For 17 years the Transformers franchise has proven bafflingly successful. The four Michael Bay-directed movies, spanning from 2007 to 2017, became a byword for shallow spectacle, while the prequels Bumblebee (2018) and Rise of The Beasts (2023) were at best a marginal improvement. The series now moves into animated territory with the star-studded family film Transformers One.
This is the origin story of the Autobots and Decepticons, set on their homeworld of Cybertron. Chris Hemsworth voices Orion Pax, the robot who will become Optimus Prime, but is for now a lowly mining robot hanging out with his best friend D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry), who will one day be his sworn enemy Megatron. Orion Pax dreams of rising above his station, and through a series of misadventures unveils a dark secret about the planet’s beloved leader Sentinel Prime (John Hamm). Dragging along D-16 and fellow mining bots Alita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) and the eccentric B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key), Orion fights to expose Sentinel Prime and become the leader he was meant to be.
You’d be forgiven for thinking this was a soulless cash-in with the sole intention of selling toys, but there is more than meets the eye in what turns out to be a delightful romp. It follows the familiar animation plotline of a downtrodden hero who dreams of more, throws in some impressive action sequences and a world that’s engaging for viewers young and old.
What makes it different, however, is the amount of personality coming from the principal characters. In the live-action films, the Autobots and Decepticons were little more than special effects, throwing the occasional trailer line while the human cast filled in the gaps. With no humans in this film, each Transformer becomes an individual, with the A-list voice cast doing a wonderful job of riffing off of each other. It’s not Shakespeare, but the combination of banter and big action is hard to resist.
Hemsworth applies much of his Thor persona to the lead role – Orion Pax is an act first, think later kind of hero, but with a sincerity that creates a believable link between this iteration and the future Autobot leader.
Henry has a more interesting path, portraying D-16 as his belief in the system crumbles and turns him toward evil. Johansson’s permanently perturbed performance keeps Hemsworth’s antics in check, while Hamm is clearly having a blast as the charming but untrustworthy leader.
• Transformers One is out now
