Transformers One: The Kotaku Review
Maybe ten minutes into Transformers One, the computer-animated prequel to the entire existing saga of Hasbro’s robots in disguise, Scarlett Johansson’s focused mining manager Elita says to Chris Hemsworth’s idealistic worker Orion Pax, “You don’t have the touch or the power.” It’s a clunky, forced reference to a cheesy power ballad from the original 1986 animated Transformers movie, and it seemed like a bad sign that Transformers One was going to be the kind of film more concerned with winking bits of fan service than with telling a compelling story of its own. Thankfully, however, while it’s ultimately uneven and lacking the inventiveness or visual splendor it would have needed to be truly great, T1 manages to have more smarts and depth than it first lets on. It could serve as a setup for better films to follow, now that all the “origin story” table setting is out of the way. — Carolyn Petit
