Transformers One First Reviews – New Transformers Film Becomes Highest Rated in Franchise

Transformers One is "the best Transformers film to date", said early reactions to the film in July when Paramount hosted fan screenings around the world, giving audiences a preview of the origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Now the first full reviews are in, and the film has become the highest-rated Transformers film on Rotten Tomatoes to date, debuting at 91%, which has now dropped to 90% with 39 reviews.

"It's a fun, action-packed outing with surprisingly effective emotional resonance," says Jeff Ewing at Collider, "adding layers to existing Transformers lore while being a worthwhile story in its own right."

Discussing Film's Andrew J. Salazar says, "Transformers One is exactly what the franchise needs right now," and, "Director Josh Cooley delivers a riveting original story told with great reverence and a level of maturity that will bring fans of all ages together."

Chris Hemsworth voices Optimus Prime, joined by Brian Tyree Henry who is the voice of Megatron, and the two are joined by Scarlett Johansson as Elita -1, Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime, Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion, Steve Buscemi as Starscream, Vanessa Liguori as Airachnid, and Jon Bailey as Soundwave.

Chalice Williams at Black Girl Nerds highlights Hemsworth, saying, "Optimus Prime is the definition of inspirational, and Hemsworth delivered that message as he effortlessly embodied a leader.

Many are praising Transformers One for igniting the flame missing from the franchise in recent years.

Shahbaz Siddiqui at The Movie Podcast calls the film "the biggest surprise of the year and exactly the spark the Transformers series needed" and The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck says "Consider this a franchise revitalized."

Transformers One is heading to theaters on September 20.

Transformers One Review Roundup

• Variety: While still delivering the fun and excitement expected of Hasbro’s metamorphosizing robots, Transformers One approaches the well-known characters with a degree of nuance and complexity that marks the most sophisticated onscreen portrait of them to date.
• Deadline: Transformers One returns to the property’s purely animated roots. Yet, the story has more humanity than the films that co-star human actors, and ultimately makes you feel the operatic tragedy of Megatron.
• Looper.com: The movie is unapologetically aimed at the children who have become an odd afterthought for this cinematic series so far and succeeds the most when not burdening itself with attempts to simultaneously satisfy the older fans.
• San Francisco Chronicle: Even if you don’t care two cans of WD-40 about the origin story... Its themes of friendship and underdog heroism, along with a visually impressive design and clean storytelling form a truly appealing film.
• Nerdist: A fun reminder of why we all liked the robots who were more than meets the eye in the first place. It doesn’t touch the artistic crossover heights of Spider-Verse or Mutant Mayhem but that doesn’t mean it isn’t pretty darn great.