Transformers One will be the first animated Transformers movie in several decades. The film seems set to take a more kid-friendly comedic tone, eschewing the bizarre puerile approach favored by Michael Bay's live-action movies. It also abandons the human characters integral to every other entry. Transformers One will center the titular robots in a quest to earn their trademark ability. It looks colorful, the writing seems heavy on one-liners, and the heroes unmistakably resemble robotic Power Rangers.
The Transformers and Power Rangers have several things in common, but their fate on the silver screen is not on that list. Paramount made several live-action Transformers movies, which almost without fail earned massive box office profits and widespread critical condemnation. Power Rangers only earned one recent theatrical release in the form of the 2017 remake. One franchise needs a sudden influx of quality, while the other needs a second chance.
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The Transformers One Trailer Depicts Teen Transformers
Director | Josh Cooley |
|---|---|
Writers | Andrew Barrer, Gabriel Ferrari, and Bobby Rubio |
Stars | Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key |
Release Date | September 20, 2024 |
Transformers movies are never particularly explicit about the age of their robots in disguise. They probably have six or seven-digit lifespans, but some appear older than others. The heroes of Transformers One are depicted as young, ambitious, and longing for the next stage of life in which they'll find their purpose. It may not be a coming-of-age story, but growing up seems to be a central theme. The plot follows Orion Pax and D-16, two young machines who will eventually become the central hero and villain. In the trailer, they mention their current situation as "lowly worker bots that can't transform." Young versions of Arcee and Bumblebee also appear alongside Orion and D-16, seemingly completing a classic team of underdog heroes experiencing a new world for the first time. The vision becomes clearer when they encounter Alpha Trion and get their marching orders.
Power Rangers Is An Interesting Inspiration
Power Rangers remains one of the most popular pieces of fiction ever aimed at kids. If Transformers was the giant robot franchise kids loved in the 80s, Power Rangers filled that role in the 90s. Though they endure various stages of popularity, IPs like these never go away. There's been a Transformers and a Power Rangers series on the air for the past thirty years with almost no breaks. Giant robots aren't the only shared element between Transformers and Power Rangers. They follow teams of heroes with distinct and usually one-note personality traits as they battle alien threats. The heroes of Power Rangers get new vehicles with a similar frequency to the Transformers becoming new vehicles. Their action set pieces wield carefully contained violence in just the right way to titillate nine-year-olds without distressing parents. The trailer for Transformers One suggests a greater connection in the film's plot.
The young robots in Transformers One play the role of teenagers with attitude for Alpha Trion's Zordon. Alpha Trion, portrayed by Laurence Fishburne, has been in the franchise since the original animated series. He's an ancient mentor figure, made wise by his countless years on Cybertron. He usually offers his guidance primarily to Optimus Prime, but the Transformers One trailer depicts him as a unique alien force, offering the young machines guidance as they reach unfamiliar territory. Trion hands Orion, D-16, Bumblebee, and Arcee glowing pieces of metal that appear to unlock their long-awaited transformation ability. Trion grabs four young people, grants them powers from another world, and sends them off to fight the alien invaders. It's the basic setup of Power Rangers with a handful of robots in place of the titular heroes.
Transformers One Could Borrow More From Power Rangers
One of the most powerful elements of Power Rangers is its ability to escalate. Every episode, series, and overarching narrative in Power Rangers shares 90% of its DNA with previous entries. Though most of the franchise rests on familiar territory, the show manages to maintain excitement across decades. The Transformers franchise does the same thing over and over without any sense of escalation. It's the difference between repetition and referential growth. Transformers is starting over again with Transformers One. Fans have seen its essential ups and downs, but the continued struggle to build anything new will keep them at arm's length.
Transformers One feels like Power Rangers because the two have so much in common. The shared DNA could be a positive influence on the film, though many fans see it as a strange direction. The Transformers movies were a mess, consistently becoming shorthand for the worst blockbusters of all time. While the franchise struggles, fresh blood could be a solution. Transformers One unquestionably pulls from the animated series and live-action films, but adding a bit of influence from something like Power Rangers could be the perfect bridge to a new version of the franchise.
Transformers One’s Tone Is Nothing New
Some fans seem frustrated with the new animated Transformers movie trailer, but its callbacks to the old cartoons feel clear.
