Transformers One Footage Reaction: The Autobots Get A Colorful (And Cute?!) Animated Origin Story [CinemaCon 2024]
Since 2007, the "Transformers" movies have been A) Primarily set on Earth (excepting prologues in "Dark of the Moon" and "Bumblebee" showing the war for planet Cybertron) and B) Live-action, using CGI to integrate the Autobots and Decepticons into real settings. Director Josh Cooley ("Toy Story 4") is about to change that with "Transformers One." /Film's Ryan Scott, who attended the Paramount Pictures panel at CinemaCon 2024, got an early look at the upcoming animated movie.
"Transformers One" is a prequel set before the war when the Autobots and Decepticons were still one people. Since the movie is set entirely on Cybertron with only robot characters, it makes sense to tell the story through animation. "Transformers" is no stranger to prequels — check out the comic series "The War Within," High Moon Studios' video game duology "War for Cybertron" and "Fall of Cybertron," and more. Still, this is new territory for the films.
An impressive voice cast is along for the ride, including Chris Hemsworth as Orion Pax (the future Optimus Prime), Brian Tyree Henry as D-16 (the future Megatron, now an anonymous miner before he claimed his glorious name), Scarlett Johansson as Elita (not to be confused with the CGI hero of "Alita: Battle Angel"), Keegan Michael-Key as Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, and Laurence Fishburne as Orion's mentor Alpha Trion. The best "Transformers" movie, "Bumblebee," was helmed by an animation director (Travis Knight). So, I'm hopeful lightning will strike twice and Cooley's skill set will raise this franchise's quality bar after the exhaustingly boilerplate "Rise of the Beasts."
Previous "Transformers" movies have suggested Optimus Prime and Megatron were friends before a falling out (recall in the 2007 "Transformers" movie, as Megatron lays deactivated, Prime sorrowfully says, "You left me no choice, brother"). "Transformers One" finally sheds some light on that relationship.
Optimus Prime and Megatron, brothers?
(For clarity's sake, none of the images in this article come from "Transformers One," because the studio has not released any official imagery from the film yet.)
CinemaCon offered two pieces of footage from "Transformers: One," including a 3D clip that will probably remain exclusive to the folks in the room.
The first bit of footage opens with Optimus and Megatron, sitting together and sparking their friendship despite having previously sworn they wouldn't talk to each other. It's "Transformers" canon that Megatron began his life as a humble miner with dreams of being something greater, which pushed him into becoming a gladiator and ultimately a revolutionary. Meanwhile, Optimus (or rather, Orion) is usually depicted as a former librarian or data clerk. In "Transformers: One," though, it looks like both Optimus and Megatron will be blue-collar workers working toiling away beneath Cybertron's surface, lacking the ability to transform. That makes their meeting and friendship more organic and calls back to "War Dawn" (the episode of "The Transformers" that first showed Optimus Prime's origin story), where Orion Pax was a dock worker.
After the two friends meet up with Bumblebee in this footage, they escape to the surface of Cybertron, with "Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones serving as the soundtrack for their quest. There, they gain the ability to transform, dodging lasers as they work out their new abilities. Elita declares, "We got these powers for a reason. Let's use them." The premise reminds me of the anime "Gurren Lagann," another story about two young friends who lived underground and dared to go to the surface.
While this is an epic origin tale, the footage had lots of comedy (compare it to last year's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem"). As expected, Bumblebee is the comic relief, and the overall tone of the footage is "the exact opposite of dark and gritty." The Transformers have expressive human-like faces, while Cybertron itself looks similar to Coruscant from "Star Wars."
A chase across Cyberton
The second half of the "Transformers: One" CinemaCon footage is a "visually impressive" 3D clip showing Optimus, Megatron, and Bumblebee boarding a train car as they try to get to Cybertron's surface. This is where they encounter Elita, who is loading cargo on the train while the trio is hiding. When she sees them, she decides to turn them in ("That will definitely get me promoted a rank or two," she declares, revealing how the worker bots are pitted against each other). A fight breaks out, but a very slapstick-heavy one. Continuing the "Star Wars" comparison, a chase atop a sky train on Cybertron resembles the speeder chase in "Attack of the Clones."
They make it to the surface of Cybertron and watch a beautiful sun rise over a desolate part of the planet, rendering all of them speechless. Bumblebee tries to recruit Elita to their mission (apparently to find Sentinel Prime and the Matrix of Leadership). Soon after, the train spins out of control and all four robots are flung off. End scene.
"Transformers: One" is scheduled for theatrical release on September 13, 2024.