The creators returned to the drawing board on this one and gave the Transformers a major overhaul. And that is a good thing if you want to get into the thick of things and aren’t sure how. Being around since the early 1980s, our favorite sentient cybernetic life forms have gone through numerous changes and arguably have one of the most convoluted multiversal histories of any fandom. Not only do they have separate continuities, but actual continuity families, groupings of similar continuities designed to help our human minds make some sense of it all.

Though named Transformers One, the movie is essentially Transformers Zero, starting from the beginning and streamlining much of the backstory. In the beginning, Primus, the creator god of the Transformers, transformed himself into the planet Cybertron and, from there, birthed The Primes, the First Transformers.
Easy right? Straight to the point, unambiguous, clear. From there, we get to the rest of the story.

The story this time around follows best friends Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) as they try to make something of themselves by finding the long-lost Matrix of Leadership, an artifact from the time the Primes walked Cybertron and energon, their energy source, flowed freely across the planet.

These two titans' tales are filled with friendship, betrayal, adventure, and sacrifice, making the events surprisingly Shakespearian. It provides depth to the movie, which is a very pleasant surprise. D-16’s slow descent into the Dark Side (so to speak) and transformation into Megatron is as tragic a tale as Orion Pax’s transformation into Optimus Prime is triumphant.

The by-the-book commander Elita-1, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, joins the fight, as does Keegan Michael Key, the fast-talking comic relief as B-127, or as he would rather be known, “Badassatron." B is essentially the annoying but lovable little brother, and Key’s performance reinforces Bumblebee’s place as a favorite among the fans.

You don’t think of a Transformers movie as being a chuckle-fest, but this one can initially be a bit disconcerting to hardcore fans. However, it is by no means a turn-off. The younger geeks who know the later versions of the Transformers will find it hilarious, but those of us “older models” out there or those in the know will pick up a ton of witty puns and references to the even earlier iterations, particularly the much beloved Generation One.

And that is really why the movie works so well, surprisingly well. As much as it disassembles and reassembles the franchise, it sticks very closely to its core, or as they call it, the Spark. The trappings, the bells, and whistles are mostly all new and different, but the Spark, that little something that is more than meets the eye that we 80s kids grew up with, is still pretty much intact.

Transformers One is like watching your favorite 80s cartoon get a significant upgrade in visuals, style, story, and depth. It's a franchise-restarting event that brings a breath of pure energon to an old, rusty favorite. Bringing it new and old fans alike.