soundwave – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: So, we are getting back to the transformer robots again.

Vampire Bat: Well, there have been too many infinite transformers for my liking.

Vampire Owl: Yes, and the first three seemed to have worked the best.

Vampire Bat: The first one is nothing less than a classic.

Vampire Owl: The youth who liked the robot cars fully supported them.

Vampire Bat: It was a new concept for our audience then in that age.

Vampire Owl: For this age, it is all about too much information and OTTs.

Vampire Bat: OTTs have brought so much in front of the new generation.

Vampire Owl: This includes a lot of Transformers too.

Vampire Bat: At least, there are no Vampire Robots, at least not yet.

[Gets a thattu dosa and three cups of Yercaud tea].

What is the movie about? :: Beyond the stars, Cybertron is a planet formed through technology from the deity known by the name Primus and is occupied by sentient robots. Their life is sustained by a substance called Energon without which most of them would cease to exist. With only Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm) remaining among the Primes who were supposed to rule the planet, there is no Matrix of Leadership, without which Energon has stop flowing, forcing the robot miners to extract it. Sentinel has been telling his people about this loss and how the battle with alien invaders called Quintessons has left the surface of their planet not good for life anymore, leaving them to survive underneath all the time. The fear of Quintessons coming back for Energon, and the lack of the same resources have left their world quite a dull one. The newly established hierarchy based on whether robots possess a transformation cog that allows them to shapeshift, decides if the citizens would be miners or something in the higher hierarchy.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) are best friends among these miner robots without the transformation cog. They live in the lower level of the long hierarchy where they mine for Energon to sustain the people of their world underground while Sentinel Prime and his army led by Airachnid (Vanessa Liguori) travels to the surface in search of the Matrix of Leadership, and any trace of aliens. The unit of Orion and D-16 for mining is led by Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson), an arrogant mining supervisor who is so focused on following the protocols that she feels that one day she will be promoted. But due to Orion’s compassion for another miner Jazz (Evan Michael Lee) leads to a breach of protocol to save the person during an accident, which leads to Elita-1 being demoted and D-16 getting punched on the face by their overseer Darkwing (Isaac C Singleton Jr) while defending his friends. Orion, being optimistic, promises to find a way to do something bigger.

And what more happens around here in a world of chaos? :: This is the time when Sentinel Prime returns and once again tells them that the Matrix of Leadership could not be found and Energon should continue to be mined, with a need to work harder. He still calls for a race for some entertainment, and in between the transforming robots, Orion and D-16 enters, and gets close before losing it. An impressed Sentinel Prime promises them a reward only for a defeated Darkwing to blame them and throws them to the garbage incineration level. There they meet B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key) who has been working there for a long time, at what would be one of those lowest levels of hierarchy. There they find the message of a Prime known as Alpha Trion (Laurence Fishburne) who seems to have put the coordinates to the Matrix of Leadership there. Now, the three are determined to take this message to Sentinel Prime or if possible, investigate all of these by themselves. But are they good enough to do that?

The defence of Transformers One :: This movie seems to qualify for the position for the best Transformers movie ever with the quality that it displays on the screen, and the known idea about autobots and its leader which it further spreads so well here. The journey into the past of past of autobots and decepticons is supported by rich storytelling which starts from the lower level, and also explores class divides in the process. The movie also talks about how the influential ones, and governing people manage to hold the commoners on the leash and also create an even lower class to work for them without much given in return. The idea of thinking process being manipulated is also seen here, and there is also that entertainment which is provided to the crowd to keep silent, and the telescreens which display only what the rulers wish for them to see. There is also that life underground prohibiting everyone from going outside in the name of danger – all of these seem to point to one thing, deception, and in other terms, a dystopian world; for these robots there are enough twists in store.

Positives and negatives :: The idea of this movie might be well known, but the elevation of the same here is much notable. The origin story of autobots and decepticons also gets a twist here, and this including Sentinel Prime goes for another path. The world here is shown more for a forced illusion for the crowd who are just dumb fans like people who celebrate celebrities in our world and would believe anything they say and are ready to die for them – a matrix to keep the order. We are given the feeling that there is something greater to come and mysteries to be revealed, with scope for rebellion present all the time. The beautiful animation helps the process, with the world here being too beautiful to compare to any animated film of Hollywood. The voices serve the purpose nicely, especially that of Chris Hemsworth. The high ratings are a reflection of the movie’s qualities, as all the action nicely adds on. There are still some predictability elements and the character development of newly formed villain that got some struggles.

How it finishes :: Transformers One is that Transformers movie about which most of us had no idea about when it was releasing. Usually, the Transformers movies come with some huge hype that would surround them as if they are Avengers or Jurassic Park, but not in this case – maybe it is because of the animated side, but we know how well the animated movies have been doing too. With so many movies with imaginary characters made in an epic format here, it has been difficult for big movies to make an impact among the audience, and that might have affected this one too. Looking at this movie, we can still be sure that there are better movies from one side, and most of those which we had around here in the name of epics were just copies. This one surely feels too good with what is shown on the screen and despite a little of the feeling that we have seen most of this before as much as the idea that is repeated. But we also know that this is such a great movie. This one will stay with us for long, even if late, as something even better than the live-action ones that came right at us.

Release date: 20th September 2024
Running time: 104 minutes
Directed by: Josh Cooley
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree, Henry Scarlett, Johansson Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Hamm