From the live-action turn at blockbuster movies from Hasbro in the Transformers franchise, I really enjoyed BumbleBee with Hailee Steinfeld, Transformers: The Last Knight with Mark Wahlberg, and the twists and new characters of last year’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts with lesser known actors in the human roles.  In the first trailer for the Transformers prequel, Transformers One, Hasbro stretches way back to the very beginning.  Optimus Prime and Megatron and early Cybertron (are we supposed to see the similarities with Doctor Who and the Master back in Gallifrey?)

But something doesn’t feel quite right.  The Transformers always worked best with humans to play off of.  Without humans, this trailer looks like either a video game or an animated movie–wait, it turns out this is 100% CGI animation.

Here is the first trailer for Transformers One:

Does it matter who the voice cast is?  They don’t seem recognizable in the trailer, but it must have cost Hasbro plenty to line up all of them: Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Laurence Fishburne, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Hamm, and Steve Buscemi.

The trailer is using the overdone trick of pulling in pop rock in the style of Guardians of the Galaxy as it reaches for a new, younger audience, to target for new toy lines–but nothing is wrong with that if it’s a good movie.

Only a year after the last entry, Transformers One is in theaters September 20, 2024.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg