Review: TRANSFORMERS ONE Has a Lot of Spark

guest review by Leon Schwartz

Transformers One (2024)
Screenplay by Eric Pearson and Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari
Story by Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari
Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Tom DeSanto & Don Murphy, Michael Bay, Mark Vahradian, Aaron Dem
Directed by Josh Cooley
PG, 1hr 44m

When I saw the first trailer for Transformers One, I made a snap judgment and said to myself, this movie is not for me.

Cue the defeatist attitude. It’s ok, not every movie is for everyone. My daughter loves Frozen; I have seen it many times and can say it’s a good movie, but I will never sit down in my free time and put Frozen on.

So, I had some trepidation when my son saw the Transformers One trailer and asked if we could watch it. Imagine the swell of pride in my heart to see my child is a son after my own heart and imagine my fear of seeing a new Transformers movie, where it seems that based on the trailer, everyone is a comedian. Too many of my childhood shows have been ruined by Hollywood with mediocre to just plain bad adaptations and I didn’t have much hope for Transformers One. I called a friend who is a fan too, and told him we were taking the plunge and he came along, too.

Wow, Wow, Wow! Did I say Wow?

Spoiler-ish from here on out.

This movie blew me away. It started exactly like I thought it would, with our main character, Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth), being this goofy quick witted Transformer with a joke a minute. Yet, at the same time the jokes were funny enough to make me laugh and story elements were immediately introduced in the opening scene that peaked my interest. Next we are introduced to Orion Pax’s best friend D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry). This is where the story drew me in. Orion is the kind of friend who always gets you in trouble but is loyal and kind hearted. D-16 is the friend who always has to bail Orion out of all the trouble they get into and is annoyed but possibly grateful to have a friend like Orion.

As the story unfolds we find out Orion and his fellow bots have all been born without a Cog, which is required to for them to transform. Without the cog Orion and D-16 are used for menial labor. All the Transformers are living underground on Cybertron after they were attacked by an enemy known as the Quintessons. The Quintessons defeated the original Primes, the first Transformers created by Primus, the creator of Cybertron. The Quintessons have destroyed the surface of Cybertron and caused the rivers of energon that Transformers need to function and live to dry up. Orion, D-16 and other Transformers born without a cog work in the depths of Cybertron mining the energon needed for daily function.

We find out when the Primes were defeated by the Quintessons, an artifact known as the Matrix of Leadership was lost. All the Cybertronians believe finding this artifact is the key to restoring the rivers of energon and defeating the Quintessons. Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm), the leader of Cybertron, is leading expeditions to the surface to find the artifact. Orion, who believes he is destined to be more than a miner, also wants to do his part to help find the artifact.

I guess at this point you can guess what will happen. Orion’s hijinks will lead them to find vital information about the artifact and even lead them to the surface to retrieve the artifact. There are also some twists along the way. But it all works because the movie is grounded in the friendship of Orion and D-16. It is the friendship of the two Transformers and the eventually destruction of their friendship that is the true driving force of the movie. Everything else is second fiddle to the true story. The movie made me believe two hunks of metal were true friends who cared for each other and the falling apart of their friendship is adequately moving.

Transformers One made me believe these machines have heart and that’s what movies are all about. When I walk into that theater and the lights dim, will you draw me in and make me forget the world before my eyes is make believe? Yes, they did and I can honestly say this is the best Transformers movie since Transformers 1984. This movie has spark.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the movie 4 sparks out of 5. Go see this movie and spread the word because as a fan, I want to see more this universe.