Review: Long before Optimus Prime and Megatron, robots yearn for better jobs in ‘Transformers One’

Leave it to the medium of animation to infuse new life into an intellectual property that has diluted itself with each sequel spawned for the big screen. “Transformers One,” which serves as a prequel to the entire narrative universe about an alien race of metallic humanoids with the ability to morph into vehicles, traces the origin of the conflict between the benevolent Autobots and the malicious Decepticons before the two groups even existed.

The “Transformers” movies that started pouring into theaters in 2007, most of which Michael Bay directed, are best described as hybrids rather than “live-action,” considering the number of digitally created characters, environments and effects conceived for them with varying degrees of success. But this fully animated theatrical feature from Oscar-winning director Josh Cooley (“Toy Story 4”) presents a sleekly designed world of hard and shiny surfaces that feels suited to exist in a fantasy realm separate from flesh-and-bone humans.

Built out of fist bumps conveying genuine camaraderie and other exchanges of brawny tenderness, the heartfelt bromance between Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth), a daredevil idealist, and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry), the more cautious and skeptical of the pair, functions as the saga’s emotional core. The friends are mining for energon, the substance fueling their planet, while charismatic leader Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm) searches for the Matrix of Leadership, an ancient artifact that would end the need for energon extraction altogether.

Born without the ability to transform, which effectively determines which robotic beings are relegated to manual labor jobs, Orion Pax and D-16 have little hope of ever being more than invisible cogs in the machine. That’s until they break the rules and embark on a quest to find the Matrix of Leadership on their own. No one expects a “Transformers” movie to have a class-conscious reading, one that questions why those in power exploit the masses that are left with no pathway to climb the socioeconomic ladder. But that’s precisely what’s branded into the movie’s mechanical heart. (Turns out it was indeed a profound ideological divide that led to Optimus Prime and Megatron becoming foes.)

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This installment definitely benefits from the low expectations instilled by its predecessors, but that doesn’t take away from how its trio of writers — Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari and Eric Pearson — create a consistently humorous script brimming with witty banter and quips that mostly land. Sometimes there are even some slightly risqué choices that feel daring for a release aimed primarily at young audiences. Yet what grounds the story amid the pileup of sci-fi terms and lore is the convincingly intense bond that these male protagonists have nurtured. There’s a gravitas to their relationship that makes the heartbreak of their eventual separation feel earned.

Visually, “Transformers One” works via the believability of its textures: 3DCG animation might be the most appropriate technique for these characters. That’s not to diminish the look of the original 1980s hand-drawn animated series, but the Transformers certainly appear more tangible here.

Without getting into their confounding physiology, these entities forged of metal are essentially walking reflective objects, which means the artists have to account for how the light hits their bodies, how they react to blunt force or to crashing against others made of the same material during the multiple high-speed action sequences aboard a train or during a thrilling race.

Orion Pax’s crew of miners with higher aspirations also includes the stern Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) and cheerful B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key). The latter dishes out some of the funniest one-liners when the writers poke fun at his extreme loneliness working in isolation and the imaginary friends he’s built to cope. The designs of the four-member team fit against the brutalist backdrops of what look like inverted skyscrapers and contrast with the rocky, dystopian landscapes seen later in their ordeal. These stylistic choices, if not often unique, are at least cohesive.

Judged against other attempts at keeping a franchise alive, “Transformers One” arrives as one of the year’s most positive surprises. Almost radically, its premise takes on a biblical dimension when the inhabitants of planet Cybertron realize their lives have been dictated by a false prophet. Cooley’s film remains very much a mainstream product entrenched in the build-it-as-we-go mythology of these sentient machines, but there’s an attention to the motivations and desires of its characters that’s missing from many Hollywood cash grabs. Animation can be a transformative, liberating force, even for stories that have been told ad nauseam.