Tranformers One: too much prequel
Transformers is a property that means quite a lot to elder millennials. It is this weird creation that came from the very simple idea of "what if robot but also car?". In a more boring world, this story would be set entirely on Earth and Transformers would be the product of an industrialist or a mad scientist. The robots would be protectors of people and would occasionally fight each other. They would be cool but they wouldn't be awesome. What we got was, in fact, awesome. Transformers are from a planet named Cybertron. They have wars, power struggles, and community. They even have their own dinosaurs! Despite being a silly idea, they were treated with love and respect as a work of art rather than the simple cash grab that they could have been.
Over time, the hype died down until Michael Bay gave us his 2007 Summer blockbuster live-action Transformers movie (and then made a ton more that are still kind of coming out). Although I have a soft spot for that original movie, the issue with that series is that they took them a little too seriously. We didn't get to see them in their own element and a lot more time is spent dealing with human characters than the actual cool robots. They continued to make money but the (all)spark was gone. I hadn't even bother to see the last couple of them and despite my love for the franchise, I assumed it was doomed.
Imagine my delight when Transformers One is announced. It's a fully animated movie set on Cybertron directed by the guy who made Toy Story 4! It features Bryan Tyree Henry as Megatron! We get to see the relationship of Optimus Prime and Megatron as they turn from friends to sworn enemies! All of the check-boxes were checked and for the most part this movie is fun and delivers on giving us a Transformers-focused story. It's failings come from its insatiable need to be a (capital P) prequel and time constraints.
The best parts of Transformers one are seeing Cybertron in its full glory and the well-animated fight scenes. We get to see Cybertron from a few levels of depth and while the mines are gray and drab (like, you know, a mine), the central city and above ground region are vibrant and full of detail. There are several high speed chases and races that show off just how sprawling this place can be and it's always funny to realize that everything on this planet is big as hell because the bots (even in their smaller forms) are at least 10 feet tall. All those air ducts are the size of supermarket.
The fights are fun and show a clear line of evolution through the movie. When our protagonists are still bots with no cogs (unable to transform), they are mostly running away and using cunning to find ways out of fights. After getting their first taste of power, fights are still clumsy but they move faster and use the developing abilities as a way to enhance the action and throw in a few gags. In the last 5 minutes, the fights are full of heavy punches, wide slashes, and lithe movements.
The central failing of the movie is how it develops the relationship between Optimus Prime and Megatron. Rather than a slow descent into evil after gaining power over his oppressors, Megatron pretty much just snaps in an instant. He basically throws away all friendly feelings and never acts like a friend to anyone for the rest of the film. I can't really blame him from a character point of view. I think we all want the ability to take down those that oppress us and our friends but it makes the devolution of their friendship feel cheap and it wastes what could have been a more layered take from Bryan Tyree Henry.
With all that being said, I still recommend any fan of the property watch Transformers One. It does do that thing all prequels do these days where they specifically call out how something gets its name or form in the future media without providing much reason, but I think the high quality animation makes up for that. If you, like me, really loved the first two minutes of Bumblebee because of the Cybertron stuff then this is definitely for you. It sucks that Hasbro has pretty much killed any chance of us getting more of this series because it shows real promise to tell a true Transformers-centric story.