Why Didn’t Transformers One Do Better?

Name me a US Transformers movie that didn’t shove “more than meets the eye” into it.

When Transformers One was announced, I wanted to be excited. An animated Transformers movie, free of the Bayverse trappings that even Bumblebee, the good movie that came from this sub-franchise of the larger Transformers franchise, couldn’t escape. Without having to deal with human actors, physical sets, and special effects that had to look like they exist in our world, plus actually being set on Cybertron definitely had possibilities. Then the first trailer came out.

There are reasons I haven’t been discussing this movie. That’s exhibit A.

Relying on big name actors you’ll never see and the bots won’t resemble over actual voice actors was another. Another attempt at Guardians Of The Galaxy/Suicide Squad humor by people who don’t understand why either worked. I don’t get why either worked but I haven’t seen the first one and couldn’t care less about the second. At least that’s how it looks.

Tyler TJOmega” James has seen Transformers One because that’s his online job, and between his YouTube career, working at a toy store, and the occasional auction, he has the money I don’t. Most of the time we agree or could come to a mutual understanding. Oddly, we’re on opposite ends when it comes to the Rescue Bots show and EarthSpark. He thinks the former is too kiddie and the later fantastic. I find the former to be one of the few post-war stories I actually enjoy and the latter boring with the good parts having been done better elsewhere…including the two Rescue Bots shows. And yet I’ve heard other fans saying that the movie is actually good. So what are the reasons? I agree with most of TJ’s reasons, but there’s also a few I think he missed or glossed over.

I have no choice due to my current financial situation except to wait until it goes on streaming…free streaming, that is. Maybe Pluto TV, because it’s also owned by Paramount–depending on what happens with the new owners and that whole buyout. I think I heard Pluto TV’s original owners and creators might try to get it back if the new people decide to get rid of it. I don’t have the money for one movie, so I definitely don’t have the money for Paramount+. This is the first big issue. I’m not alone in this. Plenty of people have to prioritize food, rent/utilities, and other things above entertainment, so their entertainment budgets are rather thin. Movies are just not a priority, and that’s been hurting the whole industry ever since the lockdowns (agree with them or not) punched our economy in the gut. While not as bad as the Great Depression by any means, it’s still a hard hit that closed businesses and hurt the economic situation, leaving people without jobs or their dream business. Some cartoon that does yet another origin for the Autobots and Decepticons is not high on the importance list.

TJ does have a point about how streaming is not going to get this movie a sequel whether it’s good or not. Captain Marvel got a lot of scorn, but it did well enough to greenlight The Marvels, which got more scorn but less money. The only way studios see a movie was successful is to see how well it did. I have no issue with that. My problem is nobody checks to see why the movie succeeded or failed and work to correct mistakes in the future. This ignorance has led to disaster. I recently saw the making of the various Batman movies in the Icons Unleashed series, and they kept repeating the mistake of giving the director too much control. This led to Burton’s second film being disturbing enough to chase parents off and Schumacher’s second so flamboyantly silly that it chased off everyone. Finding out why Transformers One failed, and many people point to the early trailers (even if all the jokes are in the trailer as TJ says) as the biggest reason why.

I don’t know if I’d go so far as “selfish”, just because it sounds too harsh even if “fire and brimstone” is sometimes necessary, but I do agree that it isn’t the lack of Peter Cullen or Frank Welker that bothers me. Nostalgic as it may be to us old fogeys, there have been some great Optimus and Megatron voices over the years, like there have been plenty of other Batman and Joker voices even if the late Kevin Conroy and the increasingly geek-offending Mark Hamill are considered the best. It would be like demanding only Bud Collyer, who may be the best Superman voice thanks to years of radio and animation practice, be the only one to voice Clark Kent and his alter ego. Collyer died in 1968 so that isn’t happening. Lived in Greenwich, CT at the time. There have been a lot of Optimus Prime voice actors over the years. Why not use of one them? I like Jake Tillman Foushee myself. He’s young enough to be at this as long as Cullen has.

I don’t have a problem with prequels myself. Yes, I know they’re going to survive. You know how else I know they’re going to survive in “present day” stories? They’re listed in the next episode. No PR agent is telling is this is the heroic death. Nobody is asking “does Prime die?” in the previews. The actor is signed on for at least the rest of the season, and another one has been announced. Like with any story where plot armor is strong, the question is HOW they got out of it, what events shaped them into the people we know just as the “present” stories tell us what they’re going to become now based on the changes in their life. That’s what a prequel or flashback story is for, and the good ones keep that interesting.

That said, as I hinted to, I don’t need yet another origin for Optimus and Megatron. I have a Megatron origin I think works in my head, and nobody has ever considered it, or played enough with the “peace through tyranny” idea in his tech spec profile. I prefer Optimus Prime’s origin in “War Dawn”, his first origin, over every other he’s had over the years, with Transformers Animated as s close second. Orion Pax as a data clerk makes no sense to me, like the caste system as presented. Orion Pax as an Energon carrier who becomes a great leader I can get behind more. This origin doesn’t really excite me as much as what we already got, even if they took the time travelers out of it.

I also don’t buy the “exhausted” idea anymore than I do “superhero fatigue”. There wouldn’t be series if we got burned out on Transformers. There wouldn’t be a 24/7 streaming channel on various streaming services or running livestreams on YouTube for each series and each season, also available on demand on YouTube and other streaming services both free and paid. I’ll leave the toy discussion to the expert, but the trailer is what hurt it with me and other people in my sector of the fandom. It felt like the same “quirky” humor that are flooding geek properties because Joss Whedon and James Gunn made it work at one point, but nobody has been able to really replicate in other productions. Including Joss Whedon and James Gunn.

Is the movie good? I guess, but between money and marketing people may be waiting for the home theater, without distractions and at a cheaper cost, plus you can pause if someone has to use the little bots room. Based on what I’ve heard since I wouldn’t mind checking it out in theaters, but like with Bumblebee I don’t have the ability to do so. When I finally saw that I really liked it and hope to add it to my home video library someday. Perhaps Transformers One will have the same result, but right now I can’t get to the theater.