Throughout their ever-expanding movie franchise, the Autobot heroes and Decepticon villains of “Transformers” have fought all over Earth … which, of course, has never really been their home turf. Sure, fans have seen the robots’ home planet Cybertron before, but while something like “Bumblebee’s” flashback scene on the planet focused strictly on warfare, “Transformers One” provides a different angle by focusing on the early years of Optimus Prime and Megatron. Franchise mascot Bumblebee (Keegan-Michael Key) returns as well, and a number of other Transformer characters with big-name voice actors — like Alpha Trion (Laurence Fishburne), Elita (Scarlett Johansson), and Sentinel Prime (Jon Hamm) — also figure in the plot.
The origin story premise of “Transformers One” might seem somewhat more mellow than the metal-crushing chaos the franchise is known for, but judging by the trailer, “Transformers” fans will definitely get their money’s worth of robot action. Megatron’s absence in “Rise of the Beasts” and “Bumblebee” also means that “Transformers One” marks the villain’s debut in the newer “Transformers” films with classic robot designs, so viewers may very well be interested to witness the character’s return to the spotlight.
