MUMBAI : Prequels and origin stories have formed a core part of the cultural fabric of Hollywood ever since Hollywood seeped into the cultural fabric of the world. However, it's not always that origins are traced with the same essence and gravitas, which not only transformed (no pun intended) certain characters into a pop-culture icon, but also etch a satisfying map of said pop-culture icons' roots. Transformers One does all that, and then some, and then some more.
That a Transformers movie, hailing from a film franchise with a critically scorned track record, barring the first 1986 animated film, the 2007 movie, which kickstarted the cash-grabbing, live-action series, and the last 2023 live-action entry, managed to pull it off better than most critically lauded franchises, says a lot about what can happen in the hands of the right team.
Speaking of right teams, it looks like the sparks in everyone's cores (no pun intended) aligned seamlessly to bring together Josh Cooley, the Director of Toy Story 4, Eric Pearson, the screenwriter of Godzilla vs Kong — one of the best Godzilla or King Kong movies ever — and a voicecast featuring two Avengers alumni in Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson, Brian Tyree Henry, one of the most underrated actors today, Keegan Michael Key, one of the most underrated comics today, Steve Buscemi, who can act his way even while reading numbers from a phone directory, Laurence Fishburne, who can interestingly describe even paint drawing on a wall, and a mad man by way of “Jon Hamm”. To say that they combine for a magical experience would be strong the obvious.
The way the film narrates the humble, meager beginnings of both Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Cybertron, engulfed under a cloud of deception, and how it joins the dots while leading to their eventual rise from nothing to going their separation ways, and forming opposing factions of the Autobots and Deceptions, is a sight to behold. It also proves that the greatest of animation and VFX holds no sway unless backed by great writing and direction.
To put it quite frankly, Transformers One is one of the best origin stories ever assembled on film, arguably the best entry in the Transformers franchise, and hands down one of the best movies of 2024. No Transformers fan can miss this on the big screen at any cost.
4.5/5 stars
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