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

Gone Girl (2014) review

David Fincher is one of the absolute best directors currently working today in Hollywood. Sure, his career may not have gotten off to a good start when he was hired to direct ‘Alien 3’ but that movie isn’t his fault. He was stuck in a terrible situation working on a movie with an infamously hellish production where the studio vetoed every major decision he had. It was such a disaster for Fincher that it’s completely understandable why he doesn’t view that film as ‘his film’. Fortunately that wasn’t the end of his career as since then, he has yet to make a bad film; ‘Se7en’, ‘Fight Club’, ‘The Social Network’, the list goes on and on. For his newest film, Fincher takes on his second straight book-to-film adaptation in a row (after 2011’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’) with ‘Gone Girl’, based off of the best-selling novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn, who also wrote the film’s screenplay. With ‘Gone Girl’, Fincher delivers what may just be his darkest film to date. After all, if there’s one thing he is known for, it’s for making incredibly dark and pessimistic films and this film is no exception. But it’s also an incredibly compelling and sometimes darkly comic mystery thriller that features a terrific cast headlined by its two leads. This makes ‘Gone Girl’ yet another great entry in Fincher’s prestigious post ‘Alien 3’ filmography… even though it is quite messed-up at times.

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) and Amy Elliott (Rosamund Pike) first meet a party and almost immediately develop a romantic connection. They soon marry and two years later, they move from New York to Nick’s hometown in Missouri when his mom is stricken with cancer. On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick returns home after work to find Amy missing as well as signs of an apparent struggle. The police immediately start investigating into the disappearance and possible kidnapping as the case makes headlines nationwide due to the fact that Amy is the inspiration for the best-selling book series ‘Amazing Amy’ written by her parents. However, as the days go on with no sign of Amy, things suddenly take a dark turn for Nick when certain evidence starts to paint him as a possible suspect, revealing that his marriage wasn’t as happy as it looked. As he slowly becomes ‘the most hated man in America’, Nick must find a way to prove to everyone that he didn’t kill his wife. And really, that’s as far as I can go in terms of the film’s plot because otherwise I would be giving away key plot-points. 

Pretty much as soon as the film started, I was immediately hooked by the film. That’s usually the case with Fincher’s films; even when they are nearly three hours long, they always hold your interest from beginning to end. This one in particular really shines because… well, of how messed up it is. With that said, I want to note that I went into this film having not read the book so I didn’t have any idea of how this story was going to play out and as a result, the film was much darker than I expected. Then again, this is a David Fincher movie so that’s not too surprising. But at the same time, as it is also expected from a Fincher film, the story is incredibly compelling and the film is incredibly well-shot. It’s also darkly comic at times and is a biting satire of various aspects of our lives, like how the media interprets certain events without knowing everything about what’s really going on (as shown via the character of Ellen Abbott (Missi Pyle), a TV host who paints Nick out to be a ‘sociopath’ given his behavior regarding the whole case) and how we as an audience are influenced by this or how the economy can have an effect on a marriage, as at one point Nick and Amy argue over Nick’s spending habits after they both lose their jobs. This all makes ‘Gone Girl’ one of the best written screenplays of this year so far. As for how faithful this film is to the book, from the perspective of someone who hasn’t read the book, it seems pretty faithful right down to the fact that it retains the controversial ending of the book that was allegedly changed by Flynn herself so that it wouldn’t be spoiled.

The film’s cast is pitch-perfect, particularly in regards to its two leads. As Nick, Ben Affleck is perfectly cast in the role of a man who becomes highly scrutinized by the media, which of course is something that Affleck experienced quite a lot in not only the years before his big comeback in 2007 but even recently after he was cast in ‘Batman v. Superman’. Here he gives the best performance of his career. But ultimately this movie belongs to Rosamund Pike as Amy. Like I said before, I hadn’t read the book going in and I didn’t realize how complicated of a character Amy really was. Going in, I thought she was just going to be the innocent victim but, without really giving anyway here, it turns out that she’s not as innocent as we thought. Amy’s transformation over the course of the story is fascinating and Pike absolutely owns the role. I’ll be genuinely shocked if she’s not nominated for Best Actress at this year’s Oscars because this is one of the best performances that I’ve seen this year. Affleck and Pike lead a talented cast which also includes Neil Patrick Harris in a very much against type role as one of Amy’s ex-boyfriends, Tyler Perry as Nick’s attorney, Carrie Coon as Nick’s twin sister, and Kim Dickens and Patrick Fugit as the two lead cops in the case of Amy’s disappearance.

‘Gone Girl’ is, in many ways, a very messed-up movie and yet it manages to be an incredibly compelling mystery story which of course, as a director, is where Fincher is truly at his best as proven through films like ‘Se7en’ and ‘Zodiac’. But in all seriousness, I legitimately did not expect some of the dark turns that the story took, particularly in regards to Amy and the journey her character takes in this film. The marketing thankfully hasn’t given any of this away so those who go in who haven’t read the book will certainly be surprised by the dark turns that this story takes. As for those who have read, it seems like it stays true to the book, even featuring the same ending and while I may be in the minority on this, I kind of admire the ending for being just as messed up as the story; in other words, I think it actually fits rather perfectly with the tone of the film. In short, ‘Gone Girl’ features great direction from David Fincher, a terrific cast headlined by Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike giving the best performances of their careers, and a smartly-written dark and satirical screenplay by author Gillian Flynn. Is this Fincher’s best film? That may be up for debate at the moment but one thing is for certain; Fincher’s hot streak following his initial mishap of ‘Alien 3’ continues with yet another outstanding film.

Rating: 5/5!