How many times can a story get reimagined before all of its previous versions somehow merge together, becoming one amorphous blob where bits and pieces are used from each release, moving forward?

What’s familiar is new again as Transformers One depicts the untold “origin story” of Optimus Prime and Megatron, as the sentient robots’ relationship evolves from friendship into rivalry, when the one-time allies turn into archenemies whose fight will be waged for millions of years to come… (at least, that was true according to a couple of those previously published sources — the future of this franchise is still to be determined).

As a Child of the ’80s, Saturday morning cartoons (as well as those that aired on weekday afternoons) were full of high drama. In a world where entertainment was not originally found online, comics, toys and ‘toons were highly influential. G.I. Joe and The Transformers were my faves, as my fandom consumed each and every medium that involved them.

From what little I knew about this film before sitting down to watch it, I (wrongly) assumed it was a selective prequel (I’m not exactly sure if I just made up that term or not) — I had no idea that this this Josh Cooley-directed movie was a complete reboot, although I was hoping some sense of continuity would leap from my highly valued childhood memories.

If I had to choose favorites, I’d say that Marvel Comics had the best storytelling in the franchise (it was considered mature for kids, at the time), while my favorite big-screen adventure was — and still is — The Transformers: The Movie. It really is hard to believe that 38 years have passed, and I truly haven’t enjoyed a film based on these bots as much as the original!

Bumblebee was pretty good, though.

Chris Hemsworth voices Orion Pax/Optimus Prime in Transformers One.

This time around, One boasts of being the first-ever fully CG-animated Transformers movie. While I’m not sure what I think about my favorite robots coming to life via fancy modern animation techniques instead of the much better hand-drawn cels, one thing’s for sure: My Transformers didn’t have lips!

More often than not, the original ‘bots had faceplates, face shields, helmets or head sculpts that differentiated each one, creating unique personalities — I also thought they looked pretty cool. These were alien creatures; they didn’t need to be humanized. Apparently, Michael Bay disagreed when creating his Bayverse — unfortunately, he’s credited as a producer, here, as well.

Much commotion was made — LOUDLY — by fans after One‘s first official trailer was released, which focused primarily on the film’s humor, making this adaptation feel more like a comedy than an animated adventure. It’s absolutely understandable that fans like me, who have enjoyed the lineup of characters in a variety of media for almost four decades don’t necessarily like drastic changes to the long-time source material, but change is inevitable, and taking a cue from the Star Wars fandom, nobody hates Transformers quite like Transformers fans…

It’s true, the Bayformers ruined the original aesthetic of these ‘bots, and because of that (as well as the poor writing/directing of the live-action films), expectations have been greatly reduced with this release. None of the original voice actors were called upon and turning these characters into teens that spout too many unnecessary jokes feels like the franchise has been permanently dumbed down. Could this MCU effect really ruin Transformers forever?

Maybe, but I’m not willing to make that judgement yet, after only three non-Bay directed releases in the last 17 years have attempted to dig the fandom out of the gutters. Might I add, they are steadily improving, which is a plus.

“You don’t have the touch, or the power…”

The cold open pans down from what looks like an upside-down building, which literally represents how this release turns the franchise on its head by changing its original mythology.

There’s a couple of great Easter Eggs hidden within the storyline (I’m a big fan of D-16’s black helmet, which was an early Marvel callback to the Megatron prototype), but in actuality, this is really a sci-fi buddy movie (venturing a little too close into the comedy genre, if I’m being honest) that features a mighty betrayal. As far as movies go that are primarily aimed at children, this one is a little lengthy, with one hour and 44 minutes as its official runtime.

I wasn’t a big fan of the writing, either.

Brian Tyree Henry voices D-16/Megatron in Transformers One.

This is actually the first Transformers film that didn’t suffer from any human intervention — I did enjoy that. But the humanizing these ‘bots received was a little too much for children, especially using minor curse words and the finger flipping. How would these characters even know what that means when they’re alive millions of years before humanity even existed? I could have lived without those Bayisms.

Other Nitpicks:

  • This version of Optimus can fly… sort of.
  • Some ‘bots have their original names, others do not.
  • These Quintessons don’t have multiple faces. Really?
  • Starscream’s portrayal is acceptable, although there weren’t enough Decepticons for my liking.

“Nothing bad happens when you stay on protocol!”

Fans of the franchise have waited close to half a century for a true Cybertronian origin story. While I wasn’t exactly blown away by this one, it isn’t entirely trash, either. The final battle of unified ‘bots is actually quite fun to watch, I was just hoping an official Hasbro release could have tried a little harder to employ a few more of the original story elements that longtime fans, like me, have accepted as these characters’ one and only “TRUE” backstory.

Returning to my incomplete title, if Transformers One is canon moving forward (for both future live-action and animated adventures), overall, the franchise feels like it’s headed into a pretty good direction… but again, these are not my Transformers — they really do feel alien to this long-time fan. Decide for yourself what you think about Transformers One, which is currently streaming exclusively on Paramount+.

“My bold instincts tell me we’ve got to recruit some nutjobs…”