Transformers One, directed by Josh Cooley is Hasbro’s latest installment in the Transformers saga. Pitched as an origin story, this movie focuses on how The Autobots and Decepticons were formed. This movie has had press all over the place, starting with the original trailer, in which pretty much everyone was unimpressed. But as the movie has gotten closer and more and more press screenings have aired, this movie has gotten a lot of really good press. Some are even comparing this movie to a universally loved animated film, Spider-man Into the Spider-verse. With these conflicting views, I went into this movie very intrigued and somewhat hopeful that it would hold strong to these good reviews. But after my screening, I’ve come to the conclusion this movie was very overhyped.

Starting with arguably one of the most important features of every Transformers movie: The design.  While this movie does have some very beautiful environmental design and animation, that’s pretty much where the good in this art style ends. The designs of the Prime Transformers are actually pretty solid and I found their characters to be interesting. However, the core four main characters in this movie have some of the worst designs in any Transformers movie. They feel like poor attempts to change the design just enough to make a new line of toys and action figures to sell, and while their designs do evolve, I don’t think we get actually good designs until the very end. For an origin story, it’s so important that they convey the original designs of these characters, and I’m so hyped they got there eventually (it was my favorite moment in the film), but it took way too long to get there. 

I really liked Megatron in this movie, and I thought the way his transition to evil was done was cool, even though it felt a little rushed, Brian Tyree Henry (Megatron’s Voice actor) aces this vocal performance and makes it work completely. Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) however, is a different story. I think this movie screwed up Optimus’s character and consequently the dynamic between him and Megatron. In this movie, Optimus was played as an anti-rule follower and someone who is kind of selfish. This could be a good character trait to grow out of and provide some character development. But instead, the movie just plays it off as a leadership trait, when in reality it consistently gets them into sticky situations throughout the movie. His character is somewhat redeemed by the last act of the movie, because of some cool moments, but in the end, he still doesn’t feel like a great representation of Optimus Prime.

Because of these issues, there is a very odd dynamic shift in this movie. Optimus is the reckless one (until the end), he’s the one who’s kind of selfish, he is the one who rebels against the rules, and he is actually much more goofy. This felt pretty backward to me, as it left Megatron feeling like the older brother, the one who was more serious and more protective. Then these dynamics flipped about halfway through the movie and it felt unnatural. If these traits were flipped, we would be able to see each character grow into their own realistically, and for Megatron, it would be his downfall. We would be able to see the flaws early on, and how they grow and affect the characters. Instead, they kind of come out of nowhere and flip-flop at the midpoint of the movie.

Aside from the final battle of this movie, My favorite part is by far Keegan Michael Key as Bumblebee. From the trailers, I was a little concerned about if his humor would be able to stick the landing, but after watching  I would say it was actually one of his best roles. There are a lot of jokes packed into this movie, and they feel unnecessary at times, but Key’s comedic timing almost always makes them work. He also gets some cool action scenes that I enjoyed as a Bumblebee fan.

All in all, I was pretty in the middle of this movie. It was nowhere near what it had been hyped up to be, but it also wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I think this movie is a classic example of something made for the fans. I’m not sure that the general public will enjoy it as much, but I know the die-hard Transformers fans will have a good time seeing their favorite characters back on the big screen. I would rate this movie a 2.5/5, and recommend you see it this weekend and make your decision on whether or not this movie truly lived up to its hype.