A blast throughout

Hasbro and Paramount team up for yet another ‘Transformers’ iteration, this time an animation feature though. We’ve seen so many live-action ‘Transformers’ sequels that the franchise had begun to look boring and forced. The surprise element has been missing in the past few ‘Transformers’ movies and expectations had dimmed down considerably. ‘Transformers One’, a prequel to the live action series that gained heft from Michael Bay’s fire-starter, is surprisingly entertaining and has some intriguing animation work.

Directed by Josh Cooley, who directed ‘Toy Story 4’ and won an Oscar for co-writing Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’, this film has a style all its own. Though animated, this film is true to form and has a vibrancy that was never seen or experienced in the last few ‘Transformers’ iterations.

The story takes place in Iacon, a metro city of Cybertron — somewhere in outer space. Much of the first half imagines an underground world for the newly minted origin story — the hitherto untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, who we know better as sworn enemies. This film has them as best buddies, miners without cogs who suddenly find themselves fighting each other after regaining their transformer cogs while they come to terms with the reality of their existence.

In this prequel to the 2007 Michael Bay movie, Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry) are known as Orion Pax and D-16. As miners, they were being enslaved by Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm) to retrieve Energon for his nefarious indulgences. Orion Pax, the more adventurous of the buddy twosome, slyly enters themselves as participants of the Iacon 5000, which has never seen a miner’s participation since its inception. They almost create history but a last-minute glitch keeps them away from the winners’ podium. Thereafter, relegated to the garbage disposal 50 levels below the surface, they meet up with the lonely B-127, Bumblebee’s (Keegan-Michael Key) cogless avatar, and Elita (Scarlett Johansson).

This film is obviously targeted at kids and is a blast throughout. It also has appealing visuals and action. The voice performances are also quite competent. The plot though might seem confusing for those not familiar with the ‘Transformers’ series.

The world-building summary informs us about planet Cybertron and the Primes — robots that can transform into moving vehicles, but neglects to elaborate about the intricacies between the major characters. D-16’s transformation into Megatron feels rushed and unrefined. The end-credits sequence is also gimmicky and lacks purpose.

Overall, this film is a credit to Cooley’s talents as a master creator of standout animation.