MOVIE REVIEW: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES- OUT OF THE SHADOWS

The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie did not get good reviews. Featuring over-designed turtles, a lack of respect for the TMNT history, and contrived villains and plots, the question becomes should it have gotten a sequel. The answer is no, but the sequeld manages to squeeze over the lowest of bars that was its predecessor.

In this movie, Shredder escapes prison and meets an alien entity Krang. Stockman, Karai, Beebop and Rocksteady are also present in the film. All of this is just window dressing as none of the characters seem to be their for more than fan-service, outside of Krang (as the main protagonist this time). They never get too much development and if left out, wouldn't affect too much.

The over-designed turtles are back and so is April. She is joined by Casey, a cop with an anger-management issues who likes Hockey. He sees the turtles and Shredder escaping, but no-one believes him (for some reason) and he has to become a lone wolf. The turtles also have a hang-up about not being accepted on the surface suddenly, for some reason. But hey, at least there are more fun moments throughout the film. More moments like the elevator rap from the first.

The film has an idenity problem. It can't decide whether the Foot are elite ninja's, cutting through a police station with ease, or simply cannon fodder. Similarly, Michelangelo has a leadership problem but it seems that he never actually leads anyone. Is Shredder a master fighter and big threat, or is he simply a mook now for Krang. The movie seems to switch in scenes between slapstick and serious. 

This isn't to mention that the plot is silly, the only likeable character is April (Megan Fox), and the conflicts are contrived. However, it manages to jump over the bar set by the first movie and the special effects and action scenes are better. And it doesn't insult the source material again and seems to sweep the starting movies lore under the rug as much as possible, which is also a plus.

1.5 out of 5 mutated turtle waffles

MOVIE REIVIEW: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (2014)

 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a film I was going into expecting the worst. From the bad trailers, the seeming focus shift to 'dark-and-gritty' turtles (somehow), the attachment of Michael Bay (who has made exactly 1 movie I liked) as a director and the seeming focus on a bland Megan Fox over the Turtles (as we repeat the mistakes of Shia Le'Bouf and Transformers), this movie seemed to be made to make me hate it.

 After watching this movie, I can easily see how easy it is to be critical of it. From the inconsistent tone shifts (such as the elevator scene leading into the final battle), the poor CGI on Splinter or the convoluted coincidences that ties everyone into the plot, it is an easy movie to hate. Yet, I felt that despite all of this, it somehow comes together to resemble a movie that works, at least on the fun level, by not taking itself too seriously.

 For those unfamiliar with the turtles, they are a bunch of mutated, well, humanoid turtles, who have become ninjas under their master, a rat called Splinter. You have the leader (Leonardo), the Joker (Michaelangello), the smart guy (Donatello) and the tough-guy (Raphael). They live in the sewers and work to thwart the Foot Clan (a gang) under the command of The Shredder (a power-armored ninja). April O'Neil (Megan Fox) is a reporter who is trying to get a major scoop on the Foot Clan and whose father helped create the turtles with the help of the bad businessman (who is trying to get supply and demand under his control ala Iron Man 3's bad businessman).

 What helps make this movie work is it never loses its sense of fun or ability to poke fun at itself. This is mostly through Michaelangello, who has such classic lines as "he is doing his Batman voice" when Raphael tries to do the tough guy vigilante or his unrequited love for April O'Neill. The turtles are constantly spitting out funny one-liners and doing daringly acrobatic stunts and fight moves as the movie hurtles its way through cool set-pieces in the best Michael Bay style.

 But by far, the star of the show ends up being April O'Neill, surprisingly. Although the acting does nothing to distinguish her and she has a convoluted way into the plot, she proves herself to be a proactive character. This is really highlighted at the end, as she suggests a back-up plan in case the turtles fail. She even ends up saving the turtles a more than they help her. It also helps that her character has very believable motivations (an underachieving reporter looking for her big break).

 At the end of the day, it would be very easy to hate the turtles. However, far from being a dark-and-gritty take on the beloved characters, it instead is a very fun take on the turtles. Their is probably slightly too much focus on the human supporting cast instead of the Turtles, but April O'Neill is a compelling enough character and her story ties allot more closely in with helping the Turtles that it works (as opposed to Transformers where it is a boring side story completely divorced from the actual Transformers).

 So when Michael Bay asks, "Were you not entertained?", I can answer "Yes".

 4 out of 5 pancakes in a half-shell.

Movie Review: Pain and Gain

It has been awhile since I could recommend a Michael Bay film. Pain and Gain is, for me, a good example of what Michael Bay can do for a movie which compliments his normal approach to directing. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson among others, Pain and Gain is a film I would recommend you see, although far from flawless.

Pain and Gain opens with a shot of Mark Wahlberg working out, but then getting chased by the cops. It then flashbacks and follows the story of three body builders (Mark Wahlberg and The Rock being two of them) from a gym as they embark on a plan to get rich. Their plan involves kidnapping a wealthy patron of the gym and then forcing him to relinquish all his property. The only downside to this plan is that they are not very good at kidnapping and extorting money and so tend to bumble from one mistake to the next. Bumble may not be the right word for this, as implies some kind of Three Stooges shenanigans. This movie is definitely a dark comedy, as some of my favourite scenes in the movies include The Rock trying to dispose of a body or them attempting to murder their wealthy patron, which are definitely not shenanigans.

The dark comedy style of the movie is further enhanced by the introduction sequences each character gets. Whenever a new character is introduced (right down to the ditzy blonde), they get a little cut-away flashback where they voice-over their lives to show how they ended up where they were. There were a couple of characters that they didn’t do this for which I would have liked to see their stories (the third richest man in Miami springs to mind), but that may have left it feeling overdone. I thought this really helped give even pretty bland characters a level of emotional connection with the audience.

The visual style of this film I felt meshed well with the plot. Allot of the events in the film were over-directed and shot to be bigger than they actually were, with things such as slow motion shots, revolving camera shots and rapid cuts. For the Transformers movies, I always wished the camera would just watch the robots fight rather than jumping around allot. Pain and Gain was the opposite. I felt that the film would have gotten visually boring (how many scenes of a man in captivity or working out do you need) pretty quickly without the visual flair that Michael Bay is accustomed to. Maybe Michael Bay’s over-directing style is much better suited to small-scale or no-action scenes, strangely enough.

Even with the unique style, however, the film is far from flawless. One of the biggest downsides is its length (130 minutes). This wasn’t helped by having to watch a Red Bull athlete profile (for my session anyway) giving this movie around 30 minutes of trailers. This movie also occasionally loses track of the plot or introduces elements that have no pay-off or are pointless (the private investigators back problem, for example).

Although I can see that Pain and Gain won’t be for everyone, overall I would recommend this film. The dark-comedy style meshed in well with the over-directed visual style. The plot was solid (and based on a true story apparently) and the actors also did a very good job with the material. With so many sequels and remakes coming out, I felt that this new movie gives Michael Bay some credit ... Until he destroys the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

4 out of 5 jacked-up waffles.