Transformers One Full Movie Review! The Good, The Bad & Should You See it? (Spoiler-Free)

This video will contain spoilers for Transformers 1. The first portion of this review will be spoiler free for the people who still haven't seen the movie while the second part of this review will contain spoilers. But don't worry I put up a timestamp so you can skip that part once you reach it. All good? Well let's continue. So Transformers 1 is a movie that we've all been looking forward to for the longest time, and I'm not talking about ever since the first trailer got released, I'm talking about way back when during the time of the vapors. Fans have constantly, constantly been clamoring for a Transformers movie set on Cybertron before the arrival to earth, before the human involvement, and even before the war began. This has been something that has been in the imagination of fans ever since the days of I wanna say Age of Extinction, a more soft-bombing movie with a scene set on Cybertron, which just further fueled the fans' desires. Thankfully our supreme overlord Lorenzo Di Buonaventura finally decided to listen to Now, by the nature of such a movie, a live-action interpretation of the pre-war era was never really going to happen. It would be super expensive having a whole movie with the style of the intro for the Bumblebee movie. So when they announced that the movie was going to be animated, everyone kind of just accepted that. And when the first trailer came out, to say that people were divided on the style of the movie was a bit of an understatement. I feel like perception around the movie has sort of improved since then. While I enjoyed the trailer, for the most part I also felt a bit hesitant and nervous about it. Gone was the super detailed graphics of the beavers, the seriousness and hardcore action replaced the comedy, and the controversial choice to cast movie celebrities instead of actual voice actors in the roles of the Transformers put a lot of people off. And ever since then, with the release of more trailers, and spoilers, the movie's perception has generally changed from indifference, to mock curiosity, to outright universal love. But is Transformers 1 truly the movie we've been waiting for? Is this a Cybertron prequel we all wanted? Or is the movie just overhyped? Well, today we are answering that question. So before we begin, I think it's best if I tell you what kind of fan I am. Now if you've been on my channel, you know I cover the live-action movies a lot and I mean I think that's pretty much of a dead giveaway, when I did grew up watching shows like the Unicron Trilogy, some reruns of the OG G1 cartoon, the thing that really really got me to Transformers was the live-action movies, seeing the 2007 movie on teethers was mind-blowing as a child. And the subsequent movies, although they fluctuate in quality, kinda kept my interest and always got me to keep going back to them, even if they were not particularly the best things running out there. What can I say? The child in me just loves seeing giant robots beat the shit out of each other. And while I do look back fondly to beavers, I admit that it's time it's over, and the reboots have been pretty hit and miss. The Bowie movie was pretty good, though I can see why people might not really like it that much, which I completely understand, and Rise of the Beasts felt like the bait formula but better, but even then, it failed to deliver the highs of the beavers. Which leads us to Transformers 1. So Transformers 1 is a very interesting movie, and it's very different from anything else we've seen from Transformers in the big screen up to this point. We haven't seen anything like it since the 86 movie. And while TF1 takes itself a little less seriously than the 86 movie, there's more of an emphasis on lightheartedness and jokes, which is not a bad thing, I do feel like Transformers also benefits a lot from that, while I know a lot of us have grown fond of the darkness and more serious takes from Transformers Prime. The best way I can describe Transformers 1 is that it's a very different movie, but different doesn't mean bad. Now watching the movie, I think the movie does a solid enough job condensing a little of Transformers history in such a short amount of time, an hour and 30 minutes. There's a lot of lore and callbacks that will make the most hardcore Transformers fans extremely happy, especially if you're a longtime fan of the franchise from all the way back on G1 or as recent as Transformers Prime. You can tell that this movie was a love letter to the franchise, with characters from almost every single facet of the franchise appearing or being represented in some sort of way. Whether it is largely forgotten characters such as Jazz who haven't been relevant since 07, a few go-butt references here and there, or even direct nods to the live action movies, there is something for everyone here. Now don't get me wrong, despite the many references and callbacks, the movie doesn't just do that, doesn't like shove it in your face, they're all very subtle and if you're a hardcore Transformers fan, you can see them and just be like oh I know that's from that and be really excited. Especially when it comes to the soundtrack, the soundtrack honestly for this movie was pretty good. I can't say we exactly reached the highs of Steve Jablonski from the live action movies, but I think it gets really close. In all honesty, I think this is the best Transformers soundtrack since the End of the Bay movies cause Bumblebee, well the Bumblebee soundtrack wasn't that notable. Breath of the Beast did have a few good tracks that stood out, but for the most part, it was just okay. TF1 in terms of soundtrack has so many callbacks to some of the previous Transformers shows and the movie does do a really good job conveying that sense of childhood nostalgia, wonder and excitement. The highs feel triumphant and exciting, and the lows feel tragic and mournful. The voice actors also surprisingly did a really good job in this, and look I've been very critical about celebrity voice casting, I don't like how they did it for Rise of the Beast for the most part, and I still don't like how they did it for Transformers 1, but unlike certain dubs, the actors actually did a really good job. And speaking of the voice actors, Chris Hemsworth did a surprisingly good job as Optimus Prime in Orion Pax, and yeah while you guys might be more familiar with Peter Cullen and it's very hard to replace Peter Cullen, I feel like Chris Hemsworth does enough of his own thing that makes him stand out and makes him a very solid Optimus Prime. When he gives his speeches, I get the sense that he took Peter Cullen's advice to heart, be strong enough to be gentle, and I feel like he really pulls it off. One of my biggest criticisms with a lot of Optimus BA's lately that try to replace Peter Cullen is that they just try to do a Peter Cullen impression, and I don't feel like that works. The reason why someone like Gary Chalk is remembered so fondly as Optimus Prime despite not being Peter Cullen is that he tried to do his own thing. I feel like when you try and deviate away from Peter Cullen, that's when non-Peter Cullen BA's voicing Optimus Prime really stand out. Megatron's BA, Ryan Tyler Henry, he was really good as D-16. Honestly, I really like it. There's a moment, which I can't spoil, so wait for the spoiler section, where he just explodes and he just leeches out on Orion Pax. In that moment, I remember Squeaker was like, whoa, I actually really like that moment. He was impressed. I was also too impressed because I felt the anger coming from him. I felt the frustration and despair. And while I was very skeptical of him at first, I think he does do a really good job as D-16. However, I don't think he does a good job as Megatron. And now look, I'm not saying the guy's awful, not by any means. But as Megatron, it's just very hard to picture that voice as Megatron. I asked my brother what he thought about D-16 in general. He said like, yeah, I really like him when he was D-16. But the moment he becomes Megatron, he's like, I'm not feeling that voice. Because he says, quote unquote, I know what Megatron sounds like. He doesn't sound like that. Now, in all honesty, I probably should have asked him what he meant by that. Because again, Squeaker's not a, you know, hardcore Transformers fan. So I don't know if he's talking about Transformers Prime Megatron, the movie Megatron. But yeah, that's Squeaker's review on Megatron's voice. Next up is Bumblebee voiced by Keegan-Michael Key. And in all honesty, Key does a really okay job. Like he doesn't try to do a voice for Bumblebee. It's just like his voice as Bumblebee, which is what they were going for. Which I still have issues with that. And okay, look, small rant aside. I think B-127 aka Bumblebee is probably my least favorite character in all this. I don't think he's bad. I kind of do like how they tried to tie his story with the Michael Bay universe. I thought that was kind of interesting. It definitely puts that, you know, version of Bumblebee into perspective. When you know his backstory, his background. And in terms of performance, I think he did a good job. And he's also the comic relief of the movie. And I think it was a little too excessive. Look, comedy has been something that a lot of people have been worried about ever since the first trailer. The first trailer, they went really ham on the jokes. And that really turned a lot of people off. Even now, I think there's people out there who won't even go see the movie because they think it's just going to be a kiddie, you know, failed, you know, movie where it's fart jokes and that kind of stuff. And I can say there's not any type of joke like that in the movie. Thankfully, I know that's a spoiler. But I think you're better off knowing that. With the playable movie for laughs, I feel like the comedy for him is pretty 50-50. It lands a good chunk of the time, but then there are times where you kind of wish he would just shut up or they would like take things a bit more seriously. I'll be honest, that small bit where he talks to little one and keeps using the badassitron joke. It's like they played that too much in the movie, in my opinion. They should have dialed it back a bit. Scarlett Johansson as little one is okay. I think she does a really good job. Um, I don't have any complaints with her. Starscream, Soundwave and Shockwave all do a really good job. Um, no complaints there. I actually really do like Soundwave's voice. And yes, John, if you're watching this, which I know you watch my videos, you're probably watching that one too. You creep. They all do a really good job as their respective characters. Admittedly, Soundwave is probably the best out of all of them because it really does encapsulate that G1 feel or how OG Soundwave was. You know, a tad bit emotionless and kind of robotic, but also very intimidating. And another standout was definitely Sentinel Prime. Like my god, Squeaker said that he actually really loves Sentinel Prime. In all honesty, I feel like when the movie comes out, a little Sentinel Prime's dialogue is going to be mean. Because he's honestly hilarious. He has this smug bastard type of personality that he just makes him so enjoyable to watch. Whenever he's on screen, like saying stuff to the characters, like you know he's full of shit, but you can't help but smile whenever he talks. It's like, it is hilarious. It's funny. John Hamm definitely killed it as Sentinel Prime. He's one of the standouts in the movie. Now, as for the characters themselves, I liked all of them in all honesty. Again, Bumblebee was probably my least favorite just because they went too ham on the comedy. I don't think he got enough serious moments to like show off his character, which I found kind of interesting. Like when Bumblebee gets first introduced in the movie, your mind starts racing with theories and it puts your whole view of Bumblebee into perspective. Because now, I don't know, I feel like he's a more tragic character that has a lot of depth. It's just that they didn't allow him to show that off. Orion Pax and D-16 are the two protagonists of the movie. They all stand out. I really do love D-16's character. I like how he starts off. I like how he slowly develops into Megatron. Um, Orion Pax slash Optimus Prime is also really cool. I feel like both characters really do grow as the journey goes on. The movie does a really good job highlighting how good friends these two are. And whenever they, you know, eventually turn into Optimus and Megatron respectively, and you know, that's a lot of spoiler because everyone knows that's going to happen. It feels tragic. Like, I actually felt a bit bad at the end when, you know, the friendship ended. It really made me look back at the start of the movie with fondness. Like, you know, like a tragedy. And I think this is what makes the movie so impactful because at the end of the day, it does feel like a tragedy. While it's your standard adventure movie, it has enough serious elements to keep you engaged that, you know, it makes certain plot points stand out so much. And it's not like Optimus and Megatron just become enemies and it's like, I hate you now, you're my mortal enemy. It's like, you can see the tragedy in it. Like, even Optimus and Megatron, despite not being on opposite ends, do feel a certain bit of loss. It's like the characters are not just meant to, you know, be enemies because they're supposed to happen. It does feel like something that both characters kind of, you know, naturally fall into. Although the characters in the movie were fine, they don't get as much screen time as Orion and D-16 because the movie is mostly centered around them, which I think it's for the best. I do love how a lot of the characters, a lot of their motivations and what happens to them in the movie does tie into previous Transformers continuities. Like, Bumblebee's story kind of ties into the Babers movies in a way. Starscream kind of ties into G1. That's another thing. The roster for this movie is stupid. I think this is, to date, the largest cast we have ever gotten. With the exception of maybe the 86 movie, I think that the 86 movie beats it by a slight margin. In total, I counted the amount of characters seen on screen, the ones that were named, but we never clearly saw them on screen, and the ones that were unnamed. You know, the ones that, you know, never were like, yo, my boy Ironhide, how you doing? Like, they never called Ironhide by name, but you could tell that was him. In total, we have 52 Autobots, 20 Decepticons, 2 Quintessons, 12 High Council slash unaffiliated slash original characters, and 14 Primes, raising our total average to exactly 100 characters, funnily enough. But keep in mind, these are just the ones I counted through my several rewatches of the movie and identified characters that I never saw in my previous viewings. A studio series is set for years, in all honesty. Something else I want to comment on before we go into spoilers is the action. The action was amazing. And honestly, the weird thing about the action, it felt very Babers. Like, it definitely felt like something Michael Bay would have filmed himself in a, you know, Transformers live-action movie. Which that really surprised me. Even quicker was like, yo, the action felt a lot like the Michael Bay movies. And we were on the same wavelength. Like, it was insane. Like, you've seen some of it in the trailers. And while I don't think we quite reached the heights of the force battle from Revenge of the Fallen, I think we got really damn close in some occasion. I think the final battle is definitely the standout of the film. It feels great. Honestly, it gave me a lot of flashbacks from the Photoshopped second cinematic. It really felt a lot like that. It was really cool. Really epic. I think it's definitely on my top 5 favorite, you know, Transformers movie fights of all time. And honestly, if we do end up getting a Transformers 2, I really, really hope we get more of the action because they killed it with the action. The choreography was amazing. I love how the Transformers actually transform mid-fight and use their vehicles to their advantage. I love the callbacks to all the Transformers media and franchises. Especially with some of the poses the characters do. It was freaking spectacular. But overall, yeah. Transformers 1 is a great movie and you should totally go see it if you haven't already. I promise you, you won't regret it. Yeah, I know the changes, the comedies and all that stuff might throw you a little off at first. You might, you know, might put you a bit hesitant. I know a lot of people who won't go see the movie because of that. Because the first sort of kind of put them off from watching the movie. And I get that, but give it a chance. I think it's generally the best Transformers movie we have gotten in a long, long time. It's better than Rise of the Beasts. Better than Bumblebee. Better than Age of Extinction 2. Okay, revenge of the fallen. Okay, well, those last three is not very hard to be better off. And while I personally still like the 07 movie and Dark of the Moon a bit better. I'll admit, I like Dark of the Moon because of the action. And 07 is just like the classic live action movie I'll have a lot of fondness for. I do feel like Transformers 1 is the better movie beginning to end. While I can watch Dark of the Moon, for the most part, I would just skip to the good part. For Transformers 1, I feel like every bit of the movie is good. Might have some exceptions here and there. Ahem, Bumblebee. Ahem. But for the most part, every scene serves a purpose and every scene builds up to that amazing climactic finale. But anyways, now I'm going to talk about spoilers. So if you just want my final score for the movie, skip to this part. Holy shit, guys. Spoiler. I can finally, finally talk about spoilers. I've been holding spoilers in me since June because I got to see the early screenings. So this feels a bit weird for me, but I love it. And oh my god, guys. I don't even know what to talk about. It was so insane. We saw the 13 Primes. We saw the Prime's betrayal. That was great. The movie freaking started with Primus being namedrop. When that happened, my jaw dropped. I'm like, wow. At that moment, I knew. I knew this movie was going to be a treat for Transformers fans. With the Transformers Prime music play. Dude, my heart stopped. I actually stopped. I sat straight on my chair. And stayed completely quiet as I recognized the soundtrack. That was amazing. And of course, how can I not mention the best part of the movie? When Megatron shot Orion and he fell and received the mix of leadership. My god, my heart was racing. Dude, I never got goosebumps from a Transformers movie in such a long time. Or maybe Rise of the Beasts when I saw all the Odobas and Maximals together. Like that felt really epic. But it was on another level when Orion Pax got the Matrix. And D-16 got Megatron as Keycock. And seeing Megatron and Optimus Prime be born at the same time was insane. That was so exciting. The build-up of the music as D-16 said, I am Megatron. And then Alpha Trans' voice builds up saying, Arise, Optimus Prime. And Optimus just opens his eyes for the first time. And he erupts into the heavens. Dude, seeing that was so hype. And everyone on my teether actually clapped. They cheered. That everyone was like so floored by that part. Bro, it was so insane. Oh my god, I saw the movie so long ago. It's finally so amazing being able to talk about this. That whole sequence made the movie for me. That's my favorite sequence in the movie. And oh my god, the final fight was also really good between Optimus. And well, Optimus, Megatron, Soundwave, Shockwave, and Soundwave. Because they all kind of teamed up against him. And they still lost. The choreography for that part was amazing. I love how both Optimus and Megatron used every tool to their advantage. Optimus used his axe, his vehicle, and his flames. Megatron transformed here and there into his tank to get an advantage over Optimus. And when Optimus finally beat Megatron and banished him, seeing Megatron and the High Guard leave Cybertron like ascending upwards into the heavens, so to speak. I don't know, it gave me some very heavy Paradise Lost vibes. Like, you know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I definitely did enjoy the symbolism behind that. And Optimus Prime's last flashback to like the way he first met D-16 and how they, you know, basically became best friends. Dude, that actually, I don't know, it made me sad. Because like, yeah, I do miss that when those guys were best friends at the beginning of the movie. And seeing them slowly, you know, be pulled apart and going to different directions like that. And ending their relationship in such a better way. It felt tragic. I actually really felt sad. And at the end when we see all the other robots get their teacups back. And, you know, they start looking more like how they do in the live action movies. Well, at least Ironhide, Arcee, and a few others do. Dude, that part, I don't know, like it made me so, it gave me the feels of the ending of Transformers Prime all over again. It felt like a new beginning. Like, this is the new era of Transformers. This is what we need. This is what we want. It's like the movie said we're here to stay. And that was amazing. Um, and ending with that speech of Optimus saying, you know, here on Cybertron, all are Autobots. Like, bro, oh my god, I can't. I was so insane. Also, it really surprised me that the post-credits scene was Megatron, you know, declaring the Decepticons, you know, basically forming the Decepticon insignia. Which, by the way, I really do like how the movie builds up to the Decepticons, you know. D-16, instead of being influenced by the Fallen this time, which he does get influenced, but, you know, not directly. He sees the Fallen as an inspiration, a role model. And, you know, he likes him so much, he's basically a fanboy. And over the course of the movie, you know, you can see his admiration for, you know, the Fallen or like Megatronus, you know, be put on full display. And I really do like how, as the movie goes on, you can see him try to emulate Megatronus. Because he sees him as a symbol of power, you know. Someone strong and self-sufficient. A defender of Cybertron, which is kind of like the way D-16, you know, sort of abuses himself. Or at least wants to be perceived as. Even in the way, you know, he fights. If you take a look back at the flashback scene with Megatronus, and you take a look back at how Megatron fights in the movie, you can see that there's several parallels. Like, he's trying to imitate Megatronus. So, while it's not like how it happened in the Behaviors, or like in several continuities where Megatron, you know, got influenced by Megatronus. Like, you know, whether it's through mind control, or luring him with the promise of power. D-16's fall not only felt tragic, but I don't know, it felt more natural. I actually really do like what they did with him this time around. Also, I was a bit bummed out to not see any, you know, romance or anything. Alleging to Optimus and Elita, you know, kind of becoming a thing, or like being a couple. Because it feels like in most continuities, they just don't let those two have any happiness. But I don't really mind. It really wasn't needed for the story. And it was probably taken away from Megatron and Optimus's, you know, focus in the story. So I can understand why they decided to cut that out. Also, the way the movie ended, it definitely sets itself up for a sequel. A Transformers 2, if you will. And there's a chance that that might or might not happen. It all really depends on how the movie does at the box office. I guess we'll find out this week. I feel like Hasbro kind of blew its load by doing so many test screenings. I feel like they were so desperate to convince people that this is a good movie, that they pretty much let everyone see it. Like, I saw it, a lot of people I know saw it, and won't go see it again. Squeaker's gonna go see it again on his own, I'm gonna go see it again, you know, because I really love the movie and I want to support it, obviously. I feel like most Transformers fans will, but your average Joe might not do that. I can kind of understand what they were thinking, you know, the movie's gonna have a bad reputation, so they kind of want to clear it up, you know, by getting universal critic praise, universal, you know, fan praise, and normie praise, you know, good word of mouth could, in theory, carry the movie. In theory. But I feel like they were too excessive this time around. I am praying for the movie's success, but I'm just saying it looks kind of tricky. It's kind of hard. And this movie, I think it definitely needs to succeed. I'd much rather have like four more Transformers animated movies than 50 G.I. Joe X-Transformers movies. I don't care about G.I. Joe, I don't know what the frick Lorenzo's doing. No one wanted a G.I. Joe X-Transformers crossover, we wanted more Transformers. So I am really hoping for the movie's success. I hope it does well, but like, I guess we'll have to wait and see. But yeah, overall, Transformers 1, really great movie. Um, I could like stop here and geek out about it all day, but there's only so much time in a day, and I have to get this video out. After this video, I'll probably do a video, you know, explaining all the character deaths in the movie, or something along those lines, before doing my eventual all character video. I already saw the movie a couple of times, and I have the names written down of all the characters that appear on it. The ones that go named, and the ones that go unnamed. So, I mean, expect that video, maybe early next week at the earliest, but yeah. Overall, if I were to give the movie a score, I will definitely give it a 9 out of 10. Uh, that minus one is mostly Bumblebee's fault, in all honesty. And also, I kind of wish we got, I don't know, more time to explore Optimus Prime and Megatron's slowly falling apart. Because I feel like after at one point in the movie, the two of them just get separated, and that's like where, it's like, they get pulled apart, because mostly due to circumstance, and not exactly because, you know, there weren't too many disagreements between them. I mean, there was a huge disagreement with them, especially at the end. And, you know, as D-16 just became more obsessed with killing Sentinel. And look, I love me flawed characters that are, you know, um, driven by a strong impulse of revenge and a sense of justice. I mean, that's one of the reasons why I like Dimitri so much in Three Houses. I mean, I don't like him as much as my boy Clock, as of course, I'm a Golden Deer at heart. But, you know what I mean. Those types of characters are really cool to see. I just wish we got to see more of the disagreements, and, you know, the falling apart between Optimus and Megatron building up to that final scene. But with so much time in the runtime, I can understand why we couldn't see much more of that. But hey, it is what it is. And overall, I think the movie still works, and I think it's still really great. If anything, that's just a small nitpick. So, yeah, that is my review for Transformers 1. But now I want to hear from you guys. If you see the movie, or if you're planning to see the movie, I want you guys to tell me in the comments down below your thoughts on it. Like, did you like it? Did you not like it? Did it live up to the hype? Or do you think it was overhyped? Frankly, I do think that, you know, people hyping up the movie so much might create a false impression that the movie's a masterpiece, which I think it gets close, but I don't think it's quite masterpiece level. But it's really good. It's really good. I just feel like, you know, people might hype up the movie so much to the point that when anyone goes up to see it, they'll be like, you know, this isn't as good as people told me it was gonna be. Which, it's understandable. I can understand that. But the movie, it really is good. Like, again, I keep saying it, but it really is. If you haven't seen it, go see it. It's really good. To me, it is. And if you have seen it, maybe you also think the same thing, or maybe you think that it's not as good as I'm making it sound to be. I don't know. It really depends on the individual and what you're looking for. But honestly, I say go with an open mind and just enjoy the movie. Have fun. It's a fun, enjoyable movie, and you're definitely gonna like it. I think it's definitely the best Transformers movie we hadn't either since a very, very long time. But yeah, guys, that's pretty much where I stand with all this. I also want to give a small shout out to That's Flames VTuber for allowing me to use their Optimus Prime and Megatron artwork for the thumbnail. It looked really good, and I just knew I had to use this as a thumbnail for my review. So yeah, link to their channel and, you know, social media will be in the description down below for you guys to check out if it interests you. But yeah, guys, it's been fun. I am so happy that I finally get to talk about spoilers. It's been a long time coming. I've been holding it in for so long. And it just feels so good to finally be able to share this with all of you. But yeah, guys, that's gonna be it for this video. 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