My Review of Transformers One · 5:00pm January 10th
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! This is Mr. J back with my second overall review of 2025 and first movie review of the year as well. Today, I will be presenting my comprehensive analysis of one of the best animated films of 2024: “Transformers One”! As a Transformers fan, I am a bit disappointed and disheartened in light of recent events going on with Hasbro and with the full knowledge that this movie failed at the box office.
When I first watched this movie in theaters, I was blown away at how amazing this masterpiece was and still is. Even after seeing it again the second time, I am still in awe of how beautifully well-done this storyline is. Folks, allow me to explain why this movie is amazing in every way and how unique it is compared to all the Transformers films we’ve seen in the past.
This movie is about two miners who are part of a class of cogless bots that live their lives mining for Energon while they are oppressed and mistreated by higher class bots. But when they both discover the full truth of past events, their worlds turn upside down. Unfortunately, one takes a stand for justice whereas the other is fueled by anger and revenge.
First of all, the story is so well-written. It uncovers the origins of Optimus Prime & Megatron who were previously Orion Pax & D-16 respectively. It shows us the brotherhood and friendship they’ve had for Primus knows how long; but even during their early years, we see glimpses of their personalities that foreshadow what they will soon become.
Orion is a young bot who is curious, humble, hopeful, and…optimistic about everything. He wants to be more than just a miner and wants nothing more than to see his home planet restored which is why he often sneaks into the archives.
Of course, this is a slightly different take on Orion because in past iterations, he used to be a librarian within the archives of Iacon. Regardless, this is an equally interesting interpretation of the character who is just as hopeful and passionate as his previous counterparts.
On the other hand, D-16 was a miner who was content with his own lowly occupation despite his own personal feelings on how they were treated. But what I find fascinating about this character is how often he would be slightly annoyed by Orion’s behavior.
D-16 would remind Orion to stop getting into trouble, stay on protocol, or not talk back to their superiors. There were even a few times where D-16 would jokingly say he’ll kill him for just bothering him or messing things up, and Orion would chuckle at that with a humorous reply. It’s little moments like these that foreshadow their inevitable future.
Some people have criticized that D-16’s character growth was “rushed”, and I personally disagree with that. His character arc was paced perfectly, and the movie shows every single emotional phase he went through. When he discovers the cold truth of Sentinel’s betrayal, he doesn’t believe it at first; but when he witnesses his deal with the Quintessons, that’s when he realizes that his entire life was all a lie.
From that point onward, he progresses from a happy, satisfied miner to a vengeful dictator who uses violence as a way to get his point across. Take a look at his optics; as the film progresses, his optics change colors based on his emotions. They go from yellow to orange when he usurps leadership over the High Guard and finally to red when he betrays Orion.
At that moment, Megatron was born. D-16 grabbed Orion’s hand after he accidentally shot him to near death. This is the part where it gets so heartbreaking: according to the script, D asks himself why he did it as opposed to the movie itself where he asked Orion that question. It shows us a whole different perspective—D felt guilt for basically killing his best friend…but his rage consumes him.
He feels like Orion is holding him back and has to drop him so that no one stands in his way. D-16 died at that moment; Megatron dropped Orion with no remorse or mercy. The writing is impeccable!
But while D revealed his true colors, Orion shined as a heroic character. Some people misunderstand his act of trying to prevent D from executing Sentinel, and here is why: Orion wasn’t exactly trying to protect Sentinel; rather, he was trying to save D-16 from falling into darkness. Orion didn’t want him to stoop to Sentinel’s level by executing a helpless prisoner of war which is why Orion was chosen by Primus to wield the Matrix of Leadership.
That’s my favorite Orion scene because it showcases his best overall quality, and that is something even the live-action versions of Optimus severely lack. That moment is what defines Prime as a character, and we need to see more of that.
Now, let’s move on to the main voice actors!
Both Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry did a fantastic job giving their respective vocal performances for both characters. Chris brought out the young, energetic spirit in Orion and delivered good lines for the character. By the time he becomes Optimus Prime, he still sounds like himself although his voice does somewhat imitate Peter Cullen when he gives his ending speech.
Brian, however, was a show-stealer from start to finish. He killed it with his line deliveries especially by the time he transforms into Megatron at the end. He almost sounds like Kratos with the way he talks and intimidates people. He is definitely on par with Frank Welker for the way he voices Megatron in this film!
Sentinel Prime was also a great villain…as much as I hate to admit it. The writers did a great job making him so hateable and absolutely despicable as a character. I thought the Bayverse version was more evil, but this Sentinel eclipses his past counterparts in every way. He murders the 13 primes, unwittingly deprived Cybertron of Energon, and practically created robot racism.
He was so heinous as a villain, and Jon Hamm flawlessly made him so evil, smug, self-centered, and power-hungry with his tone of voice. In my opinion, he’s basically King Magnífico from Disney’s “Wish” but done right and significantly better in terms of characterization. It was so satisfying to see him get the Jazz treatment during the climax.
As for the other characters, there were pretty fun to watch. B-127 (aka Bumblebee) was so entertaining to watch which is actually surprising because I’m not really a big fan of Keegan-Michael Key. But he somehow managed to make Bee a hilarious character! Color me impressed!
And it makes sense why he’s like this because he’s been alone working by himself for almost forever. He had to create made-up friends comprised of junk metal so he wouldn’t feel lonely…and make himself feel less insane. That’s why he doesn’t shut up whenever he’s around other bots.
And I like Elita-1 too! Scarlet Johansson did a great job making her so well-fleshed out as a character, and she went through an impressive arc in this film. She’s a bot who tries to please her superiors in high hopes of acquiring higher rank but with very little success.
However, when she is given power to change her world (by receiving a T-Cog), she’s becomes less bossy and more relaxed—putting her trust in Orion as she finally sees that his optimism is what gets him out of tough situations.
I love how the movie balances its comedic timing with its serious, dark moments. Neither of them clash with each other in a sloppy manner, and they each serve a purpose in this movie. There’s plenty of humorous scenes, but they don’t deviate from its main focus or deprive the film of its own maturity.
When certain death scenes happen, they actually stick the landing. It’s unfortunate that the first trailer completely blows it out of proportion, thus giving it a false impression. Thanks a lot, Hasbro. 😑
The action scenes are the definition of eye-candy but the kind of eye candy that won’t give you any cavities or visual pain. You can tell that the animators had so much fun drawing all these scenes and having these characters fight with martial arts. The final fight scene between Optimus and Megatron is a perfect example of this.
The way both of them fight shows us how lengthy their battle IQ is. Megatron utilizes his brutal tactics whereas Optimus thinks like a strategist although he does show vulnerability during the fight. In short, it’s so well-thought out it’s became my overall favorite fight scene in the whole movie.
Furthermore, the animation as a whole is awesome. The way Cybertron is designed is so mesmerizing, and it makes me feel like I’m actually there. The landscape, the Cybertronian wild life, the atmosphere…everything is so beautifully crafted.
This is one of the reasons why animation deserves more respect and recognition; it’s not a genre. It is art, and it always has been a medium of storytelling to reach to audiences of all ages. Never forget that.
The soundtrack is just as amazing as the animation. Not only does it have its own aurora to highlight the emotions of the characters and the high stakes of the plot but it also took some inspiration from the TFP soundtrack. That’s really cool, and we have to thank Brian Tyler for his composing skills.
Lastly, the other voice actors likewise did impressive voice work—namely Laurence Fishburne for Alpha Trion, Steve Buscemi for Starscream, Jon Bailey for Soundwave, Jason Konopisos-Alvarez as Shockwave, and Vanessa Liguori as Arachnid.
Overall, this movie is so amazing to watch. It pisses me off that this has been so horribly disrespected and shat on by its marketing team and by corporate incompetence. It rightfully deserves a sequel, and if it doesn’t, then Primus help me, I’ll lose my mind. This franchise deserves better, and this movie deserves better.
With that said, it gets a 12/10. Any score lower than that would be an insult, in my opinion. Enough said. Please check out this work of art whenever you have a chance. I highly recommend it. And thank you, Josh Cooley, for directing this love letter with so much care and passion.
Peace out!
This review was approved by BADASSATRON.
This is easily my favorite Transformers movie by a long shot, I loved just about everything with it. The animation was amazing, the fight scenes were awesome, the character's were fun and went through great development, and this is easily one of my favorite animated movies of 2024, right next to the Wild Robot there for me.
I really wish Hasbro actually tried marketing this movie better, because it did not do this movie justice. I really hope we get a trilogy from this movie, and we can see where these great character's go next. Wish they actually gave this movie good marketing like Sonic 3 did. Because this movie was FAR better then what it looked like in the trailers.
You know, there are moments where Bee holds back his motor mouth tendencies, like during the more serious moments of the story.
Okay, it’s time for me to speak once more. I went with a friend of mine to see this movie. We absolutely enjoyed the hell out of it. Why, you may ask? Homelander, would you do the honors?
Speaking of Homelander, while I do love Jon Hamm’s performance, I feel like it was a missed opportunity not getting Antony Starr to voice Sentinel “Prime”. I feel like it would’ve been second nature for him, seeing as me and my friend group constantly compared Sentinel to Homelander. Oh well, no big deal. Besides, seeing Sentinel get the Jazz treatment was nice. Thank you D-16/Megatron for doing that to that pompous jackass.
Hopefully it evolves into a crush should they make a Transformers Two.