Imagine the pages of a comic book flipping by before your eyes.

That’s what it’s like seeing ”Transformers One,” the feature animation film that tells the origin story of the Transformers.

And you thought the Transformers’ origin story began at Toys R Us.

The origin story began in 1984 with the Transformers toy line from American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy.

The Transformers, mainly Autobots and Decepticons, transform (hence the name) from robots into mostly vehicles. As of 2011, the franchise, which includes video games, generated $25 billion in revenue, one of the highest-grossing media franchises ever.

“The Transformers” animated television series aired 1984 to 1987. “The Transformers: The Movie,” an animated feature film, was released in 1986.

“Transformers” science fiction action films were directed by Michael Bay: “Transformers” (2007), “Revenge of the Fallen” (2009), “Dark of the Moon” (2011), “Age of Extinction” (2014) and “The Last Knight” (2017).

“Bumblebee” (2018) was directed by Travis Knight. “Rise of the Beasts” (2023) was directed by Steven Caple Jr.

Opening scenes for “Revenge of the Fallen” were filmed at the former Bethlehem Steel Corp. south side Bethlehem plant before it became the site of SteelStacks.

Which brings us to “Transformers One,” the all-animation feature film, which sets the stage for Optimus Prime and Megatron.

“Transformers One” is a frenetic, animated assault on the senses. The soundtrack music and sound effects are loud, almost too loud.

The animation, admittedly a work of art in and of itself, spins, zooms, slashes and explodes on the screen in riots of red, offset by gun-metal gray of some of the robots.

The computer-generated characters display a lot of personality and relatability.

The animation is in the style of a recent trend in feature animation, that of a looser style, as if putting the concept art right up there on the screen, as, for example, the rough-edged look emblematic of the “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018) and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) ” animation feature films.

The “Transformers One” animation is credited to Industrial Light & Magic.

That said, “Transformers One” is overwhelming. There’s almost too much animation, too much movement with dizzying action, battles and character movement and few scenes of characters in repose and in dialogue. And the film is extremely violent.

Since I am not familiar with the minutiae of the Transformers’ characters and story lines, I found “Transformers One” to be bewildering. After the screening, I chatted briefly with a few young male movie-goers, who enjoyed the movie. “There’s a lot of love in the film,” one said.

Josh Cooley (Oscar recipient, director, “Toy Story 4,” 2020; screenwriter, “Inside Out,” 2015) directs “Transformers One” from a screenplay by Eric Pearson (“Black Widow,” 2021; “Godzilla vs. Kong,” 2021; “Thor: Ragnarok,” 2017) and Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari (co-screenwriters, “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” 2018) based on a story by Barrer and Ferrari.

The voice cast includes Chris Hemsworth (Optimus Prime, Orion Pax), Brian Tyree Henry (Megatron, D-16), Scarlett Johansson (Elita-1), Keegan-Michael Key (Bumblebee, B-127), Steve Buscemi (Starscream), Laurence Fishburne (Alpha Trion) and Jon Hamm (Sentinel Prime).

The character voices are not particularly distinctive, possibly because of the audio manipulation to distort them to make them sound more epic.

The thing about “Transformers” is that they are toys. Whether you or your child or grandchildren assembled the puzzle parts, and took them apart and put them back together, the Transformers plastic figurine toys were and are fun. One becomes one with the toy. “Transformers” R Us.

It seems that the “Transformers” movies have sometimes lost sight of their modest origins, are overly-serious and forget that they are, after all, a toy story.

“Transformers One,” MPAA rated PG (Parental Guidance Suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. Parents urged to give “parental guidance”. May contain some material parents might not like for their young children.) for science-fiction violence and animated action throughout, and language; Genre: Science Fiction, Action Animation; Run time: One hour. 44 minutes. Distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous: Stay to the very end of the “Transformers One” credits for a bonus scene and a hint of a sequel.

At The Movies: “Transformers One” was seen in the Dolby Cinema at AMC. The film is fine to see in regular formats.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Weekend Box Office, Sept. 27-29: “The Wild Robot,” the DreamWorks Animation feature film based on the book of the same title by Peter Brown, opened at $35 million in 3,962 theaters, ending the three-week No. 1 run of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which dropped to No. 2 with $16 million in 3,804 theaters, $250.1 million, four weeks. 3. “Transformers One” dropped one place, $9.5 million in 3,970 theaters, $39.1 million, two weeks. 4. “Devara Part 1,” an Indian Telugu-language action drama, opening, $5.6 million in 1,040 theaters. 5.. “Speak No Evil” dropped two places, $4.3 million in 2,661 theaters, $28.1 million, three weeks. 6. “Megalopolis,” a science fiction epic written, directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, opening, $4 million in 1,854 theaters. 7. “Deadpool & Wolverine” dropped two places, $2.6 million in 1,975 theaters, $631.2 million, 10 weeks. 8. “My Old Ass” moved up 11 places, a woman meets her older self, $2.2 million in 1,390 theaters, $2.8 million, three weeks. 9. “Never Let Go” dropped five places, $2.2 million in 2,667 theaters, $8.2 million, two weeks. 10. “The Substance” dropped four places, $1.8 million in 1,712 theaters, $6.8 million, two weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Sept. 29 is subject to change.

Unreel, Oct, 4:

“Joker: Folie à Deux,” R: Todd Phillips directs Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in the Musical Crime Thriller. Arthur Fleck is in prison for his crimes as the Joker when he finds his true love.

“The Outrun,” R: Nora Fingscheidt directs Saoirse Ronan in the Drama. A woman living in London returns to Scotland’s Orkne Islands where she grew up. The film is adapted from a bestselling memoir by Amy Liptrot.

“Monster Summer,” PG-13: David Henrie directs Mel Gibson, Lorraine Bracco, Mason Thames and Kevin James in the Adventure Mystery Horror film. A mysterious force disrupts the summer fun of a group of youths.

“White Bird,” PG-13: Marc Forster directs Helen Mirren, Bryce Ghelsar and Gillian Anderson in the Biography War Drama. A young boy learns about his grandmother’s escaping Nazi Germany. The film is based on “Auggie and Me,” a bestselling short stories collection by R.J. Palacio.

“The Forest Hills,” No MPAA rating: Scott Goldberg directs Shelley Duvall (in what is said to be her final movie role), Edward Furlong and Dee Wallace in the Horror Thriller. A haunting we will go in the Catskill Mountains.

“Leap of Faith,” PG: Nicholas Ma directs the documentary film. A group of Christian leaders discuss their faith at fellowship retreats.

Movie opening date information from Internet Movie Database as of Sept. 29 is subject to change.

This column is dedicated to James Earl Jones (Jan. 17, 1931- Sept. 9, 2024) an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner and the voice of Darth Vader in “Star Wars” and the voice of the “This is CNN” tagline.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes