‘Transformers One’ Review: Animated Prequel Is Easily the Best ‘Transformers’ Movie Yet

I was not a “Transformers” guy growing up. I didn’t watch the show, and I never played with the toys (I was a “Ninja Turtles” kid). I didn’t even see the 1986 animated film until a few weeks ago. As for the recent spate of live-action movies, while 2007’s “Transformers” gets by with a dusting of Amblin flair and the prequel “Bumblebee” had the right tone, the recent outings for the robots-in-disguise have largely been loud, gaudy affairs that seemed stuck in a junior high mindset of emotionally stunted boys. The plots are as incomprehensible as the action, and yet there’s also a painful redundancy where the only new twist will be the introduction of some other line of Transformers to interact with Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and some interchangeable Autobots.