Bumblebee (2018) review

There were several hit franchises that dominated 80’s pop culture, with most of them defined by their merchandising and popular animated TV show adaptations. One of these franchises was Transformers, which followed the adventures of the titular autonomous robotic organisms who were embroiled in a war between two rival factions known as the Autobots and Decepticons. The toy line was developed by Hasbro and Takara Tomy and served as a rebranding of the latter’s Diaclone toy line, and in turn, it was the inspiration for the popular animated series The Transformers, which ran from 1984 to 1987. The franchise would then continue over the years with new themes, shows, and even a feature film adaptation in 1986. And in 2007, the series made its live-action debut via director Michael Bay’s Transformers, which was a major commercial hit upon its release amidst decent but overall polarizing reviews. This reception quickly changed, however, once the film starting to get sequels. While they continued to be hits at the box office, critical reception only got worse with each new film, with most critics deeming them as some of the worst films of their respective years of release. But now, for the first time since the live-action series started more than a decade ago, there’s a new Transformers film hitting theaters that wasn’t directed by Michael Bay (who’s still involved as a producer). Instead, directorial duties go to Travis Knight, CEO of the stop-motion animation company Laika who recently made his directorial debut in 2016 with the critically-acclaimed Kubo and the Two Strings. And for his Transformers film, Knight goes back to basics with a prequel/spin-off centered on arguably the most popular Transformer of the series after Autobot leader Optimus Prime, the adorable yellow scout Bumblebee. What follows is a film that could very well win back those who were extremely unsatisfied by the previous Transformers films as Knight’s take on this long-running franchise is quite arguably far more respectable to its source material.

The year is 1986 and teenager Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) has just turned 18. Frustrated with her current predicament of not having a car, she ends up coming across a yellow Volkswagen beetle at a garage owned by her friend Hank (Len Cariou), who lets her have it on account of it being her birthday. However, as Charlie soon discovers, this is not just an ordinary car. Instead, it is an Autobot scout, B-127, who she ends up naming Bumblebee (initially voiced by Dylan O’Brien before reverting to the character’s film series trademark of communicating via the radio). As the two begin to bond, Bumblebee struggles to cope with a damaged memory core that was sustained following his arrival on Earth, and soon enough, Charlie ends up being roped into the mission that had brought Bumblebee to the planet in the first place. Specifically, a pair of Decepticons named Shatter (voiced by Angela Bassett) and Dropkick (voiced by Justin Theroux) arrive on Earth looking for Bumblebee, who supposedly has information about the current plans of his superior, Autobot leader Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen). Having speculated that the Autobots plan on establishing a new base of operations on Earth, the two form an ‘alliance’ with the government group known as Sector 7 to track down their target, claiming that the Autobots are the ones who will pose a threat to humanity. Thus, Charlie and Bumblebee now find themselves pursued by both the government and the Decepticons as the latter works to follow Optimus’ orders and protect Earth from this new alien threat.

One of the most common criticisms about the Transformers films has been their writing, usually due to instances where they try to over-complicate their plots. That isn’t the case with Bumblebee, though, as it opts for a far more simplified plot that pays clear homage to films like E.T. and The Iron Giant. There aren’t any ancient transformers or crazy government conspiracies to be found in this film; instead, it’s just a story about a girl who comes across an alien robot and the situations that they get into, several of which involve the government. Now with all this said, it should be noted that there are instances where this film is perhaps a bit ‘too’ simple. Its plot is as basic as you can get for a film like this and it’s also rather light on action sequences, with the biggest action set-pieces reserved for the climax. At the end of the day, though, the ‘back to basics’ approach that Travis Knight takes here is one that’s truly worth appreciating. For all intent and purposes, his style of direction arguably serves as a course correction for almost all the major issues that audiences have had with the Michael Bay-directed Transformers films. This film’s action sequences are a lot easier to comprehend and it isn’t overstuffed with Transformer characters. There are only a few in this film and the ones that are there aren’t just giant, grey-colored robots that all look the same. Plus, given that this is set in the ’80s, the character designs are primarily based on those from the era that Transformers fans refer to as ‘Generation 1’ AKA the earliest and perhaps most beloved incarnations of these characters. As such, for those who grew up with the original Transformers toys and their subsequent animated TV series adaptation, you’ll be pleased to know that these classic designs are well-executed in live-action form.

But while the film, in general, does dial back on almost all the extremes of Bay’s Transformers films, it’s still very limited in terms of character development. Simply put, the only two major characters in this film that get any attention are Charlie and Bumblebee. But for what it’s worth, the relationship that these two form over the course of the film is arguably its greatest strength. And while this may seem outlandish to some people given the previous films, it does, in fact, result in a Transformers film with actual heart that’s not just a case of ‘style over substance’. A lot of this is thanks to Hailee Steinfeld, who’s quite excellent as easily the best human lead to come from this series. Not only does she work well off the CG-created Bumblebee, but despite what was said earlier about the film being rather lacking in character development, she does get to work with the majority of what’s there. Most specifically, it’s established that following the recent passing of her father, she’s become quite emotionally distant from the rest of her family, especially after her mother Sally (Pamela Adlon) quickly remarried. And it is through her relationship with Bumblebee that Charlie manages to rebound from her recent loss, an arc that Steinfeld handles very well. As for the rest of the cast, they’re good in their respective roles despite not having as much to work with compared to Steinfeld. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is John Cena as Sector 7 agent John Burns. While Cena’s certainly proven himself as a solid actor in recent years, Burns only serves as an obstacle for Charlie and Bumblebee who had some previous experience with the latter as seen in the opening.

As I’ve noted numerous times in the past, I’m an unabashed fan of the live-action Transformers films. I still have highly positive feelings towards the original 2007 film and I’ve never ‘disliked’ any of the sequels even though I’m fully aware that I’m in the minority on that one. And with all this in mind, while it’s not necessarily my favorite entry in the series, I will agree that Bumblebee is undoubtedly the most well-made of the bunch. Under the confident direction of Travis Knight, almost all the major issues that fans have had with Michael Bay’s Transformers films are practically non-existent here. The action sequences are far more coherent from a filmmaking perspective and the plot isn’t overstuffed with overly complicated plot-lines, disposable characters, and awkward bits of humor (e.g. there are no pot-consuming mothers who wonder if their kids were masturbating in their bedrooms). And while the plot itself is easily the series’ most simplified to date… given the reception of the previous films, it’s safe to say that most audiences will not mind in the slightest. In other words, Bumblebee is a Transformers film made for Transformers fans by a Transformers fan. Not only does it base itself around the most popular era of the franchise, Generation 1, but thanks to a strong lead performance from Hailee Steinfeld, this film does boast the heartfelt narrative that many felt was severely lacking in the previous Transformers films. And while it’s currently unclear right now as to where the film series will be heading next following the underperformance of The Last Knight, if future films are anything like this one, then it’s safe to say that Transformers fans will be in for a real treat.

Rating: 4/5 

A Quiet Place (2018) review

For actor John Krasinski, fans primarily know him for his role on the American remake of The Office as Jim Halpert, the lovable everyman who constantly pranked Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute and romanced Jenna Fischer’s Pam Beesly. But in recent years, one could argue that Krasinski has begun to transition away from his comedic roots. In 2016, he starred in Michael Bay’s war flick 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, and later this year, he’ll become the fifth actor to take on the role of Tom Clancy’s classic protagonist Jack Ryan in the upcoming titular TV series on Amazon, another project that he’s collaborating with Michael Bay on. And to top it all off, Krasinski has also begun to make a foray into directing. Prior to this year, he directed a pair of dramedies in the form of 2009’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men and 2016’s The Hollars, both of which he also wrote and starred in. And this trend continues with his latest directorial outing, A Quiet Place, in which he co-stars with his real-life wife Emily Blunt and, yes, is once again collaborating with Michael Bay via the latter’s production company, Platinum Dunes. This time around, Krasinski tackles the horror genre with a film that’s based around the concept of silence as the main characters are forced to maintain such silence to survive against a collection of creatures who hunt through hearing. And thanks to the film’s highly effective treatment of this premise, along with an excellent sense of emotional poignancy, it’s quite easy to see why A Quiet Place is currently one of the most well-reviewed films of the year.

As the film begins, it’s established that the planet has been ravaged by a group of hostile extraterrestrial creatures. While these creatures are blind, they also have a heightened sense of hearing that allows them to easily hunt their prey if they end up making any loud noises. This, of course, forces any surviving humans to live their lives in complete silence to avoid being killed by them. This includes farmer Lee Abbott (John Krasinski), who lives this exact lifestyle alongside his wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and their two kids; their daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), who’s deaf, and their son Marcus (Noah Jupe). Communicating with each other via sign language, the family has managed to endure one full year of this alien threat while Lee continuously works to find any sort of weakness that the creatures might have. While all this is going on, Evelyn is about to have another baby and Regan struggles to cope with the guilt that she feels over a recent tragedy that the family has been through. But soon enough, it becomes apparent that the alien creatures are slowly but surely starting to come their way. Thus, Regan and Marcus find themselves having to ‘grow up’ a lot quicker than expected to help their parents fend off this terrifying threat before it gets them first.  

A Quiet Place very much lives up to its title, as the film is almost completely dialogue-free aside from the use of subtitled sign language and a few instances where louder bits of background noise allow the characters to speak normally. And while there is a backing score by Marco Beltrami, a lot of scenes rely solely on diegetic sound to help accentuate the importance of the characters’ silence. It also helps to establish a great sense of tension, making one dread what’s going to happen next whenever someone slips up and makes a loud noise. With that in mind, yes, this is a horror film that features one of the genre’s most infamous aspects, jump-scares, but in this instance, it fits the narrative as does the ‘Spielberg method’ of not fully showing the creatures at first. Because at its core, A Quiet Place is about the importance of family, a concept that is established right out the gate when the Abbott family suffers a devastating personal tragedy during the opening sequence and is maintained all throughout the film, culminating in an intensely emotional event during the finale. This immediately makes them a sympathetic group who are only strengthened further by the film’s excellent cast. Along with the excellent job that he does directing the film, John Krasinski perfectly encapsulates the role of a father who feverishly works to keep his family safe. The same goes for Emily Blunt, who Krasinski, of course, has excellent chemistry with. Ultimately, though, the real standouts of the film are their two kids, played by Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe. Jupe shines as the young son who finds himself forced to learn about the dangers of their current dilemma the hard way while Simmonds gets some of the best bits of character development in the entire film by way of how the previously mentioned family tragedy begins to create friction between her and her father.  

Now as I’ve made it clear several times in the past, I’m not a big fan of the horror genre. However, several recent horror films (specifically this, the film adaptation of It, and Get Out) have made me realize what it is about the genre that personally pulls me into it. For me, the best aspect of a horror film isn’t how memorable the main antagonist is or the creative ways in which characters are killed off. Simply put, if I don’t give a crap about the main characters in these horrifying situations that they end up in, then quite frankly it’s all for naught. And that’s what these three films managed to avoid via the strongly developed protagonists that are the Abbott family, the Losers’ Club, and Chris Washington, respectively. Oh sure, A Quiet Place does manage to succeed at creating a palpable amount of tension via its effective use of silence. This helps to make its proceedings even more intimidating due to the fearful anticipation that comes from the build-up to the inevitable alien-attracting noise. But at the end of the day, the reason why this film works as well as it does is thanks to its strong familial themes that are handled phenomenally by the lead quartet of John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe. Thus, just like It and Get Out, A Quiet Place is a prime example of a horror film that is so well-written, directed, and acted that it ultimately ends up being more than just ‘a horror film’ to become a highly satisfying watch that can strongly appeal to those who aren’t fans of the horror genre. I mean, who knows? If these three films weren’t enough proof of it, we might just be experiencing something of a ‘renaissance’ right now for this iconic film genre.

Rating: 5/5!

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) review

Well, here we are once again with another crazy installment of director Michael Bay’s series of films based on Hasbro’s best-selling toy franchise, Transformers. This series has gone through quite a lot since the first film debuted back in 2007; yes, this series has been around for a full decade now. That first Transformers film, believe it or not, did do decently with critics and audiences upon release. Clearly, the hype for it at the time was huge and, for the most part, it delivered in a time when it was the ONLY live-action Transformers film. But then came the sequels, which were all subjected to some of the most savage reviews in recent years, effectively turning this franchise into one of the most critically reviled of the past few years. And yet, as someone who still fondly remembers the experience of seeing the first film in theaters way back in 2007, I’ll admit that I have genuinely liked each entry in this series. Yes, that even includes the critically-maligned sequels like 2009’s Revenge of the Fallen and 2014’s Age of Extinction. Thus, while most of the internet dreaded its impending release, I was still genuinely looking forward to the fifth installment of this commercial beast of a franchise; Transformers: The Last Knight. Michael Bay, of course, is back to direct and claims that this is his last entry in the series. But, then again, he said the same exact thing twice before after 2011’s Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction. But until we know for sure, he’s back again along with Mark Wahlberg, who reprises his role from the previous film as the series’ new main lead. And, of course, now that it’s out… the reviews for it have turned out exactly how you would expect them to turn out. This also includes my own review as, once again, I’m one of the few people out there who’d be brave enough to admit that they did, in fact, like this film… before you click away to another site, at least hear me out, okay?

At the end of Age of Extinction, Autobot leader Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) headed off into space to confront his creators over their continued attacks on the planet Earth, where he and the other Autobots have made their new home. However, as this film begins, it’s established that he’s yet to return from this mission. Thus, all the Transformers that are left on Earth are still regarded as outcasts by humanity despite more of them arriving on the planet day after day. Inventor Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) has likewise been on the run as well, helping his Autobot allies whenever possible and dealing with the newest government group hellbent on hunting the Transformers down, the Transformers Reaction Force (T.R.F). During a confrontation with T.R.F. in Chicago, Cade comes across an old Transformer who gives him a mysterious talisman. He is then approached by historian Sir Edmund Burton (Anthony Hopkins), who tells him that he’s been chosen by the talisman to save the world from its impending destruction due to a forthcoming collision with the Transformers’ home planet, Cybertron. Now allied with Oxford Professor Viviane Wembly (Laura Haddock), Cade embarks on another journey to save the world from the threat of the Decepticons and other dangerous Transformers. The two are tasked with finding an ancient spear, once wielded by the famous wizard Merlin (Stanley Tucci, who played a different character, Joshua Joyce, in Age of Extinction), that is the only thing capable of preventing Cybertron from destroying Earth. However, this becomes problematic when Optimus finally returns to Earth, corrupted by those who created him to help them destroy the planet and rebuild Cybertron.

Despite what that seemingly simple plot synopsis may suggest, trust me when I say that a lot of crazy stuff happens in this entry of the Transformers series. As witnessed in the trailers, this film covers everything from King Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights of the Round Table to Nazis in World War II. And while I’ve personally never had many issues with the allegedly incoherent nature of the plots of these films, this time around… I’ll admit that there were times where I was completely lost as to what was going on in this film. Though with that said, I think that part of the reason why is because even though this film is still two and a half hours long, just like its predecessors, it goes through a lot of these new plot elements at a lightning-fast pace. By comparison, the other films tended to focus on only one Transformer-related conspiracy (e.g. the real reason behind the Apollo 11 mission in Dark of the Moon). Here, though, it seems like they’re just throwing everything but the kitchen sink in. So, yeah, the writing in this film is just as messy as it was for the other films in the franchise. But, once again, I do have to give this film credit for its technical aspects. Say what you will about these films and their mindless plots but they are, at least, well-made from a visual perspective. Michael Bay truly is one of the best in the business when it comes to this stuff and, to the film’s credit, it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the action sequences. And, once again, the money’s, at least, on the screen when it comes to the visual effects; it just goes to show that you can never fault these films for having mediocre effects. Thus, while I’ll admit that there were times where I was completely overwhelmed by the incomprehensible nature of the plot, I was ultimately still hooked to this film by the time that the final battle rolled around.

Of course, a crazy/messy plot means that you’re not going to get that much out of this film’s characters. As is common in these films, most of them are just stock characters who are just there to be used for some awkward attempts at humor which, admittedly, is yet another recurring aspect of this series. Also, you know how a common criticism of these films has been how they tend to focus more on the human characters than the Transformers themselves? Well, brace yourselves… because this film is easily the most egregious example of this. This one is legitimately more about the human characters this time around while most of the Transformers, even the major ones like Optimus and Bumblebee, are practically reduced to minor supporting roles. Still, I will admit that from this ensemble cast, I felt that there were a few notable standouts. I still think that Cade Yeager is a likable enough main protagonist and that Mark Wahlberg’s fine enough in the role. As for the new members of the cast, though, one major standout is the film’s youngest star, Isabela Moner, as, fittingly enough, Izabella, a young girl who was a survivor of the Battle of Chicago in the third film. Since then, she’s managed to survive on her own with the aid of a few Transformer allies. And while she ultimately isn’t in the film that much, Moner does manage to make her a rather badass supporting character and I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing her return in future installments. Finally, to his credit, it seems like Sir Anthony Hopkins is having a lot of fun in this film. Despite what I said before about the film’s awkward humor, he does manage to get some of the better humorous bits of dialogue in this film along with his Transformer butler, Cogman (voiced by Jim Carter). In other words, he at least makes the most out of the ludicrous material that he’s been given.

So, yeah… here I am again in the same situation that I was in back in 2014 when I reviewed Age of Extinction, one of the worst-reviewed films of that year. Transformers: The Last Knight is, likewise, one of the most critically derided films of this year and will no doubt appear on many folks’ ‘Worst of’ list by year’s end. And, in some cases, I can see why. This film’s plot is all over the place, thus making it just as silly and mindless as its predecessors if not more so than ever before. And I’ll also admit that this was the first time where I did feel that parts of the plot were incoherent because they go by so fast even in a 2 ½ hour film. With that said, then, why am I giving this the rating that I’m about to give it? It’s the same rating that I gave to the other sequels, which makes me one of the few people out there who did like this film. Well, I honestly can’t explain why other than the fact that I’ve been a fan of these films since the beginning and that, simply put, this one just delivered on exactly what I was expecting. Yeah, there are plenty of stupid moments in this film but, by the end, I was just as hooked by it as I was by the other live-action Transformers films. And I’ll also admit that, as crazy as I know it will sound to most people, I’m still eager to see more Transformers films, which will no doubt come after this film defies its critics to become another box-office hit for this franchise. I mean, for one thing, the proposed next installment, a spin-off headlined by arguably the franchise’s greatest character Bumblebee, will be the first of these films to not be directed by Michael Bay. Instead, it will be directed by Travis Knight, who helmed last year’s critically-acclaimed stop-motion flick Kubo and the Two Strings. Who knows? Maybe… just maybe, this one could turn out to be one of the better entries in this series. I know that this is an arguably foolish thing to hope for at this point but, hey, nothing wrong with being hopeful, eh? 

Rating: Well, at the risk of being crucified by the film fan community… 4/5

Transformers: The Story So Far

Now I know what some of you may be thinking. Why the hell am I doing another installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s ‘Story So Far’ series, in which I go over the events in a franchise’s previous outings to catch people up on the overall story in time for the latest installment of that series, for… Michael Bay’s Transformers films? These films have NEVER been known for their writing, so why am I doing it for a series that’s been all over the place plot-wise? Well, first off, for obvious reasons; the new Transformers film, Transformers: The Last Knight, is coming out this weekend so this is meant to tie into that film’s release. And to be honest, I couldn’t think of anything else to do for it. I mean, there’s no way in hell that I could’ve done an ‘In Defense’ post for these films because I’d just be laughed off the internet if I had even attempted that. So instead, I figured that by doing this, I’ll be saving some of you folks the trouble of having to re-watch the previous films, which I will be doing. Because as I’ve made it clear in the past, I am a fan of these films; yes, even the critically-maligned sequels. Obviously, though, I’m in the extreme minority on that. However, despite being on par with the Star Wars prequels as one of the most critically despised franchises in recent years, these films still manage to be huge hits at the box-office, with the last two entries even going over $1 billion worldwide. Thus, it seems to me like no matter how much critics and film buffs rag on them, a lot of these folks will still go watch them regardless of their hatred for them. With that in mind, hopefully, this is helpful in some way, shape, or form; if not, well… I don’t know what to tell you because I’m no miracle worker. Thus, let’s look back on the ‘infamous’ saga that has been Michael Bay’s Transformers series.

(Disclaimer: I’m aware that quite a few other websites and YouTube channels have done exactly what I’m doing now, from Collider to io9 to Screen Junkies. With that in mind, I’d like to assure you, folks, that there was absolutely no intent on copying what those other sites have done in their respective posts/videos that recap the events of these films. Heck, as someone who does like these films, I’d say that this does give my post a different spin to it compared to others.)

TRANSFORMERS (RELEASED: 2007)

The film opens with narration from Optimus Prime (voiced by the character’s original voice actor from the 1984 TV series, Peter Cullen), the leader of the Autobots, a group of ‘autonomous robotic organisms’ from a planet named Cybertron who can transform into any mechanical object that they’ve analyzed, hence the name of the series, Transformers. Optimus explains that their planet had been destroyed following a long and intense war with a rival faction known as the Decepticons, led by the evil Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving). Part of the war was over an ancient Cybertronian artifact known as the AllSpark, a cube-like object that contains the power to create life by giving the Transformers their ‘soul’ AKA their ‘spark’. When the planet was destroyed, the Cube was lost as well, leading to both sides traversing across the galaxy trying to find it. It isn’t until quite sometime later when both sides learn that the Cube now resides on the planet Earth. In the present day, Decepticons Blackout and Frenzy attack a U.S. military base in Qatar and Air Force One, respectively, to acquire information about the Cube’s whereabouts. This information comes courtesy of an old pair of glasses that an old explorer named Captain Archibald Witwicky (W. Morgan Sheppard) wore when, on a mission into the Arctic Circle in 1895, came across the body of Megatron, who had crash landed on Earth when he tried to find the Cube. Witwicky’s encounter with Megatron led to the cube’s coordinates being imprinted on his glasses.

Back in the present, Archibald’s great-great-grandson Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) ends up buying his first car; an old 1976 Chevrolet Camaro. However, he soon discovers that the car is in fact one of the Autobots, Bumblebee, who can only communicate via radio/TV recordings due to damaged vocal cords (He does have a few spoken lines at the end of the film, in which he’s voiced by Mark Ryan, but then goes back to using radio/TV audio to speak in the subsequent films) and has been appointed the role of being Sam’s guardian. After being pursued by several Decepticons who are looking for his great-great grandfather’s glasses, Sam and his classmate/love interest Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) come across the other Autobots; Optimus, first lieutenant Jazz (voiced by Darius McCrary), weapons specialist Ironhide (voiced by Jess Harnell), and medical officer Ratchet (voiced by Robert Foxworth). The Autobots inform them of Megatron’s plans to use the AllSpark to create a new army and take over Earth. But when the two go to get Archibald’s glasses for them, they are arrested by a government group known as Sector Seven, led by agent Seymour Simmons (John Turturro), that has been monitoring alien activity on Earth for several years. When the group ends up at Sector Seven’s headquarters, hidden inside the Hoover Dam, they discover the still-frozen Megatron AND the AllSpark locked away inside it. However, the Decepticons soon start to attack, allowing Megatron to awaken from his frozen slumber. With the aid of a group of Army Rangers who had survived the attack on the Qatar base, including Captain William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and Sgt. Robert Epps (Tyrese Gibson), Sam, Mikaela, and the Autobots head to the nearby Mission City to try and get the AllSpark away from Megatron.  

During the intense battle that follows in Mission City, the protagonists manage to defeat most of the Decepticons. However, Bumblebee ends up losing his legs after an attack from Megatron’s second-in-command Starscream (voiced by Charlie Adler) and Jazz is torn in half when he tries to fight Megatron. Bumblebee ends up giving Sam the AllSpark as the latter tries to get it away from Megatron. But Megatron soon comes after Sam, resulting in him being saved by Optimus, who tells Sam to push the Cube into his chest to destroy it, even though it would mean his death as well. Sam instead forces it into Megatron’s chest, killing him. Thus, with the AllSpark destroyed, save for a small shard that Optimus collects from Megatron’s body, the Autobots end up taking refuge on Earth. The U.S. government disbands Sector Seven and the remains of the deceased Decepticons are disposed of (for now, at least) in the Laurentian Abyss. The only surviving members of the Decepticons are Starscream, who escapes into space, and Barricade, who would later cameo in the third film where he is killed by human soldiers during the big final battle in Chicago… and yet, he is apparently set to return in the new film despite this. Ah well, anyway, Sam and Mikaela begin a new relationship and Bumblebee opts to stay with Sam. The film ends with Optimus sending out a message to his fellow Autobots who are still out there, “taking refuge amongst the stars”, to join them on Earth. “We are here… we are waiting…”   

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (RELEASED: 2009)

First off, let me answer the one question that I’m sure you all have right now… yes, Revenge of the Fallen has a plot. I know that it may seem unfathomable, but the critically reviled second installment of this Transformers series did indeed have one. It’s just that the film doesn’t get into it until more than halfway through its 2 ½ hour runtime; trust me, I legitimately timed it when I re-watched this film in 2014 prior to the release of Age of Extinction. Anyway, the film begins two years after the events of the first film. The Autobots have joined forces with the U.S. Military to form a special task force known as the Non-Biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty (NEST) to deal with any surviving Decepticons still on Earth. During their latest mission in Shanghai, one of the Decepticons that they’re hunting, Demolisher, warns them that “The Fallen shall rise again”. When they get back to base, National Security Adviser Theo Galloway (John Benjamin Hickey) scolds them for the chaos that they’ve caused in Shanghai and suggests that the reason why Decepticons are still on Earth is that they’re hunting the Autobots. He also suggests that perhaps it is time for the Autobots to leave Earth once and for all so that humanity will no longer be attacked by the Decepticons. Meanwhile, the Decepticons steal the AllSpark shard that Optimus took from Megatron’s body and use it to revive their fallen comrade at the bottom of the Laurentian Abyss. Once resurrected, Megatron heads into space to meet with his master, The Fallen (voiced by Tony Todd), an ancient Decepticon who seeks to conquer the planet that he had tried to take over once before. Because as we see in the opening scene, which is also noted by Optimus in his traditional opening narration, Transformers existed on Earth long before the events of the first film and The Fallen was one of them.

Meanwhile, Sam is about to head off to college in Philadelphia. However, this also means that he’ll be leaving behind Bumblebee (because freshmen can’t have cars on campus) and Mikaela, who he promises he will stay faithful to but has trouble when it comes to saying the three words that truly matter (‘I love you’). While getting ready to make the move to college, Sam comes across a second AllSpark shard that was lodged within the clothes that he wore during the battle in Mission City. When he inspects it, he is suddenly inundated with Cybertronian information. After dealing with a bunch of kitchen-appliance Transformers that came to life via the shard’s power, which also results in his house being destroyed in the process, Sam gives the shard to Mikaela for safe-keeping. Once he gets to college, however, this new information that he has starts to materialize via symbols that he starts to see all over the place. But when Optimus comes to warn him of the impending threat, Sam insists that he wishes to live a normal life and that “this isn’t [his] war”. Soon, though, Sam, Mikaela, and his eccentric roommate, conspiracy blogger Leo Spitz (Ramón Rodriguez) are captured by Megatron and the Decepticons, who try to extract the information that Sam has from his brain. The Autobots manage to come in and save them just in time, but during the subsequent battle in a nearby forest, Optimus is killed by Megatron. With no one left to stop him, having previously noted that only a Prime can do so, The Fallen begins his plan of world domination and demands that Sam is delivered to him with the information that he has.

This forces Sam into hiding with Mikaela, Leo, Bumblebee, and Autobot twins Mudflap (voiced by Reno Wilson) and Skids (voiced by Tom Kenny). Sam deduces that the symbols that he’s seeing are a map that leads to a new source of Energon, the Transformers’ energy source. Leo then proceeds to bring them to someone who could help; a rival blogger known as ‘Robo-Warrior’. As it turns out, ‘Robo-Warrior’ is Agent Simmons, who now works at his mother’s deli since the disbandment of Sector Seven. It is through Simmons that the group learns about the Seekers, a group of ancient Transformers that still reside on Earth. They end up finding one, Jetfire (voiced by Mark Ryan), at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. and revive him with Sam’s AllSpark Shard. Although they are initially concerned to find that Jetfire is a Decepticon, he informs them that he has since switched sides. Likewise, Wheelie (also voiced by Tom Kenny), a Decepticon spy that had tried to steal the AllSpark shard from Mikaela and was subsequently brought along for the ride, switches sides as well once he learns about this new information. After transporting them all to Egypt, Jetfire informs them that The Fallen seeks to restart an Energon machine known as the Sun Harvester that absorbs energy from stars. And in this instance, he plans to use it on Earth’s sun. Jetfire also instructs them to find the Matrix of Leadership, the artifact that is used to start the Sun Harvester but can also be used to revive Optimus… which also basically makes this film a live-action adaptation of 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie since the Matrix appeared in that film as well and there was also a scene in which Optimus dies after a battle with Megatron.

Sam and the group then travel to Petra (AKA where Indiana Jones found the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), where the Matrix of Leadership is supposedly located in an ancient tomb made from the bodies of the Primes who had first stopped The Fallen from destroying Earth back in the day. While they do manage to find the Tomb and, supposedly, the Matrix, it evaporates into dust in Sam’s hands when he tries to pick it up. Meanwhile, they manage to convince Lennox and the NEST team to fly Optimus’ body and the other Autobots out to Egypt, despite not really having the means to revive Optimus just yet. Of course, the Decepticons then proceed to attack them, resulting in another long and intense battle. During this fight, Sam is supposedly killed by Megatron; however, in death, he is approached by the Primes who inform him that he’s earned the right to use the Matrix. Thus, he is revived and the Matrix materializes in his hands, which he immediately uses to revive Optimus. Jetfire then volunteers to sacrifice himself so that Optimus can use his parts to defeat The Fallen before he’s able to start his machine. Optimus does so, destroys the Sun Harvester, hidden within one of the Pyramids at Giza, and then kills The Fallen. Megatron and Starscream then proceed to flee the battle but vow that they will return. Victorious once again, the Autobots and their allies return home. Sam returns to his normal life and his relationship with Mikaela stays strong, especially after he finally tells her ‘I love you’… for now, at least. Which brings us to…

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON (RELEASED: 2011)

After helping the Autobots stop the Decepticons from taking over the world twice, Sam has since graduated from college and is gearing up to find a new job. However, it’s revealed that Mikaela has broken up with him for ‘reasons’ (i.e. Megan Fox was basically booted off production after an incident in which she called Michael Bay ‘Hitler’). Luckily, for Sam, he’s found a new girlfriend in Carly Spencer (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), an assistant curator. Sam manages to get a job at a telecommunications company, Accuretta, later learning that his employers had gotten a letter of recommendation courtesy of Carly’s flirtatious boss, Dylan Gould (Patrick Dempsey), who happens to be one of the company’s board of directors. The stress of this close relationship between his girlfriend and her boss, along with the disappointment of being nothing more than a mail carrier at work, begins to put more and more pressure on Sam, who wishes that he was out there working with the Autobots instead and doing stuff that truly matters. Meanwhile, the Autobots and NEST have continued to monitor alien activity on Earth while also assisting the military in other global conflicts. On their latest mission to the abandoned facilities of Chernobyl, they come across a fuel cell which Optimus recognizes from an old Autobot ship known as the ‘Ark’.

The film’s opening sequence reveals that during the final days of the war on Cybertron, the Ark, captained by Optimus’ mentor Sentinel Prime (voiced by Leonard Nimoy), was severely damaged in battle and subsequently crash-landed on the Earth’s moon. Once this is discovered by NASA in 1961, they use the iconic Apollo 11 mission to the moon as a cover for investigating the crashed ship. Inside it contains the comatose Sentinel and a series of artifacts that he created known as the Pillars, which can teleport matter between two points via a space bridge. Optimus and the Autobots then proceed to collect the Pillars from the Ark and revive Sentinel with the Matrix of Leadership. While this is going on, Megatron and the other Decepticons, who know about the Ark and have apparently laid a trap for the Autobots, start to eliminate various humans who were involved in the manned missions to the Moon to investigate the Ark. When Sam and Simmons, along with Simmons’ personal assistant Dutch (Alan Tudyk), investigate further into the matter, they learn that the Decepticons have already collected several other Pillars from the Ark and were simply waiting for Optimus to revive Sentinel, the only one who knew how to use them. And to make matters worse, Sentinel then reveals that he has joined forces with the Decepticons in their plot to use the Pillars to transport Cybertron to Earth and use Earth’s resources to rebuild their planet. He then kills Ironhide and uses the Pillars to bring several Decepticons hidden on the Moon to Earth. When Sam tries to warn Carly, they learn that Dylan is also in league with the Decepticons. Carly is taken prisoner and the Decepticons coerce the world’s governments into forcing the Autobots to leave Earth to allegedly prevent any future conflicts. However, the Decepticons then proceed to destroy the Autobots’ departure ship and invade Chicago to begin the process of transporting Cybertron to their current location.

Sam, meanwhile, embarks on a personal mission to save Carly with the aid of Epps, who had left NEST after the events of Revenge of the Fallen, and some other former members of the task force. While initially overwhelmed by Decepticon forces, they are eventually saved by Optimus and the Autobots, who reveal that they weren’t on the main section of their ship when it was destroyed. Sam manages to save Carly and the group begins to fight back against the Decepticons, later aided by Lennox and NEST once they’re able to successfully infiltrate the city. During the battle, they manage to temporarily halt the Pillars’ transportation process until it is restarted again by Dylan. The subsequent confrontation between him and Sam results in the former being killed when he gets electrocuted by the main Pillar. The Pillar is then subsequently destroyed by Bumblebee, preventing the transportation of Cybertron from occurring and resulting in the planet’s apparent destruction. Meanwhile, Carly manages to convince Megatron to turn against Sentinel by making him believe that Sentinel will overtake him as the leader of the Decepticons if they succeed in rebuilding Cybertron. Megatron then attacks Sentinel before he manages to kill Optimus, who then proceeds to kill Megatron by removing his head and spine from his body. Optimus then kills his former mentor, bringing an end to the devastation in the Windy City. Sam and Carly reunite and affirm their love for one another while the Autobots once again embrace Earth as their home. And thus, Dark of the Moon officially concluded the arc of Sam Witwicky, the boy who became a vital part of an intergalactic war when he bought a car that turned out to be an alien robot (“Who knew?”). But this ultimately wasn’t the end for this series, as it continued in a new direction in…

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION (RELEASED: 2014)

Age of Extinction served as a ‘soft reboot’ of the franchise, focusing on new characters while still taking place after the events of Dark of the Moon. Since the big battle in Chicago, the truce between the Autobots and the U.S. government has ended, as the former now find themselves hunted by an elite black ops group known as Cemetery Wind, led by government official Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer), who views all Transformers as a threat to mankind, and field agent James Savoy (Titus Welliver), who claims that he lost a sister during the Battle of Chicago. They’re also aided by a neutral Cybertronian bounty hunter named Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan) and immediately establish themselves as a serious threat when they find and execute Ratchet, who refuses to reveal the location of Lockdown’s primary target, Optimus. Meanwhile, in a small town in Texas, widowed inventor Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) struggles to make a living and provide for his teenage daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz), who’s about to go off to college. When he and his business partner Lucas Flannery (T.J. Miller) come across an old, rundown semi-truck in an old theater, the three learn that the truck is, in fact, Optimus, who was severely wounded after an encounter with Lockdown in Mexico City. This then results in them being attacked by Savoy and Cemetery Wind, but they all manage to escape with the help of Tessa’s boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor), a rally car driver. During their escape, however, Lucas is killed by Lockdown.

Now fugitives, Cade and company, along with Optimus, meet up with the surviving members of the Autobots; Bumblebee, commando Hound (voiced by John Goodman), tactician Drift (voiced by Ken Watanabe), and paratrooper Crosshairs (voiced by John DiMaggio). They discover that a robotics company named K.S.I. is working with Cemetery Wind in their efforts to eliminate the Autobots. In return, K.S.I. CEO Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci) is given a rare metal alloy, which he and his associates call ‘Transformium’, to build his own robots. This includes Galvatron, who was created via data from the deceased Megatron (fittingly enough, Galvatron is voiced by Megatron’s original voice actor from the 80’s animated series, Frank Welker, who will finally voice Megatron in The Last Knight after the character had been portrayed by Hugo Weaving in the original trilogy), and Stinger, modeled after Bumblebee and touted as a ‘superior’ model to Bumblebee’s annoyance. After infiltrating K.S.I., the group is attacked by Galvatron and Stinger, as the former conveys some of Megatron’s sinister qualities and subsequently breaks free from Joyce’s control. Eventually, Lockdown enters the picture and takes Optimus prisoner, claiming that he plans on bringing Optimus back to those who created him, the ‘Creators’ AKA Lockdown’s superiors. Tessa gets captured as well, resulting in Cade, Shane, and the Autobots having to save her and Optimus before Lockdown’s ship leaves Earth per the agreement that he had with Cemetery Wind, who are given a device referred to as a ‘Seed’ that they subsequently give to Joyce, who intends on using it to create more Transformium. After saving Tessa and Optimus from the ship, along with dealing with a few enemy forces in Chicago, the protagonists learn that the ‘Creators’ used these Seeds to terraform planets and create Transformium, which also resulted in the destruction of all life forms on the planets that they used it on.

After convincing Joyce of the Seed’s dangerous capabilities, the group heads to Hong Kong to get it away from Lockdown and Cemetery Wind. Meanwhile, Galvatron, now fully reincarnated as Megatron, takes control of the other robots in K.S.I.’s inventory, fully intent on using the Seed to take over the world. After initially being outnumbered by the Decepticons, Optimus and the Autobots manage to gain a leg up on them with the aid of ancient Transformers known as the Dinobots that were previously imprisoned on Lockdown’s ship, with Optimus riding Dinobot leader Grimlock, who transforms into a Tyrannosaurus Rex, into battle. Meanwhile, Cade manages to kill Savoy as revenge for all the harm that he and Cemetery Wind have caused to him and his daughter. After the group manages to get the Seed to safety and away from Galvatron and Lockdown, Optimus ends up in a fight with the latter. Cade and Attinger get involved as well, resulting in the latter being killed by Optimus, who had previously vowed revenge against the human responsible for the deaths of his comrades. Optimus then manages to kill Lockdown with the aid of Cade, Tessa, and Shane. Galvatron then proceeds to retreat, once again vowing that he’ll return. And thus, with his faith in humanity restored thanks to Cade and his family, the film ends with Optimus heading off into space (with the Seed in tow) to finally confront his Creators. In his final narration, he warns them to “Leave planet Earth alone…” and that he’s coming for them, thereby setting up the events of this week’s new release, Transformers: The Last Knight.

And, thus, that’s the ‘Story So Far’ for the Michael Bay-directed Transformers films. Thanks for following along and you can expect a review of Transformers: The Last Knight sometime in the next few days. Given my track record with this franchise, I’m predicting that I’ll probably be one of the few people crazy enough to like it even when it inevitably gets slammed by critics. Only time will tell…

The Purge - Trilogy Retrospective

While they are technically classified as horror films, admittedly it’s hard to describe the Purge films as just that, ‘horror films’. That’s because they’re more along the lines of a series of action-thrillers, particularly in regards to the two sequels. Still, this franchise of low-budget action-thrillers, directed by longtime screenwriter James DeMonaco and co-produced by Jason Blum and Michael Bay through their respective production companies, has been a considerably large hit for Universal since it debuted back in 2013. The premise is simple; every year on one night in March, all crime, including murder, is legal for twelve hours. This means that it’s every person for themselves without any sort of assistance from the police, fire department, or emergency services. And whereas the first Purge was primarily set within the confines of a single home, the two sequels expanded upon this universe and began to explore just what happens out there on the streets during ‘Purge Night’. Ultimately, though, the Purge films have been more of a commercial success than they have been a critical success, with all three films being criticized for not fully living up to their potential in regards to the potential social commentary/satire that comes from their premise. Now, as someone who’s not a big horror fan (despite what I just said about these films not being horror films), I didn’t see any of these films in theaters. However, I did start to get curious when I learned that the third film, Election Year, was filmed in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, very close to where I live. And while, again, I ultimately didn’t see the film in theaters, I did recently get a free rental of it as part of a rewards program that I’m a member of. So, I decided to rent the other two films and do a trilogy retrospective on this smash hit of a franchise. So, without further ado, put on your scary masks and prepare for a night of unabashed craziness as I look back upon the Purge trilogy.

THE PURGE (2013)

As noted in the intro, despite the overarching ‘all crime is legal’ premise, the first Purge film is primarily set within the confines of a regular suburban home. And ultimately that does prove to be the film’s biggest problem. For one thing, it obviously limits the mayhem that goes on during Purge Night because it just focuses in on one gang terrorizing one family just because the latter let in one of their targets for protection. But then there’s also the fact that most of the film takes place within a darkened house because the gang cuts the family’s power. This results in a pretty dull ‘claustrophobic thriller’ that tries to be way too serious despite various bits of over-the-top goofiness courtesy of the gang members. And this is made even worse by the fact that you don’t give a crap about any of the main characters; main characters who, might I add, make some very terrible decisions that defy all logic. Yes, ‘logic’ isn’t a primary concern in this film. It’s the first film of the series and it doesn’t do much to explain the logistics behind Purge night, something that many agree seems totally unrealistic for various reasons, other than the fact that ‘it just works’. Sure, Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey do fine enough jobs in the lead roles and Rhys Wakefield does steal the show as the gang leader but overall The Purge is a pretty lousy attempt at being a ‘horror’ film, complete with one of the most anti-climactic endings that I’ve ever seen. Thankfully, things would only get better from here by way of the sequels.

Rating: 2/5

THE PURGE: ANARCHY (2014)

Thankfully with the first Purge sequel, The Purge: Anarchy, director James DeMonaco moves the action and craziness that comes from Purge Night away from a single house and out onto the streets, in this case the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Even better, the film gives us a much more compelling lead in the form of Frank Grillo’s Sergeant Leo Barnes (Disclaimer: his full name isn’t revealed until the next film), a man who goes out on Purge Night to avenge the death of his son but ends up taking on the responsibility of protecting other people that are stuck out on Purge Night; Eva and Cali, a mother and daughter who were forced out of their home by a paramilitary squad, and Shane and Liz, a couple whose car broke down before they could get home and escape a biker gang that had been pursuing them. Sure, the characters still make some dumb decisions from time to time but overall these aren’t as prevalent as they were in the last film. And while it’s still a low-budget film overall, the costume design and action set-pieces are much stronger than those in the first film. In short, Anarchy is a definite improvement over the original Purge because it benefits from a bigger budget and the freedom to go outside onto the streets. It still doesn’t reach the full potential of its premise but at the very least, this one does hold your interest more. Because even if you still don’t buy the whole premise of a night where all crime is legal, at least this one explores more of this world of, for lack of a better term, anarchy.

Rating: 3.5/5

THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR (2016)

And finally, there’s The Purge: Election Year, a fitting title considering that it was just released earlier this year. Frank Grillo returns as Leo Barnes as he now serves as the head of security for Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), who’s running for President on the platform of getting rid of the Purge once and for all. But that gets much more difficult on Purge Night when her political opponents, the New Founding Fathers of America AKA the ones who created the Purge in the first place, try to get rid of her by forcing the two of them out onto the streets. And while Election Year does still have some of the story problems of its two predecessors, this ends up being my favorite of the whole bunch. And no, it’s not just because this was filmed near where I live. To me, this one is the most consistent in terms of tone. Whereas the previous two films had a more serious vibe to them, this one is now fully embracing the completely over-the-top nature of its premise. Sure, there are some very questionable bits of dialogue in this entry (most of which come courtesy of shop owner Joe Dixon, played by Mykelti Williamson (simply put, “Goodnight, Blue Cheese!”)), more so than the previous two films, and the characters do still make some questionable decisions here and there. But even if it’s not saying much, this film has the best (or at least the most ‘likable’) group of main characters of any film in the entire series, once again led by Grillo’s badass lead. And once again, I must give credit to the fact that these films keep upping the ante when it comes to costume design and action set-pieces, with this film delivering some of the series’ most truly messed up imagery. Again, when you get down to it, there’s a lot of stupid parts of this premise but this one recognizes it the most out of any Purge film. Thus, it’s arguably the most entertaining of them all.

Rating: 4/5

And that’s the end of my retrospective on the Purge films. For those who are newcomers to the franchise, I can safely say that you can honestly skip the first film because nothing in that film carries over to the other films. Just stick to the superior sequels, Anarchy and Election Year.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) review

The 2014 reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was certainly one of the most controversial films in recent memory. Pretty much ever since it was first announced, every major bit of news surrounding it was subjected to major scrutiny from fans of the franchise. First off, the fact that it was to be produced by Michael Bay made many fans worry, even though he was only producing it, due to his heavily derided work on another popular 80’s franchise, Transformers. But then in March 2012, the backlash towards the film peaked when Bay claimed that the new film would give the Turtles an alien origin. Thankfully that wasn’t the case and the film ended up maintaining the Turtles’ traditional origin. However, upon release, the film ended up exactly like the Transformers films and was savagely decimated by critics. Though that ultimately didn’t stop the film from grossing nearly half a billion worldwide. So because of that, we now have a sequel; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. This time around, Dave Green (director of 2014’s found-footage family film Earth to Echo) is behind the director’s chair for a sequel that actually showed promise, as crazy as that might seem to those who were highly critical of the first film. The primary reason for that was the sense that the film would stick much closer to the franchise’s roots, partially exemplified by the addition of classic franchise characters like Bebop and Rocksteady. And ultimately that is very much the case with this new TMNT film. Sure, at the end of the day, it’s still very much like its predecessor in terms of being a rather mindless affair but at the very least it’s a film that I think fans of the franchise will be far more satisfied with as a whole.

A year after defeating their arch-nemesis the Shredder (now played by Brian Tee), Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello (portrayed through motion-capture by Pete Ploszek (who also voices Leonardo this time around after being replaced by Johnny Knoxville in the first film), Noel Fisher, Alan Ritchson, and Jeremy Howard, respectively) have continued to protect the city of New York but are still forced to live in the shadows unsure of how people will react to them. During this time, the Shredder manages to escape from prison with the help of the Foot Clan and scientist Dr. Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) and briefly ends up within another dimension where he meets alien warlord Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett). The two plan to retrieve three pieces of a portal device that are scattered around the world so that Krang can unleash his unstoppable war machine, the Technodrome, upon the world. To help them collect the parts, Shredder enlists two street criminals, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE’s Sheamus), and uses mutagen provided by Krang to turn them into a mutant warthog and rhinoceros, respectively. As a result, the Turtles, along with the help of their friends April O’Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), as well as a new ally in former corrections officer turned street vigilante Casey Jones (Stephen Amell), are pushed to their limits but end up learning that the mutagen could work in reverse and turn them into humans, which could mean that they won’t have to live underneath the streets of New York anymore.

The best thing that I can say about this film is the fact that, at least when compared to the first film, this very much feels more like a proper TMNT film. Of course part of that comes from the addition of some of the franchise’s classic characters like the mutant duo of Bebop and Rocksteady as well as Shredder’s partner in crime Krang and his weapon of mass destruction the Technodrome. It should also be noted that none of these characters have ever appeared in a live-action TMNT film until now, having only appeared in the franchise’s numerous TV series as well as the comics. But another big reason why this film sticks closer to the franchise’s roots is that it benefits from having a much stronger atmosphere than its predecessor. The first TMNT film admittedly tried to be a bit too serious at times, which definitely didn’t feel right for a franchise called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This film, on the other hand, is very much aware of how silly it is and just goes with it. In fact, it could also be argued that this film has a much brighter look to it than the first film, especially in terms of the visuals (e.g. the design of the Turtles). And yes, like the first film, this is admittedly a pretty damn mindless film. But, to reiterate the point that I made in my review of the previous film, that’s pretty much this whole franchise in a nutshell. I mean to put it simply, there’s a scene in this film in which the Turtles are being pursued down a river in Brazil by a mutant warthog and mutant rhinoceros who are manning a tank. At this point in a case like this, you just got to do what this film does and just roll with it.

Like the first film, the Turtles are very much the best part of the film. The camaraderie between Ploszek, Fisher, Ritchson, and Howard is quite excellent and they all perfectly capture their characters’ respective personalities, from Mikey being the fun-loving/pizza-loving surfer dude to Raph being the aggressive and independent rebel. Even better, compared to the previous film, they’re given much more focus whereas in the first film the focus was arguably more on April O’Neil. But this time around, the filmmakers made the smart choice of relegating the human leads to supporting roles. As April O’Neil, Megan Fox is, well, about the same as she was in the first film. It’s by no means a ‘great’ performance by it’s also not the worst thing either and just like in the first film, it’s good that these newer films have given her more to do instead of just having her be a damsel in distress. The film does benefit from a pretty darn great new addition in the form of Green Arrow himself, Stephen Amell, as Casey Jones, who very much accustoms himself with the general silliness of the plot. The same can be said for Tyler Perry, who very much chews the scenery as Baxter Stockman, and the duo of Gary Anthony Williams and Sheamus who, like the Turtles, work off of each other quite well as the mutant warthog/rhino duo. But while Brian Tee is a much more memorable Shredder, if only due to the fact that his version of the character doesn’t spend the entirety of the film behind a mask or in shadows, without giving much away the character is rather insultingly written out of the film prior to the beginning of the finale.

I conclude with the same point I made last time in my review of Alice through the Looking Glass in that those who weren’t a fan of the previous TMNT film might not like this new film because it’s still just as mindless as one would expect from a Michael Bay-produced TMNT film. However, I actually think that, despite what critics might say, it’s very likely that fans of the franchise are going to be much more satisfied with this film. And that is because, at the very least, this does feel like a much more proper entry in the franchise, tonally speaking. And yes, at the end of the day it’s just as silly and stupid as its predecessor. But of course that’s what you’d expect from this franchise (not just the Bay produced films) and this time around the filmmakers are very much aware of that and just roll with it. In short, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a film that stays much truer to what fans of the franchise have always loved about it. Sure the first film didn’t go as far as to pull that ‘alien origin’ concept as was initially reported but this film definitely benefits from a much more appropriate light-hearted atmosphere. As a result, this is very much one of those cases of a sequel that is better than its predecessor. Obviously, for many that’s not really saying much considering the first film’s predominantly negative reception. Ultimately though, I think it’s a good thing in this case because, again, this film, unlike its predecessor, doesn’t try to be something it isn’t. There’s reportedly one more film in the works so hopefully that one ends up being more like this one and not the first film.

Rating: 3.5/5

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) review

Michael Bay… talk about one of the most polarizing figures in the film industry amongst film fans on the internet. I’ve made it clear in the past that I am unapologetically a big fan of most of Bay’s films, even some of his more critically-reviled ones. But when it comes to the rest of the internet, obviously I’m in the extreme minority when it comes to being a fan of his. Because while his films have achieved much success at the box-office, with two of them (‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ and ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’) grossing over $1 billion worldwide, almost all of them have been savaged by critics and a lot of film fans consider him to be one of the worst directors working today. I, however, disagree with that notion as there are far worse directors than him out there. And like him or not, you cannot deny that he’s got a style all his own and there’s arguably no one else out there who can shoot action sequences like he can. So what if I told you that his newest film, ‘13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi’, is one of the best films that he’s ever made (which I know many will argue isn’t saying much)? ‘13 Hours’ tells the true story of what happened on the night of September 11, 2012 when Islamic militants attacked the American diplomatic compound, and later the CIA annex building located just a mile away, in Benghazi, Libya. This incident has been a major topic of controversy in U.S. politics but the film mostly ignores the politics of the situation in favor of focusing on the six men stationed there who fought to protect those stationed at both locations, which was definitely the best route that this film could’ve gone.

In late 2012, CIA contractor and military veteran Jack Da Silva (John Krasinski) arrives in Benghazi, Libya, where he meets up with fellow CIA contractors/military vets Tyrone S. Woods (James Badge Dale), Kris ‘Tanto’ Paronto (Pablo Schreiber), Mark ‘Oz’ Geist (Max Martini), John ‘Tig’ Tiegen (Dominic Fumusa), and Dave ‘Boon’ Benton (David Denman), who together form the CIA’s Global Response Staff. At the time of Da Silva’s arrival, the country is in the midst of the aftermath of the 2011 Libyan Revolution but is still considered to be dangerous territory. That is very much proven true on the night of September 11, 2012, the eleven-year anniversary of 9/11, when a group of Islamic militants attack the American diplomatic compound where U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens (Matt Letscher) is currently located. Despite orders from their chief (David Costabile) to ‘stand down’ due to the CIA’s intended covert status in the area, Woods, Da Silva, and their fellow contractors head over to the compound in order to protect those stationed there from their assailants. Soon after this, the fighting moves over to the CIA annex as the team, as well as their fellow CIA associates, find themselves trapped against impossible odds without any real form of backup or air support.

As I noted earlier, there’s been quite a lot of controversy from a political perspective in regards to this incident. The State Department, and particularly then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, have been criticized for not providing additional security at the consulate in the time before the attack. But the interesting thing about this film, as well as the book that it is based on (13 Hours written by Mitchell Zuckoff and the surviving members of the Annex Security Team), is that just like ‘American Sniper’, it doesn’t really focus much on the political aspect of its story, which I feel is a good thing in this case. Instead, it makes the smart decision to focus more on the six men who embarked on the most extremely perilous mission of their lives in order to protect those stationed at both the Diplomatic Compound and the CIA Annex. All of this is done with, and I know this is going to really stun some people, a strong level of maturity from Michael Bay. What? Were you expecting anything less from a director who’s had a very strong relationship with the military as evident from the fact that they usually play a part in almost all of his films? I mean sure, at the end of the day this is still very much a Michael Bay film in terms of its overall style. Once the action kicks in, it doesn’t let go and Bay is still fairly excessive when it comes to his run-times, with this film clocking in at nearly two and a half hours long. But in this case Bay doesn’t let his style overtake the humanity of the story and amidst all of the action, he even takes a few instances in between the action sequences to let the audience take a breather, so it’s not like this is nothing but non-stop action for two-and-a-half hours.

All of this helps the film maintain focus on what really matters; those who went through of this. Of the film’s cast, which is mostly devoid of ‘A-listers’, the biggest name of the bunch is John Krasinski in the role of Jack Da Silva. It’s certainly a much different kind of role than what we’ve normally seen from the guy who’s best known for his role as Jim Halpert on the American version of ‘The Office’ but Krasinski handles the role perfectly, giving us a man committed to serving his country while also trying to be a family man back home but always finds himself coming back to places like Benghazi. Leading the way right alongside him is James Badge Dale as the leader of the GRS team, Tyrone S. Woods. Over the past few years, Dale has established himself as a superb character actor with standout supporting roles in films like ‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘The Walk’. Here he finally gets the chance to shine in a lead role and he very much does. A lot of it comes from the strong camaraderie between Dale, Krasinski, and the rest of the GRS squad (Schreiber, Fumusa, Denman, Martini, as well as Toby Stephens, who plays GRS officer Glen ‘Bub’ Doherty). You can definitely sense a strong sense of brotherhood amongst these men that carries throughout the entire film. Hell I’ll even admit that there was one moment in this film that legitimately made me tear up. Yes, I got a bit teary-eyed watching a Michael Bay film of all things.

‘13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi’ is a film that, at the very least, should prove to hardcore cinefiles that Michael Bay can make a mature, story-driven film that isn’t just explosions and CGI characters fighting each other. I mean sure, maybe this film doesn’t really have as much nuance compared to other war films but as far as Michael Bay’s films are concerned, this is easily one of his most subdued efforts when it comes to restraining his trademark style. And sure, the political aspect of this incident can be argued till the cows come home but I feel that the film made the wise decision to not get too much into the politics and instead keep its focus on the six men who were right in the middle of all of this and who put their lives on the line when the s*** hit the fan. I know that when this film was first announced and that Bay would be directing it, some people feared that this would be another case similar to Bay’s previous ‘historical war drama’, 2001’s ‘Pearl Harbor’. While that film did receive praise for Bay’s direction of the attack on the Harbor sequence, it was widely criticized for focusing more on fictional characters and a fictional romance than the real life people who were there when it happened. But that’s not the case here. Aside from what I can assume are only a few minor differences between what happened in reality and what happens on screen, this is an extremely respectful portrayal of what happened that night in Benghazi.

Rating: 5/5!

Project Almanac (2015) review

I’m really not that big a fan of found footage films and the biggest reason for this is because most of the films of this genre come from my least favorite film genre in general, horror. I’ll admit that I haven’t actually watched a lot of these found footage horror films but to me they’re basically all the same thing anyway so I don’t really bother with them at all.  So when it comes to found footage films, I’m much more interested in the ones that move away from the horror genre to do something different with the found footage format. And that was exactly the case with 2012’s ‘Chronicle’, a film that opted for a science-fiction based superhero origin story with the end result being what is easily one of the best found footage films ever made, if not the best. This year sees the release of the latest non-horror found footage film, ‘Project Almanac’, whose story is based around the concept of time travel. And well, seeing how my favorite film of all time is the time travel classic ‘Back to the Future’, you can bet that I was really looking forward to this film. And overall ‘Project Almanac’… is good. If anything, it’s at least better than the 36% rating it currently has on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m not saying that it’s the absolute best film in its genre, and it’s certainly not going to be a game-changer for it either. However, in the end, it’s at least entertaining for what it is and as far as I’m concerned, that’s all that matters.

High School student and aspiring inventor David Raskin (Jonny Weston) gets accepted to MIT, but doesn’t get the scholarship from them, which is a problem given his family’s current financial status. Things get worse when he learns that his mother Kathy (Amy Landecker) is planning to sell their house so that the money can go towards David’s school tuition. Not wanting that to happen, David, along with the help of his sister Christina (Virginia Gardner), and his best friends Adam (Allen Evangelista) and Quinn (Sam Lerner), try to find a way for David to earn a different scholarship. They come across an old camera belonging to David’s father, who had died when he was just seven, and are shocked when they see David, as he currently is now, in footage of his seventh birthday party. Investigating further into the matter, they soon come across plans for a temporal relocation device… in other words, a time machine. They soon build it and, along with bringing in David’s crush Jessie (Sofia Black D’Elia) into the group, use it to go back in time for personal gain. However, after David uses it by himself to further his relationship with Jessie, a series of drastic changes begin to occur as a result of the group’s repeated  with the past, resulting in David trying to figure out a way to get things back to the way they were.

Like I said in the intro, don’t go into this expecting something revolutionary as far as time travel/science-fiction films go because you’re really not going to get that with this film as it’s fairly straight-forward as far as the genre is concerned. Still, I feel that the film at least knows that and, as a result, doesn’t try to be something it’s not. It’s just a fun teen sci-fi film with time travel. It does take a little while for the film to get going but once it does and the main characters build the time machine, that’s where ‘Project Almanac’ really shines. The best scenes in the film are when the main quintet uses the time machine to change the past in order to better their own lives which, let’s be honest, we’d probably all do too if we were in their situation. But at the same time, as you would expect from a time travel story, they do eventually realize that there are consequences to changing the past and while the film’s overall tone does sort of change once things start going wrong, I still found myself very engrossed by the story. As far as the film’s script goes, I think it’s safe to say that you’re bound to find a whole bunch of plot holes and gaps in logic if you really start to think about it. But really, that’s the case with pretty much every time travel story. To quote Jeff Daniels’ character from ‘Looper’, “This time travel crap, just fries your brain like an egg...”

One of the best parts about ‘Chronicle’ was its trio of leads, who had such great camaraderie with one another while also maintaining likable personalities which made them incredibly engaging characters. I’m happy to say that this is also the case with ‘Project Almanac’s leads… for the most part, anyway. I mean, they do use the time machine for selfish reasons and personal gain but that doesn’t really mean that they’re 100% unlikable. Like the trio from ‘Chronicle’, they all have excellent camaraderie with one another, which is one of the main reasons why I was so engrossed with the film’s story in the first place. In short, all five leads do a really solid job here, with the biggest standout of the bunch being Jonny Weston in the role of David. Weston does a great job at making David both very likable and relatable as well. Given his interests in inventing, David is basically a modern-day Peter Parker just without the spider superpowers. Hell, he even has his own ‘Gwen Stacy/Mary Jane’ in Jessie, who he slowly but surely starts to connect with as the film goes on. Weston and Sofia Black D’Elia do have really solid chemistry and the romance between their characters is pretty nice, so that’s a plus.

Overall, you shouldn’t go into ‘Project Almanac’ expecting something along the lines of ‘Back to the Future’ as far as deep, game-changing science fiction films are concerned because you won’t get that here. It’s fairly straight-forward as far as time-travel films are concerned and if you do start to look into the science of this film, I’m pretty sure that you’re bound to find gaps in its logic. But really, given the fact that this usually happens with a lot of time travel stories, even the great ones like ‘Looper’ and yes, even ‘Back to the Future’ at times, it’s not really too much of a problem here. Simply put, it’s just a fun little teen found-footage film that mainly benefits from a bunch of likable leads that have great camaraderie, and in some cases romantic chemistry, with each other. As far as both found footage films and the films of the ‘dead movie’ month of January are concerned, this is definitely one of the better films of both these categories. It’s not going to reinvent the genre of time travel/science fiction movies but that’s okay because it knows what it is; a popcorn flick (after all this is produced by the king of popcorn flicks, Michael Bay) and a pretty dang entertaining one at that.

Rating: 3.5/5

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) review

As we all know, there have been plenty of controversial films over the years, including ‘Passion of the Christ’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’, and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ just to name a few, each controversial for their own unique reasons. But the newest ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ film easily takes the cake as one of the most controversial films in recent memory. That’s because pretty much every major bit of news surrounding the film since the day it was first announced got heavily scrutinized by fans of the franchise. For those who weren’t aware of all this, here’s a general recap. First of all, the project was to be produced by Michael Bay and given his track record with audiences,  mostly in regards to his work on another extremely popular 80’s franchise, ‘Transformers’, it’s no surprise that a lot of TMNT fans got worried, even though Bay wasn’t even going to direct the film. But then it was none other than Bay himself who dropped a bombshell in March 2012 at a Nickelodeon press conference where he said that there was going to be a change to the turtles’ origin; now they are from an ‘alien race’. This really got the fans pissed off and it also didn’t help when a supposed early script utilizing that alien origin story-line was leaked online. In it, the focus was more on the character of Casey Jones than the Turtles themselves, which was similar to a problem that many people have had in regards to Bay’s ‘Transformers’; not enough focus on those who should be the ‘main’ characters. However, Bay later stated that this script was written before his company joined the project and that ultimately nothing was going to change regarding the Turtles (including their origins).

But that wasn’t the end of the ‘TMNT’ reboot controversy; it was then announced that Megan Fox, who apparently repaired her relationship with Bay after the whole incident where she compared him to Hitler, which resulted in her being booted off ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’, was cast in the major role of the Turtles’ main human ally, reporter April O’Neil… and really folks, I can go on and on in regards to the controversies that have surrounded this film because there are plenty. Pretty much everyone has been predicting that this was going to be an epic disaster. Well after seeing the film I can safely say this… this is ultimately not the disaster everyone was expecting it to be. Now let me be perfectly clear about this; I’m not saying that this is a masterpiece. In fact, compared to some of the other movies we’ve seen this summer, this one is kind of, shall I say, ‘light’ by today’s standards. But really… it’s frigging Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for crying out loud! You should seriously know what to expect from a movie like this just from that title alone. In the end, this is just a fun little action movie that at least manages to entertain with some fairly good action sequences and visuals. Also when compared to Bay’s other 80’s franchise, this at least feels like they’re staying true to what made TMNT as popular as it was in the first place.

The city of New York has been facing an increase in crime recently due to the rise of the criminal organization known as the Foot Clan, led by the mysterious Shredder. Hoping to investigate further into the matter, as well as trying to get away from doing nothing but puff pieces, Channel 6 reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) discovers that there is apparently a vigilante in the city that is fighting off the Foot Clan. She soon discovers, however, that this ‘vigilante’ isn’t alone; instead there are four ‘vigilantes’, more specifically four genetically-mutated talking turtles; Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael (portrayed via motion capture by Pete Ploszek, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, and Alan Ritchson, respectively (Leonardo is voiced by Johnny Knoxville)). These ‘Mutant Ninja Turtle Teenagers’, who used to be experiments in a lab where April's father used to work, live underground in the sewers with their master/‘father’ Splinter (portrayed via motion capture by Danny Woodburn and voiced by Tony Shalhoub), who trains them in the art of ninjutsu. April ends up befriending them as they look to stop the Shredder before he ends up taking over the city of New York.

Like I said, you really can’t take a film centered on a group of walking, talking, pizza-loving Ninja Turtles that seriously. The plot is pretty stupid and it even copies the ‘bad guy releasing a toxin into the city’ plot-line from ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’. Heck, this film even tries to attempt to connect April O’Neil to the Turtles more than ever before by having them be experiments in the laboratory April’s father worked at (in other words, they were once her ‘pets’) and having her be the one who saves them when a fire destroys the lab and releasing them into the sewers. But really I went into this knowing that it was going to be stupid and ultimately I thought it was pretty fun. The best parts in this movie are when the Turtles are on-screen because it really feels like this is staying true to the essence of the franchise; they’re wisecracking heroes in a half-shell and they do maintain the proper character traits that define each of them. However, that does mean that any of the scenes where they are not on screen are fairly weak by comparison. That does include the opening which kind of goes on a bit too long. Now for those who are really worried about Michael Bay’s involvement with this film, this actually doesn’t feel too much like a Bay film; if anything, it’s not like there are hundreds of explosions going off every minute. Plus, compared to Bay’s ‘Transformers’ films, I’d say that this film is actually fairly harmless towards kids even with a PG-13 rating because it’s less intense than those films.

I know I’m going to be in the minority on this, but I really don’t mind the new CGI designs of the Turtles. I mean I will admit that it did take me a little bit to get used to them but overall the CGI is actually pretty good, especially during the action sequences. I also have to give credit to the four guys who portrayed them through motion capture (and that also includes having Johnny Knoxville be the voice of Leonardo) as they did have really good camaraderie together. The biggest standout amongst them is easily Noel Fisher as Michelangelo as he gets the funniest lines in the movie. But what about Megan Fox as April O’Neil, the casting choice that has faced nothing but scrutiny ever since she was cast? Look… the role of April O’Neil hasn't always been the most ‘well-written’ in the world. The April from the 80's was known more as a 'damsel in distress' who always got kidnapped by Shredder and had to be saved all of the time by the Turtles and for the most part that was sort of the same scenario with the previous 3 live-action movies. With this film, I do have to give the writers a lot credit for having her be more involved in the action, more so than any of the live-action TMNT movies from the 90's. As for Fox herself... yes there clearly were much better choices to play the part but at the end of the day, she’s not THAT terrible. You can’t fault her for at least trying. As for some of the other members of the cast, Will Arnett gets a few funny lines here and there as April’s camera-man Vern and William Fichtner does a pretty solid job as well in the role of Eric Sacks, a scientist who used to work with April’s dad years ago. And for the record, he’s not playing the Shredder as it was reportedly supposed to be during pre-production; he’s actually Shredder’s ‘protégé’.

I’m not saying that the new ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ is a masterpiece… in fact, it doesn’t really stand out compared to some of the other films we’ve gotten this summer. But if anything, it’s still a fun little action movie. Yes, it’s stupid and silly but really that has always been the case with this franchise from the very beginning. I would be incredibly surprised if someone actually went into this film and tried to take it seriously because you really can’t. How can you with a franchise with a title like ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’? Still, the action sequences in this movie are pretty good as are the visuals (e.g. the Turtles themselves). The best scenes in the film are when the Turtles themselves are on screen. In the end, this film, compared to Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers’ films, actually does feel like a TMNT movie and is also less intense so it’s more family-friendly even with a PG-13 rating. Some people will say that this is a ‘severe mishandling’ of the franchise; in fact, I’m pretty sure some people already thought that before they even saw the damn film. Well, I can assure you folks that it really isn’t. It does stay true to what makes this franchise so memorable in the first place. Again, I’m not saying that’s a great film, but I at least managed to have fun with it.

Rating: 3.5/5