Shadows on the Wall | Transformers One

Transformers One

dir Josh Cooley
scr Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari
prd Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Aaron Dem, Mark Vahradian, Michael Bay, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy
voices Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jon Hamm, Laurence Fishburne, Steve Buscemi, Vanessa Liguori, Jon Bailey, Jason Konopisos, Isaac Singleton Jr, James Remar
release US 20.Sep.24,
UK 11.Oct.24
24/US Paramount 1h44

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Director Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) gives new spark to this origin story from the Transformers universe, infusing the film with humour and kinetic energy while grounding a tale about robots in resonant humanity. As a result, this is an unusually thrilling action movie that pulls the audience into a relentlessly entertaining romp. It also draws on classic movies for a remarkably complex view of heroes and villains.

On the planet Cybertron, young miner Orion Pax (Hemsworth) dreams of doing something better with his life alongside best pal D-16 (Henry). While their latest audacious antics impress leader Sentinel Prime (Hamm), they end up further underground collecting scrap with the chatty B-127 (Key). Then Orion makes a discovery, and they head to the surface, teaming up with nemesis Elita (Johansson) before making a shocking discovery about what really happened in the past. But as they return to confront Sentinel Prime and sidekick Airachnid (Liguori) with the truth, Orion and D-16 strongly disagree on tactics.

Yes, this is essentially a story about how close friends are divided when one of them gives in to the, ahem, dark side. And while the film has seemingly boundless positive energy, it also travels to some very grim places as moments of peril, revenge, torture and death drive the characters forward to become either good or bad guys in their future, depending on their reactions. Boldly, the film forces the audience to understand valid reasons why someone might choose a darker path.

All of this is gorgeously animated, with shiny metallic surfaces that thankfully don't clank loudly in the sound mix. Instead, subtle details continually add layers to the characters, especially in the facial expressions and vocal work, while the nonstop pace and often chaotic action scenes have a vibrant sense of gravity to them. The planet's surface is flat-out spectacular, a flashback sequence drawn in dust is visually stunning, and several moments are cleverly rendered to remind us of toy figures.

But it's the constant sense of off-handed humour that makes this movie almost shockingly engaging, always revealing character depth rather than going for cheap laughs (although there are some of those as well). By playfully infusing the story with irony and wit, the filmmakers make the bigger emotional moments feel unusually intense. Which of course helps to deflate the Transformers' usually pompous speechifying and turn it into something genuinely rousing for a change.

themes, language, violence 19.Sep.24

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