut of Transformers films we got over the last nearly twenty years. If this had come out two or three years from now, when everyone had recovered from franchise fatigue and forgotten about Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, I think this could have been a hit. But coming when it did, one year after that flop, when audiences clearly don’t care about these characters right now, that was a colossal mistake.

Paramount and Hasbro overplayed their hand by a lot. They thought people would just keep coming to these movies, no matter what. They didn’t, and it sank Transformers One even before the film had a chance to get going. The producers had plans for two more films after this but, clearly, that’s not happening now. The failure of this film (making $129.4 against an upwards of $147 Mil budget) got Hasbro to pull out of financing more films, and that’ll basically sink this franchise for some time to come.