Showing posts with label Action. Show all posts

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows (Review)


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows is second film in the TMNT reboot series, a series that's been off to a mixed start. The first film had an over-glorification of April O'Neil (played by Megan Fox, a very odd casting choice but not awful), a ridiculously overpowered Shredder, a plot borrowed from The Amazing Spider-Man, and our title characters barely in their own film (just like the Godzilla reboot!). Not mention Michael Bay is attached to this series. Wippie. With all of that resulting in a film that was mediocre but with a very large box office return, the sequel only seemed to be a little bit in trouble. So how did sequel do? The pitchfork and torch club might come after me after I say but, oh well: I enjoyed Out Of The Shadows. A lot. A lot more than I probably should've. Out Of The Shadows is easily the second best turtles film. It's miles upon miles better than first film, with a good plot, an increased role from the turtles, a decreased role from April and Vernon, plenty of classic Turtles references, and overall a load fun, although it does suffer from some of the same problems as the first film.

THE GOOD
Unlike the first film, The Turtles are the main characters of this movie. We finally get a whole movie of them in action, unlike the first film where their barely there. Like last time, the turtles voice cast was stellar. The actors once nail their respective roles. April and Vernon's roles have dramatically reduced, and they are what they should be: supporting characters. Megan Fox, while still not the best choice, did a good job, as well Will Arnett as Vernon, who was once again hilarious. Stephen Armell did a great job as Casey Jones, even if this version a character is a bit different from the one in the comics and TV series. Brain Tee did a great job as The Shredder, who this time wasn't ridiculously overpowered like he was in the first film. Sheamus and Gary Anthony Williams STOLE THE SHOW as Bebop and Rocksteady. Those two nailed their roles. They were absolutely hilarious. Tyler Perry was also good as Baxter Stockman. The Shellraiser (or the Battleshell, it's never exactly stated what the Turtle's van is called here) was incredible. I loved every second of the chase scene. The Technodrome looked absolutely amazing, and final battle scene between the Turtles and the Kraang was amazing. Loved every second of that as well. I also loved the film's plot, and how it deals with the Turtles struggle to deal with who they are and how it affects them as a team. But aside from the seriousness, oh boy this film fun. It's jokes land and every battle scene always got me super excited. The classic Turtle references were also great as well.

THE BAD
Despite being a vast improvement over the first film, Out Of The Shadows still suffers from some of the same problems. Such as there still being many plot holes. Karai was beaten so ridiculously easy, when she's known to put up more than fight. The Shredder never did any direct fighting, which to me was disappointing, because seeing a more evenly matched Turtles and Shredder fight would've been great. Also when Chief Vincent says that they don't have to hide anymore since the saved the city, that was facepalm. It still doesn't matter if they saved city, the public's still not going to accept them.

FINAL THOUGHTS 
Out Of The Shadows stomps the first film in almost every single possible way. It's a load fun and action packed compete with a more developed story, better direction, stellar voice work, great work from the cast, reduced roles from April and Vernon, and overall  this film doesn't really feel like a Michael Bay film this time around aside from the explosions (neither of the films in this series were directed by Bay but the first one still felt like one). There's plenty here that Turtles fans and audiences will love here.

FINAL RATING
7.5/10
GOOD
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Hardcore Henry (Review)


Hardcore Henry is an action film that's shot entirely from a first-person perspective. For staff member Chris's birthday party this year, we all went to see it. Hardcore Henry seems to the first action movie of it's kind, a film that's shot entirely in first person. Even though the format is undeniably cool and fueled with action with some comedy thrown in, those don't really make up for the fact that the movie doesn't actually have a plot.

THE GOOD
The film's first person perspective is awesome. It feels like you're playing a video game. An extremely gory video game. The action is absolutely incredible. Sharlto Copley steals the show as Jimmy. His character was absolutely hilarious. Throughout the film, you constantly keep wondering "How the hell does he keep coming back? He died like a scene ago"! Once he shows you his initial invention, you think to yourself "That's awesome". The final battle between Akan and Henry once again brings back the video game feeling. Akan, while mostly a generic action flick villain, abilities were pretty cool. The film can also be humorous at times, mainly through Jimmy, the film's ending cracked all of us up.

THE BAD
The main problem with the film is that, there's essentially no plot aside from Henry having to save his wife and stop the bad guy. The film is mainly Henry and Jimmy fighting off Akan's goons. This is a massive problem, up the point where the first person perspective excitement kind of wears off. This isn't  exactly a bad thing but the film is definitely not for the weak stomach. If you hate gore, and also get motion sickness very easily, you might want to stay away from this film at all costs. I said earlier, Akan is your generic action flick villain that's just slightly above average.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Hardcore Henry has a great idea and great action but isn't enough to make up for film's missing plot, which stops it from being a great movie. I can't say I was disappointed by Hardcore Henry, because I got what I expected, a first person action flick. I just wish there was more in the plot department to solidify the film.

FINAL RATING
6/10
OK
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Suicide Squad (Review)


Suicide Squad is the third and latest installment in the DC Extended Universe, a cinematic universe that can't seem to catch a break this year, or really since it's conception. After a small incident called Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice occurred back in March, Suicide Squad seemed to be the last hope for the DCEU to stop digging itself even further into the ground. Compared to Dawn Of Justice, Suicide Squad looked to a fun alternative to the disaster we saw back in March. However, with the many shake-up's in Warner and DC in the aftermath of Dawn Of Justice, Suicide Squad was effected. So, flash forward to now. Is Suicide Squad the saving grace the DCEU needs to stop itself from continuing to be a cinematic universe of mediocrity? Well, yes and no. Suicide Squad is by far the best film in DCEU, but that's still not saying a lot. Suicide Squad was a disappointment, and similar to the previous entry, one hell of a mess but nowhere the mess Dawn Of Justice was. Despite it's phenomenal acting, it's great soundtrack, and being entertaining as hell, the film lacks in the plot department, it's awful editing, deceptive marketing, and limited appearance Joker despite being overhyped by the film's marketing campaign.

THE GOOD 
The acting in the film was fantastic. Will Smith was great as Deadshot, Viola Davis was badass as Amanda Waller as well as Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg. Margot Robbie was phenomenal as Harley Quinn. It was unbelievable how good she was. She nailed every aspect of character. I can't wait to see more of her in future films. Jared Leto was amazing as the Joker and proved himself to be a worthy successor to the late Heath Ledger. It's shame many of his scenes were cut out of the film. I can't wait to him in more films as well. Jai Courtney was hilarious as Captain Boomerang, as well as Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc (although I thought his CG was awful). Jay Hernandez was great as El Diablo. All of Batman's scenes was GREAT. Ben Affleck proves once again to be a phenomenal Batman. I loved Flash's cameo as well, which actually came as a surprise to be as I thought it was only a rumor that he was in the film. After seeing the Justice Leauge trailer, I think Ezra Miller's going to be a great Flash. And we finally have DCEU film that doesn't have an unnecessary darky, gloomy, and humorless tone. Suicide Squad at times can be hilarious and for the first time in the DCEU, the jokes land. The tone of Suicide Squad is a nice change of pace from the previous installments. Despite it's problems, Suicide Squad is still incredibly entertaining and fun where it's needed (however it's not fun all the way through). On a side note, the soundtrack for the film was great. I love twenty one pilots's "Heathens", Skrillex & Rick Ross's "Purple Lamborghini", and Panic! At The Disco's cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

THE BAD
The plot for the film is rather weak and nothing really that special.  The film starts off strong in the first act but fizzes out by the second act. The film's editing as awful and cuts at the worst times and completely screws up the plot and plays music in scenes where the song doesn't really fit. The releastionship between the Joker and Harley Quinn was off putting here. Since when did the Joker start caring about Harley? Since when as he actually been in love with her? The releastionship between the Joker and Harley Quinn as orgininated in Batman: The Animated Series is that Harley is is in love and obsessed with the Joker. The Joker doesn't care about her and simply uses her for his schemes and is often abusive towards her. Now, no one really wants to see that last part on screen, but the Joker isn't in love with Harley and never has been. On an additional note, why the hell does Harley still have a phone to communicate with the Joker? You'd figure the police would've confiscated that. Speaking of the Joker, he's barely in this film, despite being so hyped up by the film's marketing. He has more screentime in Skrillex and Rick Ross's "Purple Lamborghini" music video than he probably did in the entire film. Jared Leto later on revealed that many of his scenes were cut from the film, which is a shame considering how great his Joker is. Killer Croc's CG was awful, but it doesn't take too much away from the character as I still found him funny. One of the main problems with the film is how much they under use the team members. The only team members who seem to be of any use are Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and eventually El Diablo. Slipknot is killed after being on screen for less than 30 seconds, while Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc, and Katana are only useful for one or more scenes, beyond that there just comic relief (except Katana).

Enchantress was an awful villain who couldn't stop doing the twist and shimmy everytime she spoke. An element of Dawn Of Justice hit Enchantress here with the "this is hilarious but it's suppose to be serious" scenario. Enchantress doing the shimmy every time she spoke was hilarious. Enchantress's motives are never really explained either. It never explained why her and brother want to wipe out mankind other than the fact that humans don't bow down to them anymore and trapped them in a statue. There's no clear motive. At least in Dawn Of Justice, Lex Luthor had somewhat of a motive to turn Batman and Superman against each other. Enchantress has none. 

One of the worst things about Suicide Squad was it's deceptive marketing. I'm not going to go out and attempt to sue Warner and DC like that one redditor but I do agree, there was a lot of good stuff in the trailers that were cut out from the film. For example, where the hell was that awesome water scene from the trailer ("I'll have water." "That's a good idea honey")? Why was that cut out? As I mentioned earlier, Jared Leto stated many of scenes were cut out from the film. Apparently enough scenes were shot for an entire Joker movie according to Leto (which sounds pretty awesome to me). Why were these cut out? Especially since the film's marketing hype up the Joker so much and made it look like in the trailer that HE was the villain. Remember that scene in the trailer where the squad hears the Joker's laughter, Harley says "Oh no" and Deadshot says "Not good!"? That's nowhere to be found. Now, I kind of get why this was cut out (I mean, why would Harley be scared of The Joker approaching, unless they would've taken influence from Mad Love and have a briefly reformed Dr. Harleen Quinzel) but still. 

The worse thing for me is that Suicide Squad doesn't work as PG-13 film and would've worked a lot better as an R rated film, seeing that this a film about supervillains. With opening scenes of very proactive behavior from Harley Quinn (plus the strip club scene), some of the language I'm surprised you could away with PG-13, and the violence was definitely enough for an R rating. The film was definitely held back by the PG-13 rating and and just couldn't really make it work with the rating. Hey, but maybe we'll get another R-rated ultimate cut, because like with Dawn Of Justice, Suicide Squad needs an extended cut (in fact, Man Of Steel probably could've used one too). I see this becoming a trend in the DCEU and that's not a good thing. It shows you that DC and Warner can't get the film right the first time, and even the ultimate cut still doesn't entirely make things better (I heard the ultimate edition of Dawn Of Justice only fixes half of the film's problems).

FINAL THOUGHTS
Although Suicide Squad was disappointing and isn't exactly the savior the DCEU needed, I will say the critics are being a little too harsh on the film. As I said earlier, it's the best film in the DCEU, it's miles upon miles better than Dawn Of Justice, and it's not bad enough to join the list of the worst superhero movies of all time list, but it's still not a good film. It's not abysmal like how critics are describing it as but it's not good. Like with Dawn Of Justice, there's a good movie somewhere in there. You just have dig past the very noticeable studio interference, awful editing, and the weak story to find it. Unlike Dawn Of Justice, I do see myself watching Suicide Squad again, but as something on TV when nothing else is on or picking it up on DVD when it's on sale. *Sigh*. Well Wonder Woman, it's up to you. Save. This. Cinematic. Universe. I really don't want sit through another DC film that's a rushed attempt to compete with Marvel with the ending result of a film that's either awful, mediocre, or merely OK. But anyway, can't wait for that extended ultimate cut DC, because it's bound to happen at this point. Let's hope that can actually fix this film. Or only fix half of it's problems. Get it together you guys. 

FINAL RATING
6.5/10
OK
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Deadpool (Review)


Fox is in a rough place in the superhero movie game currently after spending the 2000's running the game. The X-Men films are no longer as profitable as they used to be (the latest film in the series X-Men: Apocalypse is being considered a commercial and critical disappointment, review on that film later; also not mention the continuity in the X-Men movies is still an absolute travesty despite X-Men: Days Of The Future's Past wiping out the original trilogy and the Wolverine movies), FAN4STIC (I'd rather not call it Fantastic Four) is worse than any screw up Fox has done in the past (X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine), bombing both critically and financially, plus joining the list of the worst comic book movies ever made. Fox also now has major competition, unlike back in the 2000's where they were practically running unopposed (Fox's only real competition back then were the other studios with Marvel properties, so really it was Sony who had Spider-Man and New Line Cinema who had Blade. The other studios with Marvel properties weren't exactly putting out stellar films. DC was working on Nolan's Batman trilogy and wasn't trying to directly compete with Marvel). They're running against their former allies Marvel, who's kicking everyone's ass with the MCU. Also in the race now is DC with the DCEU, whose films haven't been doing well critically , but winning at the box office (Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice made more money worldwide than both Deadpool and X-Men: Apocalypse). Last but not least with we have Nick with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies (those are technically superhero films), whom like DC aren't doing so hot with critics but pulling in a good amount at the box office. Fox is about third in the superhero race right now. And even though there's less competition now the back when Fox was on top (Fox is the last man standing when it comes to studios with money properties since Sony joined the MCU), Fox is still struggling. Watching them attempt to fight against MCU and the DCEU is kind of sad to be honest. This is a race they can no longer win. The difference between Fox and the TMNT films is that the TMNT films aren't trying to compete with the MCU and the DCEU (they have less of a chance then Fox has). Fox however is. Either Fox joins the MCU now (they'll most likely fully give back Fantastic Four but X-Men they're not going to entirely let go of), or they'll crash and burn like Sony did, and have no other choice to but join the MCU. Alright, that's enough about Fox's state in the superhero race, let's start the review.

Let's take it back '09, where Fox's second biggest screwup took place. I'm talking about X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Fox's fueled by studio interference first attempt at an X-Men prequel trilogy after The Last Stand didn't sit too well with critics and fans. A great example of Fox's studio interference was the way the wisecracking mercenary was handled. I don't know who at Fox thought it was a great idea to completely change every aspect of Wilson's character and turn him into the image you see below, but I hope whoever isn't working Fox anymore (but they probably still are...). Reynolds later on said he was essentially blackmailed by Fox to play this version of the character or else would've gotten cut from film. And our final result was this:


Yep. That actually happened. And this something Fox didn't exactly want to fix. Fox had no interest in making Deadpool. According to the film's director Tim Miller stated Fox said they didn't get film's plot. The only reason the film was made is because Reynolds basically forced them to after the film's test footage leaked and the internet exploded. However, although giving Reynolds and Miller full creative control over the movie, they still had very little faith in the movie. Deadpool, compared to every other major superhero release, has a laughably small budget. Even worse, Fox set the film's release date in February, which is considered a dead movie month. This is how Deadpool became an unexpected hit, and a hit it definitely is. Deadpool is phenomenal film. I gotta thank Fox for letting Reynolds and Miller have full creative control over this and plaguing the movie with studio interference. It's hilarious, action packed, and even heartfelt at times. Let's it break it down.

THE GOOD
Let's start off with actors. I think I speak for everyone here when I type this: Ryan Reynolds was born for this role. His performance as the merc with mouth is phenomenal and is probably the best element of this movie. T.J. Miller was great as Weasel, I enjoyed Morena Baccarin's performance as Vanessa, the film just has a stellar cast and is brilliantly acted. Let's talk about the character accuracy. THAT IS DEADPOOL. Not whoever Fox forced Ryan Reynolds at gunpoint to play in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. That is the merc with a mouth. It was like Deadpool leaped right off the comic pages on the screen. As for Colossus, THANK YOU TIM MILLER! We now also have an accurate version on Colossus. In the original trilogy (as well as Colossuses non-speaking cameo in Days Of The Future Past) was a skinny guy without the character's trademark Russian accent. Since Miller and Reynolds had full creative control over the movie, Miller gave us a comic accurate Colossus, who's hilarious in this movie. Humor in this movie is stellar and nearly of all it jokes land. Deadpool's trademark fourth wall breaks are absolutely hysterical.The film's Green Lantern references had me dying as well as the opening credits. The main battle scene of the movie where Deadpool, Colossus, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead faces off against Ajax, Angel Dust, and their army was fantastic. I loved every second of it. Deadpool has been redeemed from whoever that character was in Origins.

THE BAD
Deadpool overall has a pretty predictable plot, which namely lies in the origin story. Francis destroyed Deadpool's body and life with the experiments and now our hero wants revenges and sets out to find our villain and save his estranged girlfriend. Although the film's exciting, humorous, and action packed nature overshadows this flaw, it's still an important flaw nonetheless. Hopefully in the sequel, this flaw will be fixed. Now this second one this isn't actually a criticism for the movie, it's more of a question for Fox. Where exactly does Deadpool fit in X-Men's already dysfunctional timeline? Simon Kinberg, on the film's producers confirmed that the film does take place in the X-Men Cinematic Universe, but where?  For example, Colossus has tripled in size from his appearances in the original trilogy and Days Of The Future Past, and now has his trademark Russian accent, which he didn't have in the original trilogy. If this takes place in the new timeline, why is there no explanation for this for Colossus's sudden growth and his Russian accent. Even Deadpool himself doesn't know where the film takes place. Hopefully, we'll get an answer soon.

"McAvoy or Stewart? These timelines are so confusing."

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Despite its unexpected success, Deadpool isn't going to take Fox back to top or help give them a fighting chance against the MCU, but I guess it's given them a better leg to stand on for now. Deadpool is a brilliant film. It's hilarious and action packed with great writing, directing, acting, and has the quality of an MCU film. If you still haven't seen the film, I highly recommend you do. Deadpool is definitely not your traditional superhero film, but it's one you'll keep coming back to. 

FINAL RATING
9/10
PHENOMENAL 
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