Title – Transformers One (2024) 

Director – Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) 

Cast – (voices of) Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jon Hamm

Plot – The origin story of famed Transformers and friends that turned into sworn enemies, Orion Pax/Optimus Prime (Hemsworth) and D-16/Megatron (Henry) as the two set out on an adventure to help their home planet of Cybertron. 

“It’s time to show that we are more than meets the eye”

Review by Eddie on 06/02/2025

In a year where fellow animated compatriots Inside Out 2, The Wild Robot and Despicable Me 4 cleaned up at box office booths around the globe, Paramount’s return to Transformer animation ventures Transformers One was a notable financial disappointment, ending its theatrical run worldwide with a undesirable $128 million dollar gross off a reported $75 million dollar budget, meaning not too many bean counters from Paramount or Hasbro will be overly excited about reporting period on this latest robots in disguise feature. 

The lacklustre reception monetary wise didn’t reflect a mostly glowing reception from critics and audiences however, with Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley managing to steer clear from the problems of heartless and mind-numbing Transformer features that started to pop up in the wake of Michael Bay’s 2007 smash hit that gave birth to a wild period in the Transformer universe that resulted in some huge up and down moments that the series has in recent times struggled to overcome. 

Employing the services of a talented voice cast that includes Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry and Scarlett Johansson, casting moves that may’ve not sat well with long-term Transformer fans, One has a fair amount of assets at its disposal all overseen by producers that include Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay and for the most part this fun and fast-paced family friendly experience is an entertaining one, even if it lacks the spectacle or emotional prowess to be regarded as a top-tier success. 

Taking us all the way back to the early days of a struggling Cybertron where young best friends Orion Pax and D-16 struggle in their mining jobs as they battle too understand the beginnings of their civilisation and also questions without answers that relate to an item known as The Matrix of Power, One is very much a film for those that have held long affiliations with the Transformers brand as Cooley’s film pays a lot of homages and respective nods to the past iterations of Hasbro’s multi-billion dollar property. 

It’s not too say there’s not spectacle and character beats that newbies or youngsters won’t enjoy but One does feel like a fan service movie rather than an entirely engaging stand-alone effort where a film like the underrated 2018 Transformers off-shoot Bumblebee worked as a very enjoyable entry level exercise or Bay’s highly entertaining octane and Linkin Park fuelled 2007 Transformer iteration worked as a fantastic beast of throwaway entertainment, One never gets to those similar levels despite good intentions. 

With a curiously bland visual palette and a story that at times feels like its merely pushing itself through the motions there’s nothing truly standout or visually appeasing about Cooley’s effort, that is a film hard to call out in a major or vocal way but that at the time isn’t one you can praise without question, making it fairly clear as too why around all the animated success of 2024, this effort was never anything that was more than meets the eye. 

Final Say – 

Harmless and sure to please those that require a form of a Transformer fix, Transformers One is solid but far from memorable. With a lack of support from the pockets of those that matter, this return to the animated world of Hasbro’s property may likely be a short-lived venture. 

3 cogs out of 5