I watched Transformers One and I liked it!

As I came out of the film, I sat down on the sofas in the area opposite the food kiosks to check how many of the original Transformers Cinematic Universe films I had logged on Letterboxd in the last few years, and I was shocked to discover that I hadn't logged any. I wouldn't describe myself as a hardcore Transformers fan; I've never read the comics, watched the TV series, and clearly never rewatched the films but in my head going into this film, I had watched them enough to feel like I knew them pretty well. However, I realized not long into the film that wasn't really the case. Luckily, Transformers One does such a good job of telling the origin story that you don't really need to know the hardcore ins and outs of the universe to appreciate the film, as they paint a pretty clear picture early on that you are going to be following the more mainstream Transformers to learn more about their origins throughout the film. Although I am sure there are plenty of bits in there for the more knowledgeable fans as well, with many different iconic Transformers appearing throughout the film.

The film, directed by Josh Cooley (who also directed Toy Story 4), follows Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry) who are two mining robots without cogs (which means they can't transform) living in Lacon, a city on Cybertron. Sick of (ironically due to the lack of cog) being a cog in the system, Orion Pax believes he can get more from life and regularly defies protocol in order to chase that dream, which regularly gets himself in trouble, as well as his best friend D-16. Later on in the film, we also meet B-127 (voiced by Keegan Michael-Key) and Elitia-1 (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) who go on to become close allies of the Pax and D-16 as well as fairly iconic Transformers characters. I have to say throughout the film, the voice acting is incredibly strong. I have seen a lot of praise for Hemsworth and Tyree Henry and I think that it's completely justified. They easily could have struggled with the weight of quite a big fandom on their back playing such important iconic voice roles but they really make them their own. Hemsworth, in particular, who I would say has a fairly recognisable voice after his run as Thor does a fantastic job as Orion Pax and really makes it his own.

A lot of animated films have really stepped it up in the last few years in terms of how they look and feel, and Transformers One is definitely another one to add to that list. It's a really beautiful film that has a lovely array of different vibrant colors throughout, with the style being very slick and stylishly shown from the start of the film. Traditionally, the Transformers films have always been very loud and energetic films (mainly in part from being directed by Michael Bay), and this film manages to match that through its animation style. It allows the fight scenes to still have its unique Transformers feel (aka explosions) with creative fight scenes involving the various characters changing their look throughout while also allowing for some fairly epic-looking imagery as they head to the surface for the first time as well as any of the times you get to see the scale of Lacon as a city.

The film was written by Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, who collectively manage to put together a really fun comedy that also really respects the long established franchise. Although the film has no humans in it unlike other films in the franchise, the story still allows the characters to have a stronger focus on their humanity than I remember the previous films to have. By focusing on Orion Pax and D-16 in their initial stages of their known story, it allows the audience to get a stronger feel of why these characters go on to have the values they do in the original live action films, and it also allows the audience to have a stronger connection to the characters as they connect the dots into what's going to happen throughout the plot. I realized fairly early on who the two central characters were going to become but the film still did a really good job of not making it really obvious of the expected story arcs that any Transformers fans would expect them to follow going into the film.

Overall, I really hope this film does well as I did feel it was a bit under advertised going into its release here in the UK. Personally, I have really enjoyed the efforts on X by user @TFHypeGuy who has been on a bit of a one person mission to get more people to see the film throughout socials over the last few days. A lot can be said for viral film fan marketing, with Morbius having a very large meme based fanbase a few years ago but the people behind it not really enjoying the film whereas it's clear that @TFHypeGuy is a huge fan and the genuine love of this film really comes through the posts in this one person campaign.

If you're looking for something to see in the cinema at the moment then I can really recommend Transformers One. It's got a strong mixture of comedy and action, and continues to tell the story of an iconic franchise that most people will have probably seen at some point in their lives. If you're someone who strictly bases their decision on critic rankings, the film itself is currently standing at around 88% on Rotten Tomatoes which is pretty good given other films out at the moment. Joker 2, I am looking at you with your 33%. If you're someone who strictly bases their decisions on how long films are, then this is only 104 minutes and even then it really flies by.

Click here for my video review!

4 out of 5.

A still from Transformers One. Photograph: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures