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A14 PEOPLE / ARTS
Wednesday 18 september 2024
‘Transformers One,’ an origin story no one wants with brutality

levels no one needs

By MARK KENNEDY “Toy Story 4,” never lets the
AP Entertainment Writer action stop and that’s not
Movie origin stories finally a compliment.
reach their nadir this week The camera is constantly
with “Transformers One,” the swiveling and the violence
super-violent, toy-selling ve- assault-weapon lasers,
hicle that tells the tale of how booming cannons, light tor-
Optimus Prime and Megatron ture, martial arts crunching
went from besties to foes. Did moves, beating a rival with
anyone ask for this? Did Wile their own amputated limb
E. Coyote and the Road Run- and ceaseless pounding is
ner ask for too much money? nauseating.
The computer-animated (“Please stop punching me in
“Transformers One” is out of the face” is a joke line here.)
time, a throwback to a few This image released by Paramount Pictures shows characters, from left, D-16/Megatron, voiced If Transformers ever bled, this
years ago when Hollywood by Brian Tyree Henry, Elita-1, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, Orion Pax/Optimus Prime, voiced by would be an R-rated movie.
mined popular IP for forgot- Chris Hemsworth, and B-127, voiced by Keegan-Michael Key, in a scene from “Transformers One.” The hyper-violence papers
ten heroes, built overly com- Associated Press over some pretty robotic —
plex worlds and then ramped sorry! — dialogue. Why do all
up the action so that the au- bro figurines’ accumulated around preening while the and resignation. these movies show the Trans-
dience just got numbed to a mythology, which seems to lower classes do dirty jobs The two friends join with formers with cool upgrades
blur of battles. But “Transform- be a series of never-ending like comb through garbage. mining manager Elita-1 like laser knives but they re-
ers One” isn’t good enough epic battles between good They all serve Sentinel Prime, (Scarlett Johansson, bland) main speaking in stilted, op-
to watch on a plane, even a and evil. Some stuff just seems the leader of the subterra- and Keegan-Michael Key’s eratic prose? “I want him to
trans-Pacific flight. The inflight downright weird, like why nean Iacon City, who is not B-127 (who will later become suffer and die in darkness,”
map is better. these robots need a gym what he seems. He is appar- fan favorite Bumblebee) to “They are to be your undo-
A map isn’t a bad idea, ac- or why after running they ently the last of the Primes journey to the surface of the ing” and “Cybertron’s future
tually: You may need some become breathless. and lives in a marble palace, planet, find the Matrix of is in your hands.”
sort of guide for this one those The main heroes here are giving the people below Leadership (a sort of neck- There are some good mo-

uninitiated to the folklore of buddies Orion Pax and D-16 spectacles as a diversion, like lace that might have been ments, of course. When our
Cybertron are flung helplessly who will become mortal en- an epic road race. It gives sold in the Sharper Image band of misfit bots get an
into references to Energon, emies Optimus Prime and off ancient Roman Coliseum catalog) and get a hero’s upgrade to Transformer sta-
Alpha Trion, Quintessons and Megatron by the end and vibes. Orion Pax (voiced with welcome. But they learn tus, they cutely don’t know
something called the Matrix we meet them when they are puppy-dog sweetness by some unsavory things about how to do it seamlessly at first,
of Leadership. You come in lowly miners, basically non- Chris Hemsworth) is not sat- the ruler from the Transformer with limbs awkwardly getting
halfway into a conversation. transforming bots digging for isfied by this life. “There’s got elder statesman Alpha Trion mixed with vehicle parts. Any-
The story by Andrew Barrer reserves of the energy clev- to be something more I can (the instantly recognizable one who has played with the
and Gabriel Ferrari is basi- erly called Energon. do,” he says. “Aren’t you tired Laurence Fishburne). toys knows the feeling. And
cally the Bible’s Cain and This is a society in which the of being treated like you’re Director Josh Cooley, who Key never fails to generate a
Abel with a detour into the upper class is made up of nothing?” Brian Tyree Henry co-wrote the screenplay chuckle, proving a masterful
Roman Empire and the Has- Transformers who stomp voices D-16 with skepticism for “Inside Out” and helmed comedic voice actor. q

Maná removes song with Nicky Jam in protest of his support for Trump

By BERENICE BAUTISTA after the Puerto Rican reg- racists,” the group said in “Latin Music superstar Nicky be as great as it is.”
Associated Press gaeton singer expressed an Instagram post explain- Jam! Do you know Nicky, A representative for Jam
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The his support for Republican ing the decision to remove she’s hot. Where’s Nicky?” did not immediately re-
Mexican pop-rock band presidential candidate “De pies a cabeza” from he said. spond to The Associated
Maná has removed its Donald Trump. online platforms. The song is Despite the confusion, Press’ request for com-
2016 song with Nicky Jam “Maná does not work with a remix of the 1992 original Jam expressed pleasure ment. A representative
included on Maná’s classic at meeting Trump, who for Maná confirmed the
album “¿Dónde jugarán since his first presidential band’s statement, but did
los niños?” campaign has promised not offer further details.
“For the last 30 years Maná to close the border and Founded in Jalisco, Mexico,
has supported and de- espoused harsh anti-immi- Maná has been awarded
fended the rights of Lati- grant rhetoric. six Latin Grammys and four
nos in the world. There is Maná has supported the Grammys and is one of the
no business or promotion cause of migrants in the most influential bands in
that is worth more than the United States for more Latin America. It also has a
dignity of our people,” the than two decades. In 2018, star on the Hollywood Walk
band wrote on Instagram. upon receiving the Latin of Fame.
Jam, known for songs such Recording Academy’s Per- In addition to Maná, a long
as “Travesuras,” “Voy a Be- son of the Year award, their list of artists have requested
ber” and the J Balvin col- vocalist Fher Olvera prom- that their music not be as-
laboration “X” expressed ised: “We will continue to sociated with or used by
his support for Trump last fight for the rights of mi- Trump, including ABBA,
Nicky Jam speaks as Republican presidential nominee former Friday at a rally in Las Ve- grants who have made this The White Stripes, Celine
President Donald Trump listens during a campaign event at the gas. When introducing the country great; in the last Dion, Bruce Springsteen, Ri-
World Market Center, Friday, Sept.13, 2024, in Las Vegas. singer, Trump seemed to century, they were the dif- hanna, Phil Collins, Pharrell,
Associated Press mistake him for a woman: ference for this country to R.E.M. and Guns N’ Roses.q