Transformers One
Hi. I'm Jared. If you're new hear, you should probably know I'm a huge Transformers fan upfront. That being said, as always I will try to be as objective as possible in my review and you should go see it in the theatres immediately it's incredible.
Hold on a sec, let's back up.
Until earlier this year I had no idea they were doing another animated Transformers film. And when I found out, I was excited. I've seen “Transformers: The Movie” from 1986 more times than I can count. That's one of those movies that I've seen so many times, it could very well be the movie I've seen most in my life. There's no way to be sure, but it's up there. So yes, I was very excited. Then I learned it was going to be fully CGI and not cell like the original or that kind of 2.5D animation we got with “Into The Spider-Verse” or “TMNT: Mutant Mayhem”. And then I saw the main character designs. And I was significantly less excited. In fact, I didn't even watch the trailer when it hit YouTube. I was pretty much as uninvested as one could be. I saw a few featurettes in the theatre before other movies, and nothing they showed looked all that impressive. And even though I really like Chris Hemsworth, I didn't really feel like he was a great fit for Optimus Prime. So my expectations were low.
Then early reviews came out about a month before it's theatrical release.
I'm never swayed by other reviews, but I definitely use it as a metric: if the majority of people are saying it's good, it's probably worth giving a chance to, and if the majority are saying it's bad, maybe have some low expectations. Now keep this loose because it doesn't always work (as I'd argue to the death about the recent “The Crow” reboot). So anyways, the reviews hit, and they were glowing. Someone said it's the best Transformers movie since the 86' animated feature. Extremely high praise, and now that I've seen it, I have to agree. “Transformers One” rules.
“Transformers One” almost plays out like two movies. The first half is like a really good adventure friendship movie that's wonderfully animated and realized. If it got cut in half and I had to rate it right then it would sit at a solid 8/10. But in the second half, to put it lightly, shit hits the fan. And once it does, this becomes one of the best representations of Transformers lore ever. The action is absolutely incredible and non-stop once it gets going. There are a ton of Easter eggs and twists for longtime fans of the franchise and even though this movie will absolutely appeal to kids, the combat is brutal and not dumbed down at all for the adult audience. You can tell a lot of people that worked on this are fans of the franchise themselves and love the material, and this movie is for them as much as it is for us.
Any fears about Chris Hemsworth slipping into the big shoes of longtime Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, can be put aside. By the end of the film you'll see he fits perfectly in the role. It turns out to be an incredible point of casting, but it's not the only one. Bryan Tyree Henry as Megatron and Jon Hamm as Sentinal Prime are both magnetic as well. Henry especially kills it as the movie continues on in the second half.
There are a few things that could be tweaked, like some of Bumblebee's humour doesn't really hit that well for me (and he's been reworked to be the comedy relief here). But some of it lands REALLY well and is hilarious. So I guess it works out fine. And Henry's entire arc as Megatron I wish was a little more fleshed out, but what we got is still incredible.
They establish a very different perspective on the Transformer civilization, taking bits of lore from all over the many different series' to give us a fresh take that is really interesting with some deep themes (like personal worth, capitalism, slavery, governmental oversight and corruption). It's surprisingly deep for what I was expecting as an all ages family film. And like I said, that second half is brutal in the best possible ways.
In all honesty, I'm surprised and completely energized by this, the Transformers movie I didn't know I had been waiting for since the 1986 classic. As a fan, and as an (kinda, but not really) objective observer, this movie rocks. You’ll love it, and your kids will have a new childhood classic.
10/10 - Masterpiece
