Kids

7 Relatable Moments in Transformers One

by Kevyn Gohu
September 18, 2024

While we’re sure kids will love the fighting robot portion, the new Transformers One movie seems to reboot the Bay-verse to balance out the interests of the audience.

For those who grew up with Transformers, some will admit that the succeeding movies after the third installment, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, somehow didn’t make sense. It was mostly explosions and transformations; something that even the Internet recognized Michael Bay was good at. However, the new Transformers One movie seems to balance it out, appealing to both the kids and the older fans alike.

So, here are some of the moments that make Transformers One a fun movie.

Photo Credit: “Paramount Pictures International”

1. Watching Optimus Prime grow into the leader that we know and love

With Optimus Prime being so wise and a little over-righteous, it’s a breath of fresh air to see him stumble and try to figure himself out. Originally known as Orion Pax, he’s, what Elita describes, as someone “blindly optimistic” which is what triggers the events of the story. Before he was the highly-respected leader of the Autobots, he was a bit of an oddball — which is a phase we all have before we embrace our quirks.

2. The Rise and Fall of a Friendship

While we love a quick jab and traditional smackdown every so often, Megatron in the other Transformers films often hinted at how Optimus Prime was before. He hints at his weakness, his blindness, and a lot of times — his foolishness. While our kids will see those banters as typical trash-talks that occur in-fight, Transformers One sheds light on how Megatron (formerly known as D-16) and Optimus Prime (Orion Pax) used to be which is something the older generation will appreciate.

3. Their take of “Behind every successful man, there’s a woman.”

Celebrity mom Scarlett Johansson has many roles with the majority of them falling under the Femme Fatale archetype. Her depiction of Elita falls under that same category but, it’s more amusing to watch when it was always Optimus Prime that was the most feared among the Autobots for his leadership and combat ability. Especially considering it’s Chris Hemsworth voicing Optimus and ScarJo voicing Elita, there are just too many moments that mirror her role as Black Widow and her dynamics with the Avengers. Including the way she gives a “pep talk.”

Case in point: all it took was one kick from her and the rogue robots all just swore to follow Optimus Prime.

4. Capturing the grief in disillusionment

When we meet our idols and they don’t match up to our expectations, it’s a big blow to our worldview. We feel disillusioned, lied to even! D16 (who eventually becomes Megatron) grapples with that moment throughout the movie, discovering the truth behind Sentinel. His character development throughout the film then explains his obsession with crushing Optimus and anything Prime-related, revealing a deeper and more complex relationship he had with Megatronus Prime (the Autobot he styled his name after) and Sentinel.

5. The Rise and Fall of Two Factions: Autobots and Decepticons

Let’s be honest, most of us thought that they were two different races of robots because of the insignias welded onto their limbs or chests. However, it was mentioned in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen via the old Decepticon-turned-Autobot Jetfire that the only difference is the moral decisions they make and how they commit to them. But it was only mentioned in passing, leaving quite a confusion on how Sentinel who was written in the initial Transformers as Optimus’ mentor and ally to suddenly flip sides when everything he did was supposedly for the sake of Cybertron.

Transformers One seamlessly integrates that concept, showing D16’s descent into madness. His yellow-orange eyes eventually turned into Megatron’s sinister and intimidating red that many of us loved and feared when the rebellion finally began. It also showed how the Decepticons were formed based on that premise — Megatron refused to be ever “deceived” again, believing that only power and strength were “infallible.”

6. Bumblebee: Coping with stress by rambling

Bumblee was usually the main character in the other Transformers films, even being the Autobot partner of Sam Witwicky (played by Shia Lebouf), Cade Yeager (played by Mark Wahlberg), and Charlie (played by Pitch Perfect’s Hailey Steinfeld). He was often the silent hero and more serious but one thing that was consistent was his loyalty to Optimus. While the initial film series had him use radio recordings to serve as his voice, some felt it didn’t capture Bumblee as a character.

In Transformers One, he’s more of the kid in the group. Easily excitable and loyal, he may sound like the original animated version of Hot Rod at first but, watching him amazed by his new abilities is a sweet reminder of how our kids are when they experience new things.

7. No transformer gets it right the first time.

Many of us worry about our kids being unable to cope with failure. Especially with all the posts coming out about depression and stress, a part of us may feel we somehow raised perfectionists who have developed a “my-way-or-highway” mentality. We recognize this line of thinking because we experienced the old version; the mentality was either sink or swim. But even then, that kind of thinking was too simplistic because if we “sank,” we were just left to “figure it out.”

So, to see the Autobots trying to figure out how to transform reminds us of how we were as kids and now parents. “The first time is always the worst try” — we see that in Bumblebee’s attempt to transform into a car only to realize he is in the shape of the car but has no wheels, Optimus “loses his head” mid-transformation, and even Elita only had one set of wheels, on one leg, dragging her down the hill.

We’ll always see someone who seems to get it on the first try. Like in this case, Megatron seemed to figure out at least the combat systems hidden in the transformer cog. But in the end, he lost himself to his grief and madness.

A Balanced Approach to Transformers

Now more focused on the robots themselves, Transformers One is more true to the original franchise which many of the fans enjoyed. With less human politics, it’s also easier for the kids to digest since now there’s a clear line between good (the Autobots) and evil (the Decepticons). However, the build-up to the formation of both factions teaches a real-life truth about the beginning of conflict: it all starts when one has been pushed into a corner and they have nothing left to lose.

Catch Transformers One in the cinema this September 18, 2024!

Still not sure? Here’s the trailer!