mancusoMINI is a series of short-form reviews for new films that I saw but that are beyond my primary review slate (or I just didn’t have enough time to write a full review).
When I saw the trailer for Transformers One, I was not particularly compelled to see the film; I have no particular affinity for the franchise, and the film’s voice acting and dialogue seemed more appropriate for cheaply-made Saturday morning television than the big screen. But I was wrong - somewhat. While Josh Cooley’s film has received critical acclaim and is much better than its trailer suggested, my core anxieties around the film were more or less validated. The script is juvenile - not in a crude or immature way, but it’s filled with so many over-explanatory exchanges and cliché stock lines that it’s as if a 13-year old wrote it. The voice acting doesn’t do the script any favors, as the cast is littered with recognizable names that, while not totally detached, provide the most boilerplate performances imaginable. These drawbacks are unfortunate, as there’s an actually compelling premise at the heart of the story; in the spirit of something like X-Men: First Class, the franchise’s iconic hero and villain are introduced as good friends that are slowly driven apart by their irreconcilable approaches to achieving justice. I can’t speak to if the film captures the spirit of the original, as my only encounter with the franchise is with the first two live-action films, but considering the film’s high ratings on sites like Letterboxd, it must scratch the itch that Transformers fans have been trying to scratch for decades. But for a layman like me, there’s more here to scrutinize than to celebrate.
