Category Archives: Reviews

“The Book of Life” brings the Day of the Dead to animated life

Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday that, for most Americans, is just sort of an extension of Halloween. Because it coincides with Halloween (and continues for another day or so) and includes celebrations that involve skeleton decorations and sugar skull face paint, it’s easy to see why it might look like an extended Halloween. But Dia de los Muertos has a cultural mythology all its own, which is the backdrop for the animated romantic adventure The Book of Life.

Directed by Jorge Gutierrez, an animator who has worked on cartoons such as ¡Mucha Lucha! and El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, and co-produced by Guillermo del Toro, The Book of Life tells a Romeo and Juliet-like story of Manolo (Diego Luna) and Joaquín (Channing Tatum) and their lifelong friendly rivalry for the attention of María (Zoe Saldana), a self-sufficient and empowered woman who doesn’t feel the need to rush into anything with either of them. But their fates are being determined by La Muerte (Kate del Castillo), the lovely ruler of the vibrant Land of the Remembered, and Xibalba (Ron Perlman), the nefarious ruler of the dreary Land of the Forgotten. And the entire story is being told via wooden puppets by a museum tour guide (Christina Applegate) to a group of kids on a field trip, for added dimension.

Joaquín is a Gaston-like hero who is unstoppable as a matador, warrior and ladies man. To most, he seems like the obvious choice as María’s groom. But Manolo is a more sensitive guy who’d rather serenade her with his guitar than display his masculinity in the bull-fighting arena. The songs that Manolo (and various other characters) sings over the course of the movie are interesting as they are Mexican stylized covers of popular American songs such as Elvis Presley‘s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” Radiohead‘s “Creep” and Biz Markie‘s “Just a Friend”. While Joaquín seems to have no flaws or weaknesses, Manolo is stricken by tragedy that reunites him with his dead family members, but makes marrying María pretty difficult. With the help of his skeletal friends and a comical character called The Candle Maker (made all the more comical by Ice Cube, especially when he references one of his own hits by saying, “Today was a good day … of the dead!”), Manolo travels throughout the realms of the remembered, the forgotten and back to the world of the living, facing his deepest fears and earning the respect of his father (Héctor Elizondo) and the heart of María along the way.

The Book of Life is funny, educational and brilliantly cast (also including the voice talents of Cheech Marin, Gabriel Iglesias, Danny Trejo and Plácido Domingo. I especially enjoy the animation style, which constantly reminds the viewer that these are wooden dolls with intricate carved and painted features. The fantasy elements are beautifully over the top and the music and comedy are enjoyable from beginning to end. It’s also appropriately fun for families and adults, making it a great addition to a somewhat lackluster Halloween movie season.

www.bookoflifemovie.com

“Gone Girl” proves that appearances can be deceiving

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Photo by Merrick Morton.

When it comes to monsters, we tend to like their physical manifestation to be as hideous as the horrors that lie within. But horror comes in many forms and, in reality, one’s beauty and wholesomeness can mask the true monster within. David Fincher has made a career out of directing films about people who appear to be normal (often too-perfect-to-be-true) to the rest of the world while secretly harboring demons of some sort. That’s basically the definition of a sociopath, and that’s exactly what Gone Girl is all about.

Like most of Fincher’s films, however, it’s figuring out who the sociopath is that makes Gone Girl so intriguing. When Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) comes home to find his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) missing on the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary, the broken coffee table, blood spatter in the kitchen and other evidence make him the prime suspect in her murder. After a few media appearances in which Nick appears, at best, unconcerned and, at worst, completely smug, the media quickly assumes he is guilty. It turns out, however, that Amy has staged her death in order to escape what has become a miserable marriage thanks to financial strains, Nick’s infidelity and other factors. But Amy’s masterful manipulation doesn’t stop there, especially after her plan is foiled by a couple of redneck robbers (Lola Kirke and Boyd Holbrook) and a sympathetic talk show appearance by Nick that changes the public’s perception of him. And with Tanner Bolt (Tyler Perry), an attorney made famous for keeping alleged wife murderers out of prison, on his side, Amy is forced to come running back home to keep up her victimized facade.

Photo by Merrick Morton.

When she returns, however, she is covered in the blood of former lover Desi (Neil Patrick Harris), claiming that he kidnapped and raped her. Amy is now trapped in her own lies, but she’s able to convince Nick that he is also trapped within the confines of their seemingly unbelievably strong marriage. While they appear to the rest of the world to be a happy couple reunited, Nick is forced to endure this private hell while Amy finds some sadistic pleasure in the entire spectacle. It’s scary to think that such a horrible person can be wrapped in such a lovely exterior, especially considering that Amy has been overly idealized in a series of children’s books written by her parents (Lisa Barnes and David Clennon). The combination of Fincher’s directorial stylings, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ unnervingly atmospheric score and bewildering performances by Affleck and Pike (who is quickly becoming one of filmdom’s most well-rounded leading ladies as seen here and in Hector and the Search for Happiness), as well as immersive marketing tactics like this realistic Find Amazing Amy website, create a surreal nightmarish/dreamlike atmosphere that permeates the entire movie. While we’re bombarded with grotesque monsters this time of year, Gone Girl is a reminder that appearances can often be deceiving. In this case, that is scarier than any Halloween horrors.

www.gonegirlmovie.com

What would Jesus do? Probably make a much better film than “Left Behind”

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When you go into a movie knowing it has an agenda of some sort, it can be hard to watch with an open mind. That’s probably why I’ve never gotten around to watching the Left Behind trilogy starring Kirk Cameron. Based on a series of Christian propaganda books, Left Behind is an evangelical story about the Rapture, one of Christianity’s most misconstrued stories that is hardly even mentioned in the Bible. During a recent press conference to promote the Left Behind reboot, however, writer/producer Paul LaLonde stressed that even though this movie is rooted in Christian scare tactics, it is not an evangelical tool to lure in new followers.

Chloe Steele (Cassi Thomson) and Buck Williams (Chad Michael Murray) prepare for da Rapture, I mean departure, in “Left Behind”.

“You’re not going to get in there and get a thinly disguised sermon,” LaLonde says. “I know a lot of people have concerns as soon as you hear it’s based on Bible prophecy, ‘I’m going to go in there and get preached at.’ And that’s simply not the case. We worked very hard to make sure that this movie was accessible to everybody because everybody can be fascinated by Bible prophecy even if they don’t know it yet. In and of itself there are some wonderful stories and I don’t like to see those great stories not being told simply because they seem to always be packaged with so much in‐your‐face preaching and finger shaking that really doesn’t need to take place and doesn’t really need to be part of it. So I think that’s what Left Behind achieves and allows everybody to enjoy this story.”

He does admit, however, that the reason for the reboot and the added star power of Nicolas Cage is to spread the Left Behind message to a larger audience than the straight-to-video releases from a decade or so ago reached.

“I wanted to create a movie – to write and produce a movie – that could go out to a much broader audience and nobody’s going to walk out of there thinking, ‘Wow, I just got preached at for two hours.’ It’s not going to be like that,” LaLonde claims. “That was the main reason for wanting to do this was wanting to tell this really cool story but to tell it outside of, you know, just the walls of the church. To reach out to everybody and share this really cool story.”

Hattie Durham (Nickey Whelan) and Rayford Steele (Nicolas Cage) prepare for the Rapture in "Left Behind".

Hattie Durham (Nickey Whelan) and Rayford Steele (Nicolas Cage) didn’t think their adulterous plans would be so apocalyptic.

So basically he’s saying he doesn’t want to just preach to the choir this time. He wants to use a well-known actor in hopes of reaching a much larger theatrical congregation. Considering the movie starts out with a Jesus freak perusing the Christian section of an airport bookstore before accosting famous journalist Buck Williams (Chad Michael Murray) to warn him about the trials and tribulations to come, it’s immediately clear that LaLonde is wrong about the preachiness of this movie. Then we’re introduced to Chloe Steele (Cassi Thomson) who is flying in to visit her mother Irene (Lea Thompson) and father Rayford (Cage). Irene has recently taken a fanatical religious turn that has pushed Rayford, a jumbo jet pilot, into the arms of a buxom young flight attendant named Hattie (Nickey Whelan). At least that’s the direction things appear to be going as he removes his wedding ring before captaining a flight to London (with Hattie in tow) that departs just after Chloe’s arrival. The fact that Rayford has forgotten that his daughter is coming to visit is incredibly inconsiderate. And the fact that he likely plans on having an extramarital affair does not make him look any better. But those buttons on Hattie’s blouse look like they’re constantly about to pop, so who can blame him?

Given LaLonde’s claims that this version of Left Behind would be more like an episode of The Twilight Zone than an after school special about the dangers of sin, I tried desperately to overlook the religious messages that bombarded me from the outset of the film. He was right about one thing, though. This movie is not a “thinly disguised sermon” at all. It’s about as heavy-handed as a Jehovah’s Witnesses knocking on your door on a Saturday morning.

Irene Steele (Lea Thompson) uses faith, not a DeLorean, to see the future this time.

Looking past the religious overtones, Left Behind is still just a terrible movie. It’s obvious that a majority of the movie’s budget was spent on getting established stars like Cage and Thompson, as well as the ensemble of attractive younger actors. And the rest of the movie suffers for it. Vic Armstrong is known for his impressive resume as a stuntman. As a director, however, he’s done very little of note. Left Behind is no exception. When chaos erupts as people start vanishing, the crashing planes and other special effects are comically unconvincing. The score is terribly distracting and rarely, if ever, matches up with what’s going on in the movie. And don’t even get me started on the finer details, such as a cheesy family photo of the Steele’s that looks like it was Photoshopped by a fourth grader.

Perhaps the worst part of Left Behind is the fact that the major Christian characters are portrayed as crazy people whose religious influence on those around them is mostly negative. Most of the people, ahem, left behind after the Rapture are, in turn, portrayed as compassionate people who care about the welfare of those around them, even if they’ve just met them. But maybe I’m just looking at this the wrong way. I mean, a lot of meaningful relationships are being established in the wake of the Rapture. And those who didn’t disappear no longer have to worry about being confronted by strangers at the airport or by fanatical family members at home. Am I supposed to believe these survivors are going to start their own utopia now that everyone else is gone and they have nothing left to lose? I’m sure the two planned sequels will prove otherwise, but that conclusion is just as logical as the one LaLonde intended. If you want to see an incredible movie (with an equally good soundtrack) about a vanishing person, go see Gone Girl instead (and read my review here).

“Innocence” is guilty of nonsensical storytelling and predictability

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Beckett (Sophie Curtis) has this same expression for most of “Innnocence”. Unfortunately it’s not because she is under any sort of spell.

A fresh take on an old formula is typically a good thing. And that’s what I thought I was getting with Innocence, a teenage horror drama based on the book of the same name. The film jolts us right into tragedy as Beckett (Sophie Curtis) and her father Miles (Linus Roache) watch as Beckett’s mother is swept away by the ocean’s undercurrent while surfing. It seems like Innocence is off to a splendidly horrific start as this must be the horror Beckett has to deal with throughout the rest of the film. Nope.

In order to cope with their loss, Beckett and her father move to Manhattan where Beckett is enrolled in a preparatory school filled with every high school cliché you can imagine (a popular and pretty group of mean girls, a somewhat goth-y outcast to bond with, etc.). Beckett befriends Jen, the goth girl (Sarah Sutherland). One of the mean girls leaps from a campus window to her demise. Am I supposed to think death is somehow following Beckett? I don’t know, but she does some research and discovers there have been other suicides at this same school over the years.

Meanwhile, school nurse Pamela (Kelly Reilly) takes a particular interest in Beckett, and an even stronger interest in her father, basically shacking up with them as soon as they arrive. I have to say Reilly is one of the better parts of this movie, just as she was recently in Calvary and a couple of years ago in Flight. Reilly has a seductive nature that lends itself to her role here as a member of a coven of Desperate Housewives-looking women who run the school. So I certainly don’t blame Miles for accepting Pam’s advances so quickly. But wait a second. Didn’t he just lose his wife? Shouldn’t he and Beckett still be grieving a little more than they are, which is hardly at all? Sure, Beckett starts having nightmares and visions, but those don’t really have anything to do with her recently-deceased mother.

Kelly Reilly as Pam, the seductive witch, is the best part of “Innocence”.

OK. So, after the one girl kills herself, Beckett starts seeing the ghosts of other girls who have committed suicide at the school. These ghosts lead her to dark alleys and other secret locations, where she soon discovers that Jen’s mom, Pam and others are part of this coven that runs the school. And the school has basically served as a farm system that supplies the coven with the virgin blood they need to maintain their power and beauty. This is all going to come back to Beckett’s mother’s death, right? I mean, she must have been involved with this coven in some way. Or maybe she was a student at the same school when she was a teenager and witnessed something this coven didn’t want exposed. Nope.

Anyway, Beckett comes to realize that these suicides haven’t been voluntary at all. Instead, these girls have been under some sort of spell cast by the coven that causes them to unwillfully commit suicide so the coven can drink their blood without committing obvious murders. And it looks like Beckett is next in line, which is why Pam has been spending so much time with Beckett’s dad. (Maybe that explains Curtis’ trance-like acting, but probably not.) To thwart the coven’s plan, Beckett calls her boyfriend Tobey (Graham Phillips), whose mom (Stephanie March) is one of the more beautiful members of the coven, and does some seducing of her own. By the time the coven kidnaps Beckett and Pam ritualistically drinks her blood, it is no longer virgin blood and is of no use to the coven.

Beckett is invited by Pam to join the coven.

Naturally, Pam instead offers to let Beckett drink her blood so Beckett can become part of the coven. Beckett spits the blood onto Pam’s face, which makes for a nice visual. Then Tobey comes to the rescue and, well, the movie ends in such a way that even a novice soothsayer could have seen it coming. Still, none of it ever relates to the loss of Beckett’s mother. So I guess that was simply an unnecessarily tragic impetus for Beckett to move to Manhattan and enroll in this witchy school. Meaning that what started out with the promise of being a new twist on an old idea ends up more like an extended episode of Charmed (or maybe even Charmed: The Next Generation). Actually, that comparison is doing Charmed a huge disservice. I haven’t seen the Twilight movies, but I imagine Innocence is (at least trying to be) to witches what Twilight is to vampires. Hence this sparkling review.

www.innocencethemovie.com

“Code Black” puts us in the middle of the chaos of America’s busiest ER

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A chaotic scene in C-Booth from “Code Black”.

To say that being an emergency room doctor comes with a unique set of stressful circumstances would be one of the biggest understatements in history. While treating life-threatening injuries and illnesses is obviously a major concern, there are countless other factors that make working in an ER one of the most complicated jobs around. In the award-winning documentary Code Black Ryan McGarry, M.D. shows us why the current healthcare crisis is a particularly challenging time for those training to be doctors, especially at Los Angeles County+University of Southern California Medical Center.

As veteran physician William “Billy” Mallon, M.D. notes in this documentary, L.A. County hospital is home to America’s busiest ER and “more people have died and more people have been saved than in an other square footage in the United States” in it’s trauma bay (known as C-Booth). The film begins at the hospital’s former location, an antiquated facility where doctors-in-training crowd around as emergency operations are done to treat potentially fatal ailments. To the viewer, these scenes are pure chaos. But to the doctors and trainees, it’s an oddly comfortable scenario, perhaps only because it is the only one they know. Even after a new hospital is built, however, the more spacious and up-to-date facility proves to have an entirely new set of obstacles to overcome despite its improvements.

“Code Black” writer/director Ryan McGarry, M.D.

Considering the current state of America’s healthcare system, and the fact that L.A. County is one of the largest of only a handful of public hospitals in the country, Code Black illustrates the discouraging extremes aspiring doctors are facing. Driven by a variety of factors ranging from personal loss to professional challenge, however, the doctors featured in this film are motivated to learn, adapt and do whatever it takes to overcome bureaucratic setbacks, uncontrollable challenges and the seemingly impossible times when the ER reaches Code Black, a discouraging situation where all these obstacles come to a head while the ER is overcrowded and there is no solution in sight.

It’s a particularly troubling time for those driven by a desire to help every patient that comes in, regardless of what has brought them to the ER. It’s this desire that motivates the doctors in Code Black to remain calm during the most trying times, get together outside of work to discuss solutions and work towards making L.A. County the hospital they want and need it to be. The film puts us right in the middle of it all, invoking emotions ranging from heartache to rage to occasional hope. Though it does little to offer a solution to any of the problems it reveals, Code Black definitely brings awareness to many of the hardships faced by aspiring doctors that we otherwise wouldn’t likely ever consider. And by humanizing the doctors with emotional backstories, Code Black succeeds in creating a sympathetic scenario for its audience.

www.codeblackmovie.com

Times are hard, which is just the way we like them in “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For”

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It’s been a long time since filmgoers got to visit the dirty and dangerous streets of Sin City. Too long, some might say. We’re talking about a city so corrupt that only the most brokenhearted bad guys, scandalous politicians and seductively sinister streetwalkers would want to call it home. And those are the flawed characters we want to see fall for the wrong women, seek vengeance upon the untouchable and otherwise bestow tragedy upon themselves and those around them once again in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Like so much of his other work, Frank Miller‘s Sin City books are basically storyboards waiting to come to life. After he and co-director Robert Rodriguez so deftly adapted some of these tales to the big screen in 2005’s Sin City, they finally bring us another collection of loosely-linked stories, some familiar to fans of the books, some never before told. As was the case with its predecessor, A Dame to Kill For is presented in a black-and-white film noir style, with only certain elements (the bright red lips of a vixen, the golden eye of a brute) in color for dramatic effect. This stylistic tool not only gives the film a retro feel (as do the vintage car styles, outfits, etc.), it also makes it truly feel like it’s jumping right off the pages of the original stories.

The namesake centerpiece of this film features Josh Brolin as Dwight McCarthy, a Sin City antihero who can’t help but be lured back to former flame Ava Lord, a femme fatale if ever there was one played brilliantly by Eva Green. After topping her own over-the-top sex scene from Dark Shadows with an even racier performance in 300: Rise of an Empire (another Miller adaptation), Green manages to outdo herself yet again here, appearing nude and/or copulating probably just as much as (if not more than) she does clothed. So there’s that. Luckily for Dwight, he’s the one who gets to benefit the most from Ava’s nudity. Well, “benefit” may not be the best way to describe the power Ava holds over Dwight, and just about every other male she comes in contact with. In exchange for the sexual gratification, Dwight gets the beating of his life from Ava’s manservant Manute (Dennis Haysbert replacing the late Michael Clarke Duncan), is framed for the death of Ava’s rich husband (Marton Csokas) and eventually has to undergo reconstructive facial surgery at the hands of a prostitute played by Rosario Dawson (which sort of explains why he doesn’t look like Clive Owen, who played the same character in the previous film).

Meanwhile, Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) decides to take the biggest gamble of his life by betting against Sin City’s most dangerous villain Senator Rourke (Powers Boothe). The cocky and charismatic young risk-taker proves to be an impressive poker player, but Rourke is a sore loser and, after allowing Johnny and his new gal pal Marcy (Julia Garner) to celebrate their winnings, has his goons disfigure Johnny. After a $40 surgery by a back-alley doctor (Christopher Lloyd) who resets his broken fingers with popsicle sticks (you get what you pay for), Johnny defines insanity by returning to challenge Rourke to another game of poker, where winning has already resulted in significant loses.

But Johnny’s not the only one seeking revenge against Rourke. Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba), a stripper at Rourke’s own club, has sunken to a depressing state since losing John Hartigan (Bruce Willis). And Rourke is clearly to blame for her loss. Guided by Hartigan’s ghost and assisted by Marv (Mickey Rourke), the brutish bad boy who is the common (and heavily-frayed) thread that runs through each story, a disheveled and determined Nancy decides to take Rourke down once and for all. But Rourke always has another trick up his sleeve, so it’s not going to be an easy task.

These stories are intermingled with one another, sometimes taking place concurrently, other times flashing back or forward, and taking place both before and after the events of the first film. A Dame to Kill For incorporates enough style and humor to make the gruesome violence easier to swallow. And with Miller and Rodriguez at the helm, there’s no reason for it not to stay true to the source material, even expanding upon the original mythos with Johnny and Nancy’s stories. While detractors can argue that the characters lack dimension, the sex is gratuitous and the violence is overt, these are also the very elements around which Sin City is built. Without the caricatures, sexually empowered females and barbaric bloodshed, Sin City wouldn’t be such an interesting place for us to visit.

www.sincity-2.com

Reptile heroes re-emerge from their shells in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

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Raphael (Alan Ritchson), Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), Leonardo (Pete Ploszek/Johnny Knoxville), and Donatello (Jeremy Howard) are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Photo by Industrial Light & Magic / Paramount.

I’ve found that it’s always best to have incredibly low expectations when going into a film that is in any way affiliated with Michael Bay. This approach has definitely helped me appreciate most of the Transformers movies a little more (that second one is still pretty terrible, though), as well as other Bay movies like Pain & Gain. But there seems to be a big difference in movies Bay directs and movies he produces. Some of the horror remakes he’s produced in recent years have been superior to the originals in many ways, and The Purge movies are, if nothing else, a unique approach to suspense.

I know quite a few longtime Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans who have retreated into their proverbial shells at every tidbit of news and rumor regarding the Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot. These hard-shelled heroes have always been just as much about comedy and camp as action and adventure (all of Bay’s strong points), so I actually thought this might turn out OK, even if the rumors about Bay’s Turtles being aliens rather than mutants were true (they’re not, and there’s even a line of dialogue in the movie that pokes fun at this rumor). And with Bay listed as a producer (Jonathan Liebesman directs), my low expectations were likely to be exceeded. And they were.

Megan Fox as April O’Neil in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. Photo by David Lee.

I’ve never been an avid fan of the Turtles, but I have followed the comics, cartoons and previous films closely enough to be familiar with how a giant rat named Splinter (played by Danny Woodburn, voiced by Tony Shalhoub) ends up raising four pizza-loving Ninja Turtles in the sewers of New York City. Not only is that still the origin story here, but the sequence in which Splinter and the Turtles mutate into their humanoid states is done remarkably well, looking more like a stop-motion ode to the original Eastman and Laird comics than CGI (though I’m guessing it is probably computer animation). And once they emerge from the sewers as vigilantes, thwarting the Foot Clan’s criminal activities, these Turtles retain that gritty comic book look.

It’s during one of these heists on a rainy night that TV news reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) stumbles onto the story she hopes will take her away from vapid fluff stories to the legitimate news she wants to be reporting (somehow without getting a single drop of rain on her despite the downpour). The deeper she digs, the more outrageous her findings become. When she explains her discoveries to her roommate and coworkers, she sounds crazy, hindering her career rather tun helping it. Cameraman Vernon Fenwick (played with the perfect amount of comical sleaze by Will Arnett) remains supportive, however, mostly under the deluded pretense of April being romantically interested in him.

Speaking of romantic interests, Leonardo (portrayed by Pete Ploszek, voiced by Johnny Knoxville), Donatello (Jeremy Howard), Raphael (Alan Ritchson) and especially Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), with their teenage libidos and sheltered upbringing, take a particular liking to April after she discovers their existence. So in between battling an amazing-looking Shredder (Tohoru Masamune this time, not Kevin Nash), uncovering secrets about who is responsible for their own existence and eating pizza, the Turtles still have time to flirt. Of course, it’s the battles with Shredder and the rest of the Foot Clan that we all want to see, and these fight scenes do not disappoint. The most entertaining of these scenes involves the Turtles sledding on their shells down a snow-covered mountainside while working in tandem to fight off the pursuing Foot Soldiers and trying to prevent April and Vernon from careening over a cliff in a semi truck. In much the same way that April proves to be rain proof earlier in the movie, the Turtles are inexplicably (and conveniently) bulletproof upon being hopped up on adrenaline and escaping Shredder’s capture. The rain thing isn’t so bad because I understand that the attractive female star needs to remain attractive (though a rain-drenched Megan Fox certainly doesn’t sound all that bad). But the fact that the Turtles become bulletproof (going so far as to flex their muscles to make all the bullets embedded in their flesh pop out) for no apparent reason (did I miss something?) at just the right time is an inexcusably lazy moment of storytelling.

The massively-armored Shredder (Tohoru Masamune) attacks Splinter (Danny Woodburn/Tony Shalhoub) in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. Photo by Industrial Light & Magic / Paramount.

But one or two flaws aren’t enough to keep me from enjoying Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I mean, it’s an outlandish concept to begin with and I’m willing to overlook a couple of things for the sake of such a comical adventure. Is it as good as some of this year’s other sci-fi action films like Godzilla, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes or Guardians of the Galaxy? Absolutely not. But it is kid friendly (it’s rated PG-13, but I don’t recall a single bit of profanity), with a few lines of sexual innuendo and a lot of cartoonish violence. So unless you’re just looking for a reason to not enjoy this movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a great mix of science fiction, action, comedy and martial arts.

www.teenagemutantninjaturtlesmovie.com