I may not be the target demographic for the latest action figures franchise film but, it turns out, I even found the inner teenager in me and made a TikTok video about the experience.
One of the perks of being a Golden Globes voter is getting invited to preview screenings and premieres. It is a lot of work to watch basically everything that comes out in cinemas and series too, but the reward is quite fulfilling. For me, I discover films I’d never watch and in the process, also figure out important things about myself.
For Transformers One, I got a special invite to attend the European Premiere of the film in London’s Leicester Square. It turned out to be the first time the cast of male voices was introduced to their female counterpart, Scarlett Johansson who voices Elita-1. And for Johansson, who seems really cool and down to earth about her stardom, it was the first viewing she had access to for the film. So she ended up sitting not far from us in the audience to watch it.
I have to admit that my enthusiasm started to build up as soon as I asked a dear friend to join me for the premiere. She asked if she could bring her nephew, a big fan, and we managed to secure four seats, for the boy's father too. In the end, the entire family joined and it turned out to be even more fun than first expected.
Watching something like Transformers One, on the IMAX screen, surrounded by fans and children, is the way the film is meant to be enjoyed. Perhaps festivals are becoming obsolete, as this year’s Venice proved itself to us journalists, because they don’t allow for the mingling of industry experts, critics and a regular audience. A film is a live event and much like watching a Taylor Swift concert surrounded by only a bunch of music critics would prove unbearable, and flat, so watching an animated, action hero movie with a bunch of film critics proves anticlimactic. Where is the audience? Where are the screams, where is the laughter? Exactly.
Transformers One is the origin story of Optimus Prime (voiced by Chris Helmsworth) and Megatron (voiced by Brian Tyree Henry), now known as sworn enemies, but who once were friends and bonded like brothers. Their dislike of each other, after moments of close friendship changed the fate of Cybertron forever.
The trio, including the wondrous Johansson as the sole female character in the film, are joined on their indescribable adventures — I tried to keep up, but my brain doesn’t work that fast — by Bumblebee (Keegan-Michael Key) who likes to refer to himself as “Badassatron” in a sci-fi voice, and encounter all the origin characters, voiced by the likes of Steve Buscemi. Lawrence Fishburne and Jon Hamm. It’s fun, it’s sad, it’s human in its message and it’s a must-watch.
I especially enjoyed the last twenty minutes of the film, when the story is set up for future films, which may or may not have already been made, and important themes and messages are explored for the kids, and adults who are watching the film. One is how do two friends become bitter enemies? Pain is involved, but other things too, which you’ll have to watch for yourself.
The film is directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Josh Cooley, from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and the writing duo of Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari, based on a story by Barrer and Ferrari. The film boasts Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg as producers and is distributed by Paramount.
Meanwhile, watch the “informative” TikTok (it was for me!) above and enjoy the trailer further up in the piece. N-joy!
Image courtesy of Paramount UK, used with permission.