Transformers One
Sorry but I have no idea how the Letterboxd looks the way it does, what the fuck is everyone smoking? I will say I had an alright time watching this movie, it’s not bad. But it’s also not very good. It’s painfully fine, and I think that’s what grates me about it.
From the trailers, I had absolutely no intention of watching this. I genuinely thought it looked horrendous and yet when I saw the outpouring of critical reviews praising the film and saying the trailers don’t do it justice I decided to trust in said reviews.
I will say, the stuff that’s bad in the trailers isn’t what makes this bad. The trailers are filled with the quippy comedy everyone is fed up off and not good jokes at that, but honestly it’s not in the film that much and while a lot of it is grating, it’s not so bad that it hinders enjoyment that much. I will also give it credit in some really funny jokes as well, a single joke might be the best joke I’ve heard in a very long time.
What the main issue is is the story. It’s beyond boring. I knew exactly where the film was going almost immediately and it rarely skips a beat and decides to do anything interesting. It’s so predictable and I was sitting for a majority of the time just uninterested. Suddenly however, something breaks this mould, and in doing so kind of breaks the entire logic of what comes before this reveal.
It’s lazy screenwriting honestly to have the film heading in a direction and yet needing to end up in a different place, so instead of connecting these points with any sort of narrative, it just forces them together and it’s so jarring. I imagine the reason this is kind of not being brought up is this early screening are probably filled with fans who are just happy to see the film end up where it does but please think about critically and all of the logic falls apart pretty easily.
I will say there’s some really fun set pieces, the animation was surprisingly done ok, and the score was really good but I really struggle to get past both being bored and frustrated at the screenplay.
I kind of want to specifically talk about this in spoilers - so spoilers! Megatron’s twist at the end makes absolutely no sense. When it’s revealed that Sentinel is evil, so painfully obvious as well, he rightfully gets pissed but proceeds to take this out on Optimus who up until now we’ve known him as his best friend - and honestly homo vibes as well - and gets a little frustrated at his friend’s love of breaking rules. What happens when he breaks these rules though is he gets annoyed and then realises that Optimus was simply wanting both of them to become more, and they resolve each time he feels slightly upset. There’s literally no tension built up between the two until this moment. No more tension is really built up between the two, bar Optimus not wanting him to kill Sentinel, which is not explained as the kill many other people, and when Megatron is kidnapped and goes fully mad, none of this is cause of Optimus! So why does he let him fall!
What makes me even more annoyed by this is on the walk home my friend and I literally sorted this issue in a few minutes. If Megatron was instead characterised more like Elita, who side note could be cut from the movie, someone who was obsessed with work but frame it more like he was obsessed with Sentinel and have more hints of him being pissed with how reckless Optimus is, as it means Sentinel might never notice him. When it’s revealed he’s been a villain it would make Megatron justified in his madness as someone he’s looked up to was not good. Then you continue to have Optimus be reckless and Megatron’s angry bubble, and when Optimus gets shot, the scene is shot so Megatron has the opportunity to kill or save Optimus, and he decides it’s the last time Optimus is holding him back so let’s him go and chooses to kill, then this is the moment he gets Megatron’s core and goes fully mad.