Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:Out of the Shadows Review

The reboot of the popular comic book/TV show Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may have been far from spectacular, but I found myself still enjoying the movie much to my surprise.
So when the sequel was confirmed, I was of course interested to see where the characters would go to from the previous movie.
Like its predecessor, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows will not be to most peoples tastes, but there is still some enjoyment to get out of it if you're a fan of the television show and as well as the previous movie, though it's still no near the level of the 1990 film. While Megan Fox is still far from being a good actress, this series still sees her in a better position than the Transformer franchise, and while Steven Amel doesn't match up to Elias Koteas' Casey Jones or his performance in Arrow, he still does a decent job as the Turtles new ally.
One of the major disappointments however it the handling of Shredder who spends the majority of the movie unmasked and end up playing second fiddle to Krang who in the end has very little presence in the overall film.
In the end, Out of the Shadows in probably on the same level as the previous film, nothing overall special, but still enjoyable none the less.

*** out of 5

Angels and Demons Review

Upon its release, the Da Vinci Code was one of the most anticipated movies of 2006 and would wind up making over $750 million worldwide. Unfortunately, the reaction to the film was less than stellar, receiving mixed reviews from critics which eventually resulted in Ron Howard being nominated for a Razzie Award for worst director.

So when it was announced that Tom Hanks and Ron Howard would be working on Angels and Demons the prequel (or in the case of the movie sequel) to the Da Vinci Code, there was naturally a lot of scepticism, even though Angels and Demons is considered the best of the Robert Langdon series of novels; and while the reaction to the film was similar to The Da Vinci Code I found myself enjoying the movie a lot movie than its predecessor.

One of the main flaws I found with The Da Vinci Code was the lack of tension as the movie moved at an incredibly slow pace for the most part. Angels and Demons however ups the tension tremendously as Tom Hank's Robert Langdon rushes throughout Rome looking for clues that will help him complete his mission. Also, while Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou are both terrific actors, there chemistry together just did not come across well at all in The Da Vinci Code; however in Angels and Demons, Tom Hanks and Ayelet Zurer work very well together allowing the audience to really buy into their relationship.

Even if you weren't a fan of The Da Vinci Code, I would definitely recommend checking out Angels and Demons. It still may not be worth your cup of tea, but it is still worth a shot.

****out of 5

Cast Away Review

One of Tom Hank's best performances comes from his role as Chuck Noland, an obsessive FedEx worker who finds himself stranded on a deserted island after a terrible plane crash. It takes a truely great actor to get viewers emotionally involved in a movie when they are the only actor on screen for a vast majority of the movie, and Tom Hanks succeeds spectacurly in his performance. While she is not given much screen time, Helen Hunt is also great as Chuck's girlfriend Kelly, and her involvement really increases the emotional tension in the story as Chuck struggles with life on the island and his desperation to return home.

**** out of 5

Ranking The Harry Potter Movies

No.7 Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire

Following Alfonso Quaron's outstanding Prisoner of Azkaban, Four Weddings And A Funeral director Mike Newell was always going to have a tough time following in his shoes, but for the most part he puts together a very moving, intense and sometimes chilling addition to the Harry Potter franchise. 

Great additions to the cast includes Brendon Glesson as new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher Alistair 'Mad Eye' Moodey a dark wizard catcher who literally may have something more than meets the eye about him, and Ralph Fieenes as Lord Voldemort himself appearing in of the the most chilling sequences in the history of the franchise.

There are also several terrific action sequences as Daniel Radcliffe's Harry Potter is forced to face the dangerous tasks involved in the Triward Tournament from gp which he only hope to survive from.

While the fourth instalment features many exciting and tense moments however, the film still holds some major flaws which brings it down and making it possibly not the weakest but the most disappointing entry in the series. Unlike the other films, there are a few miscastings I find in Goblet of Fire; particularly with Barty Crouch Sr and Barty Crouch Jr. Rodger Lloyd Pack just feels really out of place in the role of the power hungry Ministry of Magic employee, with David Tennant feels very unconvincing as his Death Eater son. The story involving the two of them is also really mishandling and goes totally away from the story of the book making it less emotional as a result.

There is also the absence of Gary Oldman as Harry's godfather Surius Black which prevents the relationship between Harry and Surius from further development until the next film and the Reeta Sketter subplot really gets nowhere after its introduction.

So while Goblet of Fire has many strong points from the tense action scenes to some spine chilling moments involving the introduction of Voldemort, it is a little dampened by dents in certain storylines  preventing it from ranking higher in my Harry Potter countdown.

***1/2 out of 5

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Review

Ever since it was introduced to the public in the 1970s, Star Wars become a global phenomenon like no other film franchise before it. A New Hope, The Empire Stikes Back and Return of the Jedi formed this series and so when creator George Lucas announced he would be returning to the franchise in the late 1990s, there was obviously worldwide anticipation for the first entry in the new trilogy; Star Wars Episdoe I: The Phantom Menace.

 So you can certainly imagine how astonished fans were when The Phantom Menace not only failed to live up to the hype, it became easily the most disappointing movie in existence. Whether it would be the completely wooden dialogue created by George Lucas or the even more wooden performances from the actors, The Phantom Menace was far from the movie fans wanted; and of course Jar Jar Binks is easily one of the most dispized and annoying characters in movie history from his annoying voice to his stereotype characteristics, everyone just falls flat with the characters.

 True, not everything is as big of a disaster as some die hard fans might lead you to believe. The sound effects are fantastic and while many of the specials effects are very dated, they were defiantly good for their time. The action scenes are great aswell, from the pod race sequence on Tatooine and the lightsaber duel in the final act accompanied by John Williams magnificent Dual of Fates theme. While his involvement in the movie is limited, Ray Park is brilliant as Sith apprentice (mostly due to him not having to utter most of Lucas' dull dialogue) and it's a pity his character couldn't continue on into Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

 So overall, Phantom Menace is defiantly a massive disappointment with incredibly wooden dialogue and questionable plot points, but is still watchable enough thanks to some great action sequences that it is not quite the disaster some might say it is.

 ** 1/2 out of 5