Movie review
September 11, 2024 · 104 min · PG
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The story follows cogless miner bots Orion Pax and D-16 who discover their leader Sentinel Prime lied about Cybertron's history, stole their transformation cogs, and sold out the planet to keep the underclass powerless. Their rebellion and the friends' split over revenge versus principled freedom become the main engine. Class oppression, corrupt authority, and worker uprising themes run through the whole narrative and character arcs. No race/gender swaps or lectures on modern identity politics, but the underdog-versus-system framing is front-and-center and easy for viewers to spot.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Transformers One.
Woke representation / casting
Diverse voice cast (Black actor as Megatron, prominent female Elita-1) with some fringe casting gripes, but no marketing push or plot emphasis on identity.
Woke political dialogue
Characters debate rebellion tactics, truth versus lies, and justice versus power as the friendship fractures.
Identity-driven story themes
Cogless miners' underclass awakening and fight for autonomy is the central story driver.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Plot built around exposing and overthrowing corrupt leadership, false history, and imposed caste oppression.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Fringe online gripes about class themes and casting; no major or sustained backlash.
Creator track record context
No clear pattern of activist or identity-driven prior work.
Production
