Transformers One is an origin story for popular Transformers characters and the start of a new set of Transformers movies. So far it’s made over $111.4 million at the global box office. The movie takes a different animation style than any other piece of Transformers media and that style works amazing for the media. It looks more cartoony and made for kids but the plot and comedy in the movie is amazing all the way through.
This is the type of movie that you need no knowledge of other Transformers media to understand. Although if you do have knowledge, it’ll enhance your watching experience.
The movie centers around Orion Pax (subsequently known as Optimus Prime) and D-16 (subsequently known as Megatron). It takes place on Planet Primus, as opposed to most Transformers media. Orion and D-16 are low class mining bots. Orion and D-16’s dynamic is that they are best friends but have different views on their classes. D-16 believes the best approach is to follow the rules, he looks up to powerful figures in society like Sentinel Prime and Megatronus Prime. Orion looks up to Sentinel as well, but he believes that sometimes rules have to be broken and he wants to show that mining bots can be just as good as any transformer can.
The supporting cast consists of Elita-1, the leader of the mining squad that Orion and D-16 are in. B-127 (or Bee for short), a Cybertronian on the lowest level of Cybertron who’s job is to essentially watch trash burn. Sentinel Prime, the leader of Cybertron and a hero to all. Soundwave, Shockwave, and Starscream, three people who rebelled against Cybertron after finding out the truth.
The first 30-40 minutes of the movie starts by showcasing Orion and D-16’s dynamic and introducing most of the main cast. It shows Orion getting them into things and bending roles while D-16 isn’t very appreciative of it but goes along anyways. It introduces Elita-1 into the story. Optimus sneaks into several places, goes against protocol to help somebody, and drags D-16 into a race they aren’t supposed to be in. They’re also used to show Sentinel Prime’s influence on Cybertron and how he’s an inspiration to D-16 and how the goal of all of Cybertron is to find the Matrix of Leadership to restore the flow of Energon to Cybertron.
The next 20 minutes are used to progress the plot. Optimus and D-16 meet Bee and find a map to the matrix and go on a train to get to the place. Elita spots them, gets on the plane, a scuffle happens and Elita ends up joining them. This sequence is only 20 minutes long at max but the most important part of all of it is that it sets up the plot twist of the movie.
The next 20 minutes are used to show D-16’s descent into darkness. It shows how betrayed he feels and portrays his need to revenge in such a natural way. Orion’s reaction also feels reasonable. D-16 kills a lot in the movie after the plot twist and Orion seems to have a problem with it. Orion and the others kill a good amount of background characters as well. It’s clear Orion’s problem isn’t D-16 killing in general, it’s when that killing becomes a bloodlust that it becomes a problem. They also introduce Starscream, Soundwave, and Shockwave, who don’t play a major role in the movie but are set up to be incredibly important for future projects.
The final parts of the movie show D-16 and Orion’s transformations into who they’ll be in future projects. D-16 and Orion both go down different paths. Orion became Optimus Prime, a powerful leader to all Cybertronians. D-16 becomes Megatron, a warrior consumed by bloodlust that seeks to take Cybertron back from the “False Prophet” of Optimus Prime, after his faith was broken. Megatron is more focused on his way or the high way than he is about any sort of friendship with Optimus. Optimus feels betrayed by Megatron, clearly showing remorse for the hard decision he has to make of banishing him from Cybertron.
Overall, it’s a 10/10 movie. I normally don’t care much about Transformers movies, but this masterpiece has such an amazing story. The combat in it is incredibly creative along with the comedy and character arcs. Orion and D-16 are both dynamic characters in their own way. Orion doesn’t change his beliefs at all, but he learns how to put those beliefs into action and learns how to influence others to do the same. D-16’s character arc shows his downward spiral in mentality, changing his actions and personality.
Elita and Bee are both static characters, not changing throughout the movie but more so for a lack of need to. Bee remains childish and Elita and Orion keep him under check. Elita remains egotistical but is still incredibly good at encouragement. This movie is a masterpiece. It has amazing animation, great designs, amazing characters, superb twists, and a great parallel between Optimus Prime and Megatron. I would recommend this without a second doubt. Even if you don’t like traditional Transformers movies, unless you just don’t like animation then I know that you will enjoy this movie even just a little bit.
