Heading back to the origins of the saga, Transformers One is the story of how the war on Cybertron began. The film sees mining robots, Orion Pax and D-16, uncovering uncomfortable truths about their seemingly idyllic society, leading ultimately to their transformations (accidental pun there) into Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively, each of them the leaders on both sides of their planet’s ongoing war.

A CGI animated movie, Transformers One is beautifully crafted; it’s an absolute visual feast, with a kaleidoscopic array of colour and shiny chrome in just about every frame; the character designs and animation are truly spectacular. I was really struck by the synthwave-esque design of Cybertron’s surface and its sunset, as well as the look of its more organic, less metallic, creatures.

I had some misgivings about Chris Hemsworth as Orion Pax/Optimus Prime, but he turns out to have been the perfect choice, both as the more naive Pax and, ultimately, the inspirational and authoritative Optimus Prime. Brian Tyree Henry has perhaps the strongest performance, however, given that his character trajectory is the most dramatic, not to mention tragic, with the likeable D-16’s dark turn into Megatron. Even better is that the film handles this with real pathos, and do even find yourself understanding what pushes him over the edge. The comedic moments work well too, with Keegan-Michael Key’s B-127 (the proto-Bumblebee) providing much of the humour; Scarlet Johansson’s Elita-1 provides much needed grounding for the other characters too, and gets to kick ass in spectacular fashion alongside the others in some brilliantly staged action sequences.

The rest of the supporting cast, with characters such as Airachnid (who is beautifully evil, in both look and as a character), Starscream (with the great Steve Buscemi on vocal duties) are really memorable too; there’s no weak link, and every element of Transformers One feels polished to a real shine.

Believe it or not, the current issues we have with deliberate duplicity and manipulation from politicians and, by extension, the government, come under quite a bit of scrutiny here; not bad for a kids film, and even more impressive given that Transformers has often been, unfairly, dismissed as nothing more than a toy advert.

It’s a real shame that Transformers One underperformed at the box office, just as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was a slight disappointment in terms of its financial performance. With Bumblebee, Rise of the Beasts and One, the Transformers franchise – shorn of the pointless excess, and obvious distaste (not to mention outright misunderstanding) for the characters which Michael Bay demonstrated – has really found its feet, with focused stories, compelling characters and nods to the lore that respect fans, rather than dismiss them.

Transformers One is the perfect start to a series that, sadly, may never go beyond this one entry. It’d be a real shame not to catch up with this incarnation of the Cybertronian Warriors again as their eternal battle begins properly, but it’s a superb film on its own terms, regardless of whether or not the story gets to continue.

It’s also the perfect showcase for the 4K Blu-ray format, with colours that truly pop and outstanding sound design. You can pick it up on 4K Blu-ray from Amazon, and if you have the hardware to play it on, it’s unquestionably the best way to experience the film.

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