Max Holland: Transformers One (2024) Movie Review

Transformers One (2024) is an animated sci-fi action flick from Paramount Pictures directed by Josh Cooley. It's based on the popular Transformers action toy line by Hasbro and serves as a prequel to the franchise. It stars Chris Hemsworth, Keeghan Michael Key, Scarlett Johansson and Jon Hamm in major voice roles. To keep this as spoiler free as possible, its set in the planet Cybertron and follows our main characters, Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth), D-16 (Bryan Tyree Henry), B-127 (Keeghan Michael Key) and Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson), a group of miners who mine an energy source called "energon" for their leader Sentinel Prime (John Hamm). Orion learns about the thirteen Primes who were killed in a war against an alien race called the Quintessons and lost an artifact known as the Matrix of Leadership. The absence of the Matrix caused the energon rivers to dry up.

The four hitch a ride to the surface in search of the Matrix to restore the planet. Along the way, they meet Alpha Trion, a former Prime who survived the war. Alpha Trion reveals that Sentinel Prime isn't who he says he is and has been secretly working with the Quintessons. So, our heroes conceive a plan to take down Sentinel Prime and save Cybertron. Orion Pax and D-16 are shown to be best friends at first and the plot is focused on their dynamic. D-16 however is shown to have other plans and betrays the other main characters leading him and Pax to become archrivals. That's about the gist of it without giving too much away.

I went and saw Transformers One (2024) this past weekend and it was pretty awesome. It's got great animation, a great origin story with interesting twists, likable characters, very funny moments, and really cool action scenes. I’d say it’s an emotional roller coaster and I’d argue that it’s better than any of the live action Transformers movies. I can’t think of any problems with the movie. I’m not going to directly spoil it, but if you’re familiar with the Transformers lore and characters, you’ll pretty much know what’s coming, so I guess you can argue that it's a little predictable in that sense. Then again, it IS an origin story, so that's to be expected. I think the way the plot is set up is very well presented, and I'll say that the climax really had me at the edge of my seat.

I highly recommend this movie, especially if you're a Transformers fan. I'd say see it in theaters while you can, because even though it's gotten very positive reviews from the critics, it's not doing too great at the box office. Or wait and watch it on home media or streaming, whichever you'd prefer.

I give Transformers One (2024) a solid 10/10.

So, have you seen Transformers One (2024)? What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you think it was okay? Let me know in the comments.

You can check out my video review on YouTube: