Friday, August 8, 2014

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Welcome everyone to another edition of Phil Goes to the Movies, and today I am reviewing a movie belonging to a franchise I hold dear. It is very nostalgic to me, as I grew up watching Ninja Turtles every day after school and Saturday mornings. Now there were a ton of rumors how the movie was going to be done, and I finally was able to see the finished product. Now was it everything the heroes on the half shell should have been, or was I begging to go back to the original 1990 movie? Lets find out as we dive into this review:




Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-  Ok, for months after hearing all the rumors like the turtles being aliens, and other ways the writers were planning on changing the movie was driving me nuts. Please, don't destroy my childhood anymore... already destroyed Transformers for me. I have to say the new CGI turtles looked pretty decent, but a tad "hulked" out. I mean, they were freaking like 6'8" or 7' tall. To be honest, its hard to believe something that big and bulky could be an agile ninja moving with great stealth.

The plot, well, once it was revealed it truly sounded like something a Saturday morning cartoon villain would try. I mean, releasing a deadly virus to make the people of New York city deathly sick. Then they would use the exacted mutated blood from the turtles to create the antidote to make a fortune. The turtles have to stop Shedder and the foot clan from succeeding in their plans.

Ok, here are somethings that bothered me about the movie:

1) The movie felt rushed as all holy hell. It was like the writers were like, "Hey, you, the audience, you should already know who the turtles are, so lets race through the story." This made the origin story feel weak and really forced.

2) Every chance they got they needed to make a reference to how hot Megan Fox is...we get it, she's hot. I mean, her performance was decent, but nothing memorable. Honestly, any hot piece of ass with some decent acting ability could have filled her spot.

I did like the action sequences they were really top notch, and they really redeemed the movie for me. Plus, the relationships between the four turtles really showing how they were siblings interacting together. How they really loved and cared for one another, and of course all the one liners they had for one another. I liked when they were alone they acted immature, and less like big tough guys. Perfect example, is when they were in the elevator attacking the foot's home base. They began doing a song by clanking their weapons and making noises with their mouths. Classic!

Final Verdict- 6.5/10, It was a decent film for nostalgic reasons, but it had its flaws, nothing severe. If you are a fan of TMNT then check out this movie otherwise I would skip it.

This appears to be the end of summer block buster season, and it was a blast watching and reviewing all the movies. I mean, there will be some movies in the next couple of months, but the block busters won't be here until the holidays. I'm leaving for a month to see Europe, so I won't be here to review the remaining movies of the summer. This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy

The summer block buster season is coming closer to an end. We are coming to the month, where the best of the best is thrown our way, and your favorite movie reviewer is there to get the info for you to save your money or not. Now this next movie, did i want to rejoice, or did I want to shoot a rocket into my eye? Lets find out as we dive into this review shall we:












Guardians of the Galaxy- To be honest, when i first heard about this movie I had mixed emotions, and I really leaned to not wanting to see it. Then I saw the trailers for it at the beginning of almost every movie this summer. I have to say I began to love the characters more and more. The trailer gave this very easy going, happy feeling with its perfect choice of a song, and the movie had that feeling literally the whole time.

The plot was simple yet engaging at the same time. It had the main character, Peter Quill aka Star Lord, stealing a mysterious floating orb from an old ruin. He is suddenly engaged by these men demanding he hands over the orb immediately. He is able to escape, but is now a wanted man! Then one by one enter all of the characters. Our heroes struggle to keep the orb, containing one of the infinity gems, away from a powerful villain named Ronan.

Each character had it own time to shine, and each had surprisingly enough time to show their personalities very well. Hell, in 2 hours and 2 minutes, there was a tremendous amount of character development. I mean, each of the five people you really kinda fell for them. Take the character, Rocket for example, you learn that he hates what he is, and hates the fact that he was even created. Don't you dare call him vermin or a pest! You really feel for him. The characters are, like I said, extremely likeable and charismatic. They all have their moments of comic relief and one liners. One of my many favorite lines in the movie was this:

Rocket: Don't bother explaining it to him. It will just go over his head.

Drax: It will never go over my head. I'm too fast! I will just catch it!

The line was delivered so well, with just a dry sense of humor that I just lost it when it was said. The movie overall was written well, and everything just flowed nicely. The action scenes were heart pounding with loads of eye candy, and then you mix that together with comic relief... BOOM, you got a hell of a combination there ladies and gentlemen for a summer block buster hit!






Final Verdict-10/10, It honestly has everything you want in a movie and more. Tons of action, great character development, and huge must see in theaters! Highly recommended for everyone!

That's it for now, loyal readers as I get ready to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this Friday... and I'll try to sneak that in before I go away to Europe for an entire month! This is Phil Goes to the Movies, so you don't have to!