{"id":29513,"date":"2024-09-19T13:12:14","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T20:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=29513"},"modified":"2024-09-19T13:12:14","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T20:12:14","slug":"transformers-one-has-some-spark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=29513","title":{"rendered":"TRANSFORMERS ONE Has Some Spark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Running Time: 104 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This animated feature from Paramount Pictures opens\nexclusively at theaters on September 20th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m aging myself here, but as a child I will admit to being\na fan of the Hasbro Transformers<\/em> toy line (most kids of the 1980s were).\nIn addition to the popular cartoon TV-series right around the height of their\npopularity, the following years saw a 1986 animated feature and, starting in\n2007, a live-action series of blockbusters. Honestly, those recent efforts did\nlittle to impress me. The visual effects were impressive, but the stories were\nnonsensical at times with little within them to grab and engage me as an adult\nviewer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, a PG- rated animated origin story has arrived. I will\nadmit to being unenthusiastic at the prospect of seeing another feature in the\nfranchise, but Transformers One<\/em> is a pleasant surprise. It is a fun and\nexciting fantasy that, despite taking place in a strange, robotic world, still\nmanages to develop its characters in interesting ways and deliver a clear,\nrelatable story. Truth be told, this is actually the best Transformers<\/em>\nfilm (unfortunately, it wasn\u2019t screened for me in 3D, so I can\u2019t write about\nhow effectively that process is used in this film).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The tale is set on the planet Cybertron, which is made of\nsentient metallic beings who each can transform themselves into a working piece\nof machinery. That is, all but a group of lower-class mining bots who work\nunder the surface. Two of them are best pals Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and\nD-16 (Brian Tyree Henry), who yearn for escape from their mundane life. One\nday, they manage to illegally get themselves in the middle of a race featuring\nthe planet\u2019s best competitors. While some are furious at their rule-breaking,\nlegendary leader Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm) congratulates them on their\nresourcefulness and promises to reward them. However, they end up demoted and\nthey begin to wonder if the heroic lore of Sentinel Prime might be a lie. They\nsneak outside the metropolis with supervisor Elita-1 (Scarlett Johansson) and\nlonely, motor-mouthed B-127 (Keegan-Michael Key) to discover the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie has a unique visual style that harkens back to the\noriginal 80s series, but also feels updated and far more polished. This isn\u2019t a\nlavish Disney or Pixar effort, but the film does have its own stylish\nchrome-inspired appearance that gives it a unique and distinctive look. This is\na fantasy picture set on another world, so the reflective characters look\nparticularly impressive during the brightly lit early chase and through several\nof the big action set-pieces (all of which are well-staged and, at times, even\ngenuinely thrilling).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie\u2019s biggest plus is the work of the voice cast and\nthe way young Orion Pax and D-16 interact. While the two eventually become\niconic enemies, here they are presented as good friends simply looking to\nbetter themselves. There is plenty of banter between them about the trouble\nthey\u2019re getting themselves into that result in off-handed comments and laughs.\nDespite the alien environment, the story initially comes across like an\naction-packed \u201cbuddy picture\u201d from the 1980s. Of course, things do eventually\ntake a serious turn as D-16 struggles to deal with his rage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Supporting characters deliver some entertaining moments as\nwell, especially when they develop new skills and powers. There are enjoyable\ninteractions between the stoic Elita-1 and scene-stealing B-127, who is\ngenerally amazed when discovering newfound abilities. The film includes some\nfun character cameos and voice-work from noted performers (including Lawrence\nFishburne and Steve Buscemi) who really deliver their dialogue with authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, the fact that this is a prequel means that the\nfates of several main characters aren\u2019t really in any doubt, taking a bit of\nedge off of the proceedings. The moviemakers try to create some new\nenvironments for the characters to explore, but there is only so much you can\ndo with an entirely mechanized world. This is also a relatively violent movie,\nmeaning that parents with young kids should be prepared for a few characters to\nmeet unfortunate ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But it is remarkable just how well the film works. The\nrelationships between the main characters are well written and performed,\nallowing it to keep the attention of even casual enthusiasts. Transformers\nOne<\/em> accomplishes its goal of revamping a tired franchise and giving fans\nsomething new to look forward to. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 104 minutes This animated feature from Paramount Pictures opens exclusively at theaters on September 20th. I\u2019m aging myself here, but as a child I will admit to being a fan of the Hasbro Transformers toy line (most kids of the 1980s were). In addition to the popular cartoon TV-series right around the height […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":29518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[215,697,785,1455,1467,3508,4304,7314,8926,10969,11537,15705,15707,17750,23156,23168,23206,23208,23209,23210,23211,23212],"class_list":["post-29513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-215","tag-action","tag-adventure","tag-animated","tag-animation","tag-brian-tyree-henry","tag-chris-hemsworth","tag-fantasy","tag-hasbro","tag-jon-hamm","tag-keegan-michael-key","tag-paramount","tag-paramount-pictures","tag-scarlet-johansson","tag-toy-line","tag-toys","tag-transformers","tag-transformers-franchise","tag-transformers-one","tag-transformers-one-film-review","tag-transformers-one-movie-review","tag-transformers-one-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}