Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Score:  ***1/2 out of ***** (B-)

Directed by Dave Green
Starring Megan Fox, Stephen Amell, Will Arnett, et. al.
Running time:  112 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  TMNT: Out of the Shadows continues the live-action film reboot of the beloved cartoon franchise that started with the 2014 film.  Settled in now, the sequel spends more time with the characters and boosts the humor factor.  It also has a few very fun action scenes, a crucial component in this series, but it lacks inventiveness, a good villain, and the 2014's films exhilaration.  You likely already know if this appeals to you and if so, it's worth at least a Netflix.


A year after saving New York City from the Shredder, the ninja turtles continue to watch over the city from their home in the sewers.  The Shredder's gang known as the Foot Clan attempts to free him as he is transported to a new prison and the ninja turtles race to stop them - when he suddenly disappears.  The Shredder had gained a new ally on the outside, a mad scientist named Stockman.  As the turtles try to figure out the Shredder and Stockman's plan, they encounter both new allies and new enemies, and also struggle to conceal their existence to a world not yet ready to accept them.

TMNT: Out of the Shadows has a fun cast that embraces the spirit of the cartoon in this live action sequel.  The turtles themselves are fully CGI, with distinctive designs for each turtle that makes it easy to tell them apart.  The turtles' personalities remain faithful to the cartoon and while they each occupy broadly stereotypical roles, the dialogue is typically light fun and nothing cringe-worthy.  Michelangelo and Rafael tend to get a bit more to do than Leonardo and Donatello, but it's definitely still an ensemble effort.  Megan Fox returns as April O'Neil, the turtles' first human friend and ally.  She provides a perfectly solid performance that shows her character's independence and grit more than in the first film.  Newcomer Stephen Amell is likable if unremarkable as the turtles' second ally, former cop and hockey enthusiast Casey Jones.  The other notable supporting roles are enjoyable for the humor they bring, including Tyler Perry's unhinged scientist villain, Will Arnett's returning Vern Fenwick, and a pair of numbskull criminals known as Bebop and Rocksteady (Gary Anthony Williams and Sheamus).

Out of the Shadows is an enjoyable sequel to the series' reboot from two years ago, with some improvements but still modest in its overall success.  Leaving anything heavy at the door, the Ninja Turtles films just want to have fun, something this film does well with its characters and humor, and to a lesser extent with CGI-based action.  Out of the Shadows, along with the 2014 film, takes advantage of the fun foursome of turtle characters, which is appreciated by fans of the series but also easily digestible for newer, younger audiences.  Having re-introduced them earlier, this film is able to expand on the relationships and interplay among the turtles to just the right degree.  And the turtles, assisted by some colorful supporting roles, bring a tone that is primarily light hearted, with frequent doses of appropriately juvenile humor.  The film has "serious" parts as well, but crucially never takes itself too seriously.  There are several fun action sequences in the film, particularly as the turtles attempt a prison break by Shredder, and overall they are slightly less ridiculous than the 2014 film's.  Unfortunately the main villain is quite strange yet not particularly interesting, with a disappointing climax; the fun is in the set up, not the hastily executed finale.

***

TMNT: Out of the Shadows gets a B-, just like the 2014 film: the sequel doesn't reach the action adrenaline highs of the first, but it does a better job with the turtle characters and humor.  To enjoy either of the films, though, requires that you understand the intended tone and audience, which the critics have completely ignored.  Yes, these films are produced by the dreaded Michael Bay, but unlike the over-the-top, dumb Tranformers movies, they understand that they're silly and all of their components, from the acting to the script, fit together well.  Within that framework improvements can still be made, but these are perfectly entertaining films - for the right audience.  Those most likely to enjoy them include nostalgia-prone adults who still enjoy a fun if silly action romp (*raises hand*), and pretty much any boy under 15.



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X-Men: Apocalypse

Score:  ** out of ***** (D+)

Directed by Bryan Singer
Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, et. al.
Running time: 144 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  The X-Men franchise releases its ninth film overall in Apocalypse, or the third in a rebooted series featuring McAvoy, Fassbender and Lawrence as the leads.  Despite the strength of its predecessors, Apocalypse falls flat on its face in nearly every aspect - primarily due to simply being stuffed ludicrously full of supporting characters and plots.  Not recommended for general audiences, and even franchise fans should stay home.


Ten years after the public, near-catastrophic discovery of a population of mutants, many of them strange and powerful, society still struggles to adapt.  The mutants are everywhere, from a high school where young Scott Summers alarms himself and his peers when beams of energy suddenly shoot from his open eyes, to an underground fight club in Berlin where mutants like "Angel" (who has wings and can fly) and "Devil" (who can teleport and has blue skin) are persecuted by the masses.  The entire world soon feels the return of another mutant (Isaac).  Causing tremors around the globe as he rises from an ancient Egyptian tomb, this mysterious being finds a world far different from the one he knew, and assembles a group of mutant followers including Angel and Magneto (Fassbender), whose attempt to create a quiet, anonymous life was tragically destroyed, to "correct" the human-mutant balance.

When Xavier (McAvoy) tries to locate his friend Erik, or Magneto, using his telepathic powers, the ancient mutant knows it and realizes the potential of this power.  Kidnapping Xavier, the mutant and his followers have nearly all they need to put their plan into effect.  Only a small group of Xavier's young mutant students, led by his childhood friend Raven (Lawrence), stand in their way.

X-Men: Apocalypse is led by returning stars from the previous few films, and they are joined by a slew of new faces as well.  James McAvoy as Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Erik, and Jennifer Lawrence as Raven return for their third film as the leads.  Each is still a fantastic fit for his or her role, but the nuances of their characters are swallowed up in making room for an enormous supporting cast and a web of plots.  Fassbender (the most talented) gets the most space to work in a brief part about his family, while Lawrence is almost strictly relegated to plot device and, somewhat understandably, phones it in.  Oscar Isaac, one of the best emerging actors in Hollywood, is completely wasted as the bland villain who spouts little but evil cliches; with his face and voice totally altered, this role could have been done by just about anyone.  There is a laundry list of both new and returning supporting characters, none of whom are great contributors.  I would note, though, that Peter aka Quicksilver gets a significant role here but unfortunately gets turned into a more standard role; long-time villain Stryker returns in a completely worthless side plot; and Sophie Turner has a jarring, bizarre American accent.

Apocalypse is possibly the worst film in the exceptional X-Men film franchise, falling prey to just about every hazard that threatens blockbusters at large and this franchise in particular.  Despite being nearly two and a half hours long, the film tries to squeeze in way too many characters and plots and ends up failing just about all of them.  We know putting a lot of "things" into a comic book film can be done successfully (see: Avengers), but Apocalypse serves as a perfect example of the many things that can go wrong.  The film manages to take both new and old ideas that have proven potential - from introducing young new mutants, to Xavier and CIA agent Moira's relationship, to Erik's internal struggles - and suck the life out of them by dumbing them down and or speeding through them.  Even a good villain would have had a hard time rescuing Apocalypse, but the titular character has two huge problems, too:  he brings nothing to X-Men's interesting overall ideas, only generic and wholesale destruction/"rebirth"; and his powers are so great that it robs the action of any tension and makes it seem all the more arbitrary.  The X-Men films have had some great humor but while this one tries, it fails just as it does in so many other ways.  As a cherry on top of the **** sundae, not even an encore slo-mo scene from Quicksilver delivers as well as it should have.

***

Up to this point, I had been impressed by the quality of films in 2016, with no disappointments (at least when taking RT scores into account).  But X-Men Apocalypse certainly qualifies as the first bad and/or disappointing film of the year; there's almost always one, and hopefully no more.  Coming from such a consistently excellent franchise, Apocalypse's complete failure is shocking to me.  Even the lackluster X-Men Origins: Wolverine was better (OK, I haven't seen it in years, admittedly).  Another critic wrote that Apocalypse feels like the franchise's attempt to match the epic scale of the Avengers, which seems possible - and if so, it likely doomed the film from the start.  The X-Men films have their own unique, fascinating strengths and if anything, future films should dig deeper into these, not try to reach into unsuitable styles and trends.  I sadly could not blame McAvoy, Lawrence and Fassbender if they decide to abandon the franchise now, having fulfilled their contracts.  But much potential remains here if the filmmakers would just pull way back and retool; not to mention, that trio is just phenomenal when given the opportunity.  In conclusion, if you're not already an X-Men fan don't even bother with this; if you are a fan, certainly wait for this to arrive on Netflix if at all.  And hope for better next time.



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