Movie Reviews 101

Director: Dave Green

Writer: Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec (Screenplay) Peter Laird, Kevin Eastman (Characters)

Starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Laura Linney, Stephen Amell, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Alan Ritchson, Tyler Perry, Brian Tee

 

Plot: After facing Shredder, who has joined forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman and henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady to take over the world, the Turtles must confront an even greater nemesis: the notorious Krang.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Bigger Story, More Turtles

 

Story: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadow starts one year after the events of the first film, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo the turtles are still living in the shadows but now in the city. They are filled jealousy that Vernon (Arnett) has taken the praise for their work but understand they must stay in the shadows however hard Michelangelo is finding it all.

Meanwhile April (Fox) is back at her journalist nature where she is investigating brilliant scientist Baxter Stockman (Perry) who she believes in working with Shredder (Tee) to get him released from prison. After the turtles fail to make this happen Shredder is free in New York City once again, but now he is working with new threat to the city Krang.

Krang makes a deal with Shredder the two work together to help eliminate the turtles with new lackies Rocksteady (WWE’s Sheamus) and Bebop (Williams). Meanwhile the turtles have a new ally in Casey Jones (Amell) a local police officers who lost the prisoners.

The turtles must learn to work together after they learn the purple ooze could make them normal divides them but they must stop Shredder and Krang’s plan that could be destruction to the world this time.

 

Thoughts on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadow

 

Characters/Performance – The turtles are back and still trying to figure out their place in the world, they want to see more but understand they can’t, but this time they get a chance to come out of the shadows to become the heroes New York city needs but the battle they face between themselves with a chance to become human and fit in. April has a smaller role this time still being the journalist but mostly for the turtles during the daytime with Vernon taking a smaller role to as the hero the city thinks they have. Casey Jones is a good addition as a man who wants to be a hero and is doing all he can to make it happen. On the villain side of things Shredder is a human villain this time looking to finish off the turtles once and for all with Krang being the big bad this time and only really being the generic alien invader. Rocksteady and Bebop take the comical roles in the most part of this film.

Performance wise we have great motion capture for the turtles throughout, with Megan Fox doing well in this smaller role with the star human performance being Stephen Amell who joins the cast. It would be fair to say the villains are generical performed without standing out in any way through the film.

Story – The story here does seem to be deeper than the previous because the turtles are dealing with wanting to be accepted even though they are different, which is something a lot of people can relate too. The battle between good and evil is just something we have seen plenty of times that throws out twists and turns we can see coming easily, but is fun and easy to watch.

Action/Adventure/Comedy – The action is bigger and crazier throughout which is all good for what you want to see. The comedy nearly only comes from Michelangelo, Rocksteady and Bebop which is fine as it just works for what it needs to be.

Settings – Most of the film is set in New York City but when they leave for the brief moments we get to see the bigger action scenes unfold.

Special Effects – All of these special effects work to add to the action going on throughout even if most of wild set pieces.

Final Thoughts –If you are a fan of the turtles, then you will enjoy this movie because it is pure mindless entertainment.

 

Overall: This is entertaining throughout the whole film.

Rating

 

 

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Writer: Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Evan Daughterty (Screenplay) Peter Laird, Kevin Eastman (Characters)

Starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Noe Fisher, Pete Ploszek, Johnny Knoxville, Jeremey Howard, Danny Woodburn

 

Plot: When a kingpin threatens New York City, a group of mutated turtle warriors must emerge from the shadows to protect their home.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Bonkers Fun

 

Story: Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles starts as we learn of Shredder and his foot clan have the city of New York in terror when they keep up their attacks, with a mentor keeping his children underground until they are ready to fight back. We move on to meet ambitious reporter April O’Neil (Fox) who is trying to break a big story on the foot clan but must continue pointless stories with her cameraman Vernon (Arnett).

When April witnesses a failed Foot Clan robbery she believes there is a vigilante protecting the city and with Eric Sacks (Fichtner) leading the NYPD’s defence against the Foot Clan we are ready to meet the turtles Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Donatello who are fighting back against the Foot Clan.

When the turtles become the new targets the true villain behind Shredder is revealed and the turtles are finally allowed to go out and fight against the criminals of New York City.

 

Thoughts on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

 

Characters/Performance – We all know the teenage mutant ninja turtles and all their different characteristics, with some we love more than others and here we have what we all remember from the turtles. April O’Neil is a strong reporter character that also has a connection to the turtle’s origins which is all good with her cameraman Vernon offering most of the comic relief through the whole film. Eric Sacks makes the typical villainous businessman role which is fine for this film.

Performance wise Megan Fox is good in this role, she brings the added beauty needed for this film to stop it become just another turtle film with Will Arnett getting all the comedy he needs to make us smile. William Fichtner is always reliable for this type of role too.

Story – The origin for the turtle’s story is never going to be perfectly but do we care? No we just want a film to be fun and this is just nonsense fun when you look at the story. we get the ambitious journalist, check, the easy to defeat villain, check, comic sidekick check, and the turtles check all mixing together to make a watchable film you don’t need to think about.

Action/Adventure/Comedy – The action is big, over the top and fun for the casual film can to enjoy, the adventure shows the team working together for the first time. The comedy comes when needed without burying the whole film.

Settings – New York City the main attraction for newly every single comic book origin story, we get everything we need from the city apart from the random mountain which feels out of place.

Special Effects – The special effects are all good in the film with the mix of the CGI turtles with the human world.

Final Thoughts –Sometimes you just need a film to be entertaining and this film does that, it will have a target audience that will enjoy and get the most out of it.

 

Overall: Switch off your brain and enjoy the movie.

Rating

 

 

Director: Eric Valette

Writer: Neal Marshall Stevens (Screenplay)

Starring: Oded Fehr, Adrien Dorval, Ryan Kennedy, Melanie Papalia, John Reardon, Shannon Beckner

 

Plot: Late one night, a mysterious car is brought into the Chicago police impound garage after a deadly traffic accident. The on-call mechanics soon discover the car has a mind of its own. With hundreds of horsepower and two tons of reinforced steel at its command, it’s a seemingly unstoppable killing machine capable of outrunning — and outwitting — humans.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Fun Horror

 

Story: Hybrid starts as a slick looking car drive to an ally to draw the attention of the couple of car thieves, who become the first victims of this car cruising the streets at night, but when the car is involved in an accident the Chicago Police Department have a new mystery on their hands.

The car gets taken to a local garage for the investigation where Ray (Fehr) runs the garage with Gordy (Dorval), Bobby (Kennedy) and Tilda (Beckner) all working there. When the car continues, its body count the survivors must fight to survive against the killer car and hybrid creature that lurks inside.

 

Thoughts on Hybrid

 

Story – When it comes to the story it does have good elements of original story telling, we do have parts borrowed from other films too though. We have the killer car which is obviously one of the more iconic killer objects in horror. Where this story becomes different is when we learn how the car can morph into any car it has seen making it turn into a deadlier predator.  When we look at what our characters aim to do the beat this creature it does become a power struggle of reluctant team work nothing outside the normal really. The story is smart and enjoyable throughout.

Horror/Thriller – The horror elements used are the fact that we have a killer car and we find ourselves on edge as we wait to see what the car will become next.

Characters/Performance – When it comes to the characters you know exactly what you are going to get from this film, we have the strong female lead, the asshole greedy boss, the kid, well the youngster one studying for more, the ‘dumb’ receptionist and the minority that gets killed off first. The characters are nothing special and as for the performances they are solid without exceling to the top level within the genre.

Settings – Nearly the whole film takes place within the garage which our characters find themselves trapped inside creating the isolation from the outside world and having all the different cars it can pick from leads to the suspense being gained throughout.

Special Effects – The special effects do have moments that leave you wondering but the budget does explain certain drawbacks when it comes to the creature animations.

Final Thoughts – This is an enjoyable horror if you switch you mind of to what is logical in anyway, this is fun more than scary.

 

Overall: This is a strong and enjoyable horror but mostly fun.

Rating

 

 

Director: Joel Schumacher

Writer: Fernley Phillips (Screenplay)

Starring: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins

 

Plot: Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him. As his obsession increases, more and more similarities seem to arise.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Very Interesting Thriller

 

Story: The Number 23 starts as we follow mild mannered animal controller Walter Sparrow (Carrey) who had just celebrated his birthday which has made things change, he has a wife Agatha (Madsen) and son Robin (Lerman) in what looks like an ordinary life.

Walter’s life is turned upside when one of his gifts if a book called The Number 23 which just so happens to tell the same story of a character called Fingerling who has the same childhood Walter remembers. The further Walter looks into the character we see how he becomes obsessed with the number 23 in everyday life but is this a message or a former life he once lived?

Th Number 23 is a mystery thriller that puts us on a rollercoaster of conspiracy or truth about Walter’s life. Everything really does keep us guessing from start to finish. Each answer is spoon-fed to us which does take away the shock in the final act but this still does enough to keep us on edge.

The cast all do a good job with Jim Carrey really shining in the none comedic role yet again, but the supporting performances from Virginia Madsen, Danny Huston and Logan Lerman all keep up with the star of the show.

 

Overall: One of Jim Carrey’s most underrated films of his career.

Rating

 

 

Director: Edgar Wright

Writer: Edgar Wright (Screenplay)

Starring: Ansel Elgort, John Bernthal, Jon Hamm, Eiza Gonzalez, Lily James, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx

 

Plot: After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: So Much Fun

 

Story: Baby Driver starts as we get to see just how skilled behind the wheel Baby (Elgort) is, as he completes the job while listening to his trademark tunes for Griff (Bernthal), Buddy (Hamm), Darling (Gonzalez) for their boss Doc (Spacey). We learn more about why Baby listens to music, because of his medical condition and that he owes Doc one more score to settle a debt.

Baby lives with is deaf foster dad Joseph (Jones) that tries to keep him on the straight and narrow because he sees the error in his ways and the beautiful waitress Debora (James) that Baby has fallen for, gives him a glimmer of light away from the world of crime.

When his final score is settle Baby believes it is time to walk away, but he would be wrong, Doc won’t let him and this next score with Buddy, Darling and loose cannon Bats (Foxx) pushes Baby to his limits, can he escape this world he has become stuck in and live the life he wants with music and the open road?

 

Thoughts on Baby Driver

 

Characters/Performance – Baby is the young man with brilliant driving skills, killer tunes but his innocent nature and slight mental handicap means he is taken advantage of by the criminal world, he wants to live an honest life and he will have to go and show off his skills to escape this world. I would like to point out that his relationship with Joseph is very similar to what we saw in ‘The lookout’ where two handicapped people live together and the elder tries to guide the younger. Doc is the crime boss that uses Baby because he knows he is the best, he won’t use the same unit twice but Baby is the one he will always turn too. I have mixed feelings for this character because I feel he never leans one way or the either to evil or good, he almost feels businessman like. Buddy is the most interesting of the other criminals because we always see him calm but we are warned about his darker side, which we wait to see unleashed. Darling is the sexy girlfriend of Buddy, he turns heads and will kill anyone looking at her wrong. Bats is a character I felt got old quick, he is meant to be the loose cannon and that is fine, but things all turn into him trying to say something so out there it feels like forced laughter. Debora is the light at the end of the tunnel for Baby, she helps him realize he could get away from crime.

Performance wise, Ansel is great through this film as we get to see how he can blend with the music and action. Kevin Spacey is always good in a villainous role and this is no different. For me Jon Hamm is the best because he just captures you wanting to see what he will do next. Lily James is good too through the whole film. Jamie Foxx at times does seem to be trying too hard to be funny which can get hard to watch and is the only weak point in this film.

Story – The story is something we have seen before, a person drawn to the criminal world wants out but now must fight against his former partners in crime to be free. The twists in the story come in the character of Baby who has the handicap which requires him to listen to music to stay focus and block out the noise in his head. We do have style in the story which works perfectly for the tone even if parts dip in the middle, but otherwise this is just fun action comedy. One more plus point is that every scene is seen through Baby’s point of view as he is the only person to be in every single scene as certain times we hear the music like he would and the conversations with his head phone in too, this made the film even more enjoyable

Action/Crime – The car chases are all great and certain parts do all feel fresh too, this is a huge plus for the film. the opening sequence is one that we will all remember too, the crime world shows us just how different the people can be doing the jobs which is also a good plus point.

Settings – The car chase are used most to show off the settings with most of them offering us new tighter situations to Baby to get out off behind the wheel.

Final Thoughts – This is just such a fun movie, with brilliant music, wonderful car chase sequences and is one that fans of Edgar Wright will enjoy all the more.

 

Overall: Foot down, music on, play loud.

Rating

 

 

Director: Luke Scott

Writer: Seth W Owen (Screenplay)

Starring: Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rose Leslie, Michael Yare, Toby Jones, Chris Sullivan, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Brian Cox, Paul Giamatti, Jennifer Jason Leigh

 

Plot: A corporate risk-management consultant must decide whether or not to terminate an artificially created humanoid being.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Good Start, Bad Finish

 

Story: Morgan starts as a secret project has a murderous side leading to Lee Weather (Mara) being set to investigate what happened on the project known as Morgan (Taylor-Joy), her investigation isn’t just into the subject but the staff involved to see if everything is still going on their plans.

The humanoid known as Morgan has been with the doctors her whole life with the doctors including Amy Menser (Leslie), Simon Ziegler (Jones), Darren Finch (Sullivan), Brenda Finch (Robinson) Lui Cheng (Yeoh) and Kathy Grieff (Leigh) each member of the team has worked on different parts of Morgan to make her understand each environment needed for training.

When Dr Alan Shapiro (Giamatti) arrives on the base the two must start their investigation and assessment into whether Morgan should be destroyed or to keep the project alive.

Morgan is a sci-fi horror thriller that builds on similar style films of creating life that could be smarter than the current humans, so think Splice but with higher intelligence. Well I say that because the first half of the film is very interesting because we start at the moment where the incident happens and the decision needs to be made, all this is fine and comes off fine. Where this film starts to fall apart is in final act of the film where it just becomes some form of lazy hack and slash story of an experiment gone wrong. This movie would have been a lot more interesting if it had stayed focusing on morale questions involved if the experiment had gone wrong.

Morgan has a very impressive cast with highly respected names including Giamatti, Yeoh, Cox, Leigh and Jones with years of great work under their belts and you can expect the performance from them on any film. We add in Mara trying to get to the levels of her sister Rooney giving one of her best performances as the cold hearted consultant and rising stars Boyd Holbrook, Rose Leslie both give good supporting performances. Anya Taylor-Joy has had a great year with her performance in The Witch and this shows her ability in the roles in question.

 

Overall: Such an interesting start before becoming a generic messy ending.

Rating

 

 

The Simpsons Challenge

Season 3

Episode 6 – Like Father, Like Clown

Couch Gag – This time Bart arrives late, jumping into a laying down position on the family.

Plot Synopsis – When the Simpsons have Krusty the Clown over for dinner, he says grace in Hebrew, and recalls his difficult relationship with his father, a rabbi. Bart and Lisa try to reunite the two of them.

What is going on really – We start with the latest episode of the Krusty the Clown show. When Krusty cancels the dinner with Bart who saved him from jail (this goes against the Mr Burns reaction to Homer) feeling heartbroken once again sends his membership back to Krusty.

After writing a letter to Krusty, Krusty reluctantly agrees to go for dinner with the Simpsons as we learn more about Krusty’s past and his relationship with his father a rabbi.

We learn that the relationship between the two as Krusty wanted to go against his father’s wishes and become a Clown over a Rabbi. The Simpsons family try to help bring the two back together.

Star Character

Krusty the Clown

Final Thoughts – This is an important episode because it continues to show the world building for thee Springfield with the people outside the Simpsons family. It also does offer the chance to not judge an entertainer by their religion, but I do feel certain moments are slow in pace here.

Rating 2.5/5

Director: Hugh Hudson

Writer: Colin Welland (Screenplay)

Starring: Nicholas Farrell, Nigel Havers, Ian Charleson, Ben Cross, Daniel Gerroll, Ian Holm

 

Plot: Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, compete in the 1924 Olympics.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Dated Sports Biopic

 

Story: Chariots of Fire starts in 1919 Cambridge University as we follow Harold Abrahams (Cross), and Aubrey Montague (Farrell) in the elite university of England. Here we get to see how fast the Jewish Harold is, also in Scotland we get to see Eric Liddell (Charleson) a rugby player turned runner that is also in the elite of the racing speed but he is a devote Christian who doesn’t believe in playing sports on a Sunday.

What follows is seeing the paths both Eric and Harold take to become the best in the nation as they become favourites for the British team heading into the Olympics. The two become rivals but their own personal beliefs could become a barrier in going for the gold medal.

 

Thoughts on Chariots of Fire

 

Characters/Performance – Having the characters based on the real people makes it difficult to say anything bad about them, we have two men who have been forced to put aside their difference in religious beliefs to make an impact on the sport they love taking part in. this is a story of success which is easy to enjoy for all that are involved.

Performance wise everything is good without being anything truly special by anyone involved through the film.

Story – This is a story about how two men put aside their difference to make their way to the top of the sport of athletes, it is easy to follow but does come off slightly too posh in places when you look at how the British come off.

Biography/Sports – Looking into the way we follow the two men’s journey to the Olympics we get to see how the races unfold which is all good but I would say this is one of the more average biopics that I have seen.

Settings – The settings show us the upper classes going into the sport of running, which is all good with the races at the Olympics coming off great for settings.

Final Thoughts – My final thoughts are that this is slightly too British showing you had to come from money to achieve in sports at this time, I also don’t feel the film does enough to show us all of the characters involved.

 

Overall: Nice but no cigar especially when we prefer the struggle to make it and become the story of success, rather than the winner.

Rating

 

 

The Simpsons Challenge

Season 3

Episode 5 – Homer Defined

Couch Gag – This time one of the aliens Kang or Kong is watching the TV making a quick escaping before the Simpsons arrive.

Plot Synopsis – Homer is a hero after averting a nuclear meltdown that he nearly caused, but he doesn’t want to tell anyone that he stopped it completely by accident.

What is going on really – This episode starts as Bart learns the Milhouse didn’t invite him to his birthday party because his mum thinks Bart is a bad example but the rest of the class and Otto do all get invited. Leaving Bart depressed on the bus.

Meanwhile Homer busy selecting the favourite flavour of donut finds the core temperature reaching meltdown level. This leads to Mr Burns not knowing about Homer’s intelligence which is annoying now. Homer must solve this problem before meltdown destroying the whole town.

Playing a game of chance Homer saves the town by selecting the right button. Homer becomes the hero of the town even getting the Employee of the Month Award, but only he knows the truth he was lucky.

This does have a moment that shows how Bart loves his mother while Homer gets exposed as the lucky man when the latest meltdown happened.

Star Character

Homer

Final Thoughts – This episode does have two really strong storylines going on, one being how luck can lead you down the wrong path and the other about friendship at a young age.

Rating 5/5