Transformers One
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: September 20, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
13
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Original-CinJohn KirkSep 17, 2024
Transformers One is a great watch for longtime fans. Though the franchise’s box office success in this century has been predicated on noisy live action with a CGI assist, this exciting and fun-filled film returns the Transformers to their animated roots. Read full review
90
We Got This CoveredCharlotte SimmonsSep 25, 2024
Even its mistakes hardly qualify as mistakes, and the intelligence with which 'Transformers One' carries itself as an IP film easily cements it as an instant classic. Read full review
90
SlashfilmRafael MotamayorSep 12, 2024
Transformers One is the breath of fresh air the franchise has tried to achieve for years, a movie that feels new and unique but also familiar and fitting with the rest of the franchise. Read full review
85
TheWrapMatt GoldbergApr 15, 2025
Cooley’s movie feels like what the Transformers films always should have been — adventure films the whole family can enjoy regardless of any pre-existing affection for the world of Transformers. Read full review
80
PolygonMichael McWhertorDec 9, 2024
If possible sequels can capture the magic and drama of this one, the Transformers cinematic universe will have changed for the better. Read full review
80
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeOct 17, 2024
One of the aspects that makes this an unexpectedly satisfying piece of storytelling (aside from the obvious improvements in the joke quality) is the way that the film digs into the structure of Autobot society. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd GilchristSep 12, 2024
Transformers One approaches the well-known characters with a degree of nuance and complexity (as well as violent finality, in a few cases) that marks the most sophisticated onscreen portrait of them to date. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckSep 12, 2024
Besides the raucous, de rigueur action sequences, Transformers One provides numerous witty jokes of both the verbal and visual variety and — surprise, surprise — genuine emotion. Consider this a franchise revitalized. Read full review
80
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiSep 12, 2024
Transformers One is simply good storytelling. It offers detail, solid action, and narrative depth that longtime fans will appreciate while being a nice entry point for those who are newer to the world of Transformers. Read full review
80
ColliderJeff EwingSep 12, 2024
It's a fun, action-packed outing with surprisingly effective emotional resonance, adding layers to existing Transformers lore while being a worthwhile story in its own right. Read full review
75
Washington PostAmy NicholsonSep 19, 2024
It’s not hard to imagine “Transformers One” connecting with preteens whose pubescent bodies can be as unwieldy as Orion’s first, clumsy transformation, with wheels where he expects legs and arms where he expects wheels. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzSep 17, 2024
As its subtly confident title suggests, it carries itself as if nobody had ever made a Transformers movie before. It’s so earnest, bringing notes of freshness and innocence to a prequel that, by all rights, shouldn’t have had any. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkSep 15, 2024
A realm without physical limits is truly where the Transformers belong, but it doesn’t stop the film from delivering some surprising pathos while it’s there. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonSep 12, 2024
Directed by Livermore-raised Josh Cooley, an Oscar-winner for “Toy Story 4,” “Transformers One” is for the inner child, and unapologetically so. And for the adults in the room, you can read it as a pro-union tale as worker bots unite. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarlos AguilarSep 20, 2024
Cooley’s film remains very much a mainstream product entrenched in the build-it-as-we-go mythology of these sentient machines, but there’s an attention to the motivations and desires of its characters missing in many Hollywood cash grabs. Animation can be a transformative, liberating force, even for stories that have been told ad nauseam. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubLeigh MonsonSep 12, 2024
If anything, the rarity of a franchise film that seems principally concerned with appealing to a new generation is more in line with the legacy of the original series than any film that has come since. Read full review
65
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzSep 19, 2024
Ultimately the film struggles to balance its various commitments, with a screenplay that never seems sure of whether it wants to be a pure comedy, a lore-packed adventure or a peppy children’s film that shuffles kids straight to the toy aisle. Read full review
60
The TimesKevin MaherOct 10, 2024
It’s loud, multicoloured and garish, like sticking your head inside a giant tin of Quality Street while someone whacks the outside repeatedly with a polo mallet. Only this time, for once, it’s slightly more pleasurable than that sounds. Read full review
60
The New York TimesBrandon YuSep 19, 2024
Most palpable in its frames are the heart and genuine love for this universe, and when the bots start colliding, with action sequences toward the end that are thrillingly punchy, it’s easy to surrender to the lore. Read full review
60
Time OutHelen O'HaraSep 18, 2024
It’s consistently pretty entertaining, even if it takes a while to get going. Read full review
60
The GuardianRadheyan SimonpillaiSep 17, 2024
Breezy, comically self-referential and totally likable. But its charms nevertheless feel like they came off an assembly line – one that has been engineered to deliver Marvel-like results, in animated form of course. Read full review
60
EmpireKambole CampbellSep 12, 2024
There’s slightly more than meets the eye with Transformers One. While the art style is sometimes off-putting, its ideas are interesting enough to make it a decent addition to the franchise. Read full review
60
LooperAlistair RyderSep 12, 2024
The more this origin story refrains from winking and nodding at the future direction of this characters, the better it is. That it can't entirely keep itself away from this impulse is why it isn't the smooth introduction for a new generation of potential fans it could have been. Read full review
60
Total FilmNeil SmithSep 12, 2024
A visually striking and inventive overhaul of well-oiled IP that suggests animation was the right path all along. Autobots, roll out! Read full review
58
Paste MagazineJesse HassengerSep 19, 2024
Look, as far as toy ads go, Transformers One is tolerable. It’s a little more fully imagined and rounded out than the jankier weirdness of its 1986 spiritual predecessor. The difference is that in 2024, a Transformers cartoon isn’t just selling toys to kids; it’s selling its own sketchy credibility to fans of all ages. Read full review
55
The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeSep 12, 2024
It proves that this mechanized world and its inhabitants are better suited to cartoon form than the headache-inducing Michael Bay movies, but it’s ultimately another piece of elaborate fan service that will bore the uninitiated. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenSep 18, 2024
In the midst of all the mayhem it’s sometimes hard to stay awake. Read full review
50
IGNTom JorgensenSep 13, 2024
Transformers One’s strong central friendship – and a great Brian Tyree Henry performance – aside, this animated origin story could have used some major transforming before rolling out. Read full review
50
IndieWireWilson ChapmanSep 12, 2024
For all of the garishly shiny lens flairs that gleam off our heroes’ metallic heads, Transformers One feels rusted over, offering a predictable, formulaic product as generic as its “working title that never got dropped” name. Read full review
40
ScreenCrushMatt SingerSep 12, 2024
The best vocal performance in Transformers One by far comes from Brian Tyree Henry, who puts so much feeling into D-16 rapid transformation into the menacing Megatron that you almost buy that he goes from Orion’s loyal bestie to his sworn mortal enemy in the span of about 10 minutes. Read full review
12
The Associated PressMark KennedySep 17, 2024
The saddest thing about “Transformers One” is the wastefulness of another dull outing in a universe geared toward kids just learning to transform themselves. Read full review
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