Transformers One director Josh Cooley explains two significant ways the animated prequel is different from Michael Bay’s live-action Transformers movies. The latest installment serves as an origin story for Optimus Prime, Megatron, and the beginning of the ancient conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons. Transformers One‘s ending sets up a new direction for the franchise to take, as the fates of Cybertron and the Transformers are forever changed.
While speaking with Variety, Cooley emphasized how Transformers One‘s setting and the characters’ fighting styles are the two biggest differences from Bay’s movies. He discussed the visual and logistical changes that are part of a story set on Cybertron instead of on Earth that features Transformers instead of human characters. Cooley also sought to push the boundaries of what the franchise had previously achieved, including when it came to Transformers fighting. Check out his comments below:
Well, the fact that this is animated already makes it very different. And also being that “Transformers One” takes place on another planet, we can have different looks immediately. So being able to push the look of it, and also not having to, as with the live-action ones, to have everything look like it’s 100% there, 100% real. If you put a real person in our movie, they won’t line up, because that’s not the goal. So it allowed us to simplify some things and make things a little bit clearer. Sometimes, especially when robots are fighting, and they’re in a similar size, it can be hard to read. So I wanted to make sure that with ours, the color really pops so you can tell who is who right away.
Also, the fighting style. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian, who worked on all of the live-action films as well, were showing me how they would use motion capture to bring in some fight experts. It actually made me decide that’s not what I want to do, because it had the feeling of two people in suits fighting each other. So I decided that we needed to utilize the ability to transform as a way to attack and defend. And I loved thinking about what can make this film different from anything that’s ever been done before.
What This Means For The Transformers Franchise
Animation Is The Best Way Forward
Cooley’s comments indicate that Transformers One and the Transformers franchise are well-suited to the medium of animation. Without the limitations of live-action, Transformers One was able to better utilize the characters’ ability to transform during a fight, along with making the colors of the combatants stand out more. This made most of the prequel’s action scenes easier and more engaging to follow than some of the fights in the live-action movies.
Transformers One lives up to the promise of its name as the characters are seen taking on many forms and their movements are more fluid than in live-action. While there is a live-action Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover in the works, the franchise’s most promising future is building off of Transformers One in animation, where there is more visual and logistical freedom to bring the characters and the world of Cybertron to life. The 1980s Transformers television series and movie were animated, and now Transformers One has fittingly returned the franchise to its roots.
Transformers One’s Animation Works Well
While I enjoyed many of Bay’s live-action Transformers movies, I would prefer to see the franchise continue in animation, largely because of the differences that Cooley explains. The stunning animation helped make the prequel a visually immersive experience and left me wanting to see more of Cybertron explored, especially on the planet’s surface. With the conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons now underway, there will be more fights ahead and more to reveal about Cybertron, with animation being the best way to continue telling the story that began in Transformers One.
Source: Variety
