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