Transformers One is a major change of pace for the long-running Hasbro franchise. Not only is it the first feature-length animated film to feature Robots in Disguise since 1986’s Transformers: The Movie , it’s also set much earlier in the Transformers timeline. Instead of taking place on Earth, this film flashes back to the glory days of Cybertron, when Optimus Prime and Megatron were still close friends and allies.

This change of pace is exactly what the Transformers series needed after what can politely be described as an uneven track record on the big screen. In fact, Transformers One serves as a reminder that animation, not live action, is where this franchise thrives. Here’s why animation should be the priority for Transformers films going forward.

Why the live-action Transformers films were such a huge success

Considering that it’s about giant, talking robots that transform into enormous vehicles and fight each other to the death, it’s probably no surprise that the Transformers franchise has taken so long to make the transition from comics and cartoons to live-action. Director Michael Bay brought the Autobots and Decepticons to life in 2007’s Transformers , before following that film up with four more sequels.

But while those films certainly delivered on spectacle (particularly 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon and its depiction of a devastating battle in Chicago), the live-action series was pretty much dead on arrival in terms of narrative. The Bay films have been widely derided for their paper-thin characters, storytelling clichés, cultural stereotypes, and over-the-top childish humor (we’re looking at you, 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ). All five of the Bay films have been rated “rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes, with Transformers lead the way with 57% And 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight Hits Low of 16%.

Crucially, things certainly improved with the release of 2018’s Transformers: Bumblebee. This prequel/pseudo-reboot took the series in a very different and more character-driven direction, resulting in a much more respectable fresh rating of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes (view IGN’s Transformers: Bumblebee Review for our thoughts on the film). 2023’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, however, failed to maintain that critical momentum, sliding back to 51%.

And commercially, there’s been a clear case of diminishing returns with the Transformers franchise in recent years. While both Dark of the Moon and 2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction surpassed $1 billion worldwide, The Last Knight barely cracked the $600 million mark. Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts grossed even less, both making under $500 million worldwide. Yes, that’s still a lot of money, but it’s clear that fans aren’t as excited about the franchise as they once were.

At some point, viewers seem to tire of watching CGI robots repeatedly punch each other. The spectacle of these films is ultimately hollow. We’ve seen Peter Cullen’s Optimus Prime stab, blow up, and shoot him countless times, but it never seems to make a difference. He just shrugs it off and keeps going (pun intended).

Nor have these films built a compelling, ongoing story over the course of seven episodes and counting. The characters are still cardboard cutouts. The mythology that fuels these films is more convoluted than compelling, especially since the most recent films have been stuck in that “not quite a prequel, not quite a reboot” limbo. Hasbro and Paramount’s solution to reviving the live-action films has seemingly not been to simplify and refocus, but instead to capitalize on the fan service appeal of a Transformers/GI Joe crossover movieBut now that the GI Joe franchise itself is facing major problems on the live-action front, can we really count on a crossover film to solve the problems of both franchises?

It’s clear that a more fundamental overhaul of the Transformers series is needed to address these serious flaws. That’s where Transformers One comes in.

What Transformers One Does Well

Simply put, Transformers One is the clean, fresh start the franchise needed on the big screen. While One can be seen as a distant prequel to the live-action films, it also stands entirely on its own. It flashes back many years to when the Autobots and Decepticons still had their own society on Cybertron.

This clean break from the other films is immediately a welcome relief. There’s no need to worry about how One will fit in with the other films or their complicated mythology. The film doesn’t have to worry about fitting in one-dimensional human characters. It can even develop the Autobots and Decepticons for a change.

And that’s certainly true. Characters like Chris Hemsworth’s Optimus Prime and Bryan Tyree Henry’s Megatron feel richer and more developed than they ever did in the live-action films. We see Prime back when he was just Orion Pax, a lowly miner with dreams of becoming something greater. We get a better sense of what made the Autobots so loyal to their leader, and an appreciation for what was lost when Prime and Megatron’s friendship deteriorated into a bitter rivalry.

Could the same emotionally gripping story have been told in live action? Probably, but we don’t know if it would have resonated as well as it has. One of those is a reminder that the Transformers franchise just seems to inherently work better in animation than in live action. A lot of that has to do with the character designs. In the live-action films, the Transformers are little more than amorphous bundles of mechanical parts. The character designs have a very generic quality to them, to the point where it’s often difficult to tell what’s happening and who’s getting hurt when two characters fight.

True to the classic animated series and comics, the characters in Transformers One are much more streamlined and colorful than their live-action counterparts. They’re not overdesigned or burdened with unnecessary details. There’s no confusion about who’s who and what’s happening during the action scenes. The characters actually express themselves and show emotion, with well-defined facial expressions that help tell the cinematic story. It’s literally a night-and-day difference from the live-action films.

Even after seven films, the live-action series still hasn’t established a clear, cohesive sense of visual style. The robots are incredibly detailed, but soulless. With Transformers One, the characters actually feel more real and alive in all the ways that matter.

A new start for the franchise

It remains to be seen what the future holds for the Transformers franchise on the big screen. We do know that Hasbro and Paramount are planning a direct sequel to Rise of the Beasts brings in GI Joe charactersHowever, that sequel is still in development, suggesting there was no clear plan for a follow-up to Rise of the Beasts’ surprise ending.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has also suggested that Transformers One could spawn an entire trilogy, one that would continue to follow Optimus Prime and Megatron’s twin journeys on Cybertron and the civil war that threatens to engulf the planet. Of course, that largely depends on how well One does at the box office.

We can only hope that Transformers One makes enough money to justify sequels, both because we’re eager to see this origin story continue and because the Transformers franchise desperately needs more films of this ilk – films that focus on the characters and don’t get lost in the mindless spectacle of robot vs. robot carnage. We need films that figure out how to find the heart of the Transformers, and animation seems like a better platform for telling those kinds of stories. It’s telling that even Bumblebee, the one true gem of the live-action series, was directed by Travis Knight, a filmmaker best known for his work on animated features like Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings.

The good news is that di Bonaventura at least seems to recognize the need for a more character-driven approach to the live-action films. The producer told Collider that one of the current challenges with the Transformers/GI Joe crossover is finding the emotional core of the story.

“What it’s going to impact the most is the fact that we now know what these robots are capable of emotionally,” he said. “So we’re going to have to figure out how to create that room, that we can afford to do that, and create a story that you can capitalize on more. So one of the things I’m particularly interested in doing … (is) we’re going to have to do more of the robot perspective in live action now, because that’s the only way you’re going to really get inside them.”

Hopefully that bodes well for the next live-action film. But I’d still argue that animation is where this franchise really shines. With any luck, Transformers One will be successful enough that Hasbro and Paramount will move more in that direction in the years to come. Hopefully, One will be the beginning of a better era for Transformers fans.