Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011)

Michael Bay directs a third movie in the series. This time the All-Spark is completely irrelevant and so is the renewed quest to extract Energon. However, The Autobots and Decepticons are on a search for an old Cybertronian ship called The Ark, which crashlanded on the dark side of the moon in the 1950's. The ship transported an Autobot called Sentinel Prime, an engineer responsible for the pillars that form a space bridge. The main plot now is to transport Cybertron to Earth to rebuild the wasteland.
Several changes were made after the previous movie: no more African-American stereotypes, no more cowardly Leo, and no more Megan Fox. Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) is three months out of college and is looking for work. Unfortunately it has to be the same formula within the Michael Bay movies: too many humans, too much detail of the characters we do not care about, and the presence of his ever-so-annoying parents who add more to the misery. Sam has a new girlfriend after Megan Fox was fired by Bay himself. No explicit explanation was offered, but it was only said that "she was mean". However, it adds more insult to injury because nobody would even hook up with this guy after the last misadventure that almost got everyone killed in the process. Any girl who has no taste for deathly pursuits would not have anything to do with a guy whose face was broadcast worldwide by the evil robots. As if that was not enough, we have to watch a montage of his job hunt. Like I said, anyone who is unemployed or not in full-time employed would be grossly annoyed by this montage when they came to watch Autobots and Decepticons duke it out on each other. More of Sam Witwicky than of the Transformers and we call clamor for a change in direction.
So when we do see the Transformers, we see our favorite robots reincarnated: Shockwave, Laserbeak, Soundwave as car instead of the satellite (I do not know how he did that and the movie does not show it). But we also see one other useless robot that plays no important role in the movie (a long-tongued stump), and another robot who could transform into a laptop once (named "Brains", like the Thunderbirds character, right?). You have to be honest, Shockwave is a bad-ass cyclops in his own rights with his giant worms and uses his worms to decimate every building and structure in his every sight. Laserbeak now talks, even though his previous incarnations never talk. There is some issue regarding his ability to transform into one ordinary hardware to another even without ample time to scan the object prior to transformation. I think the purpose of that is for product placement, otherwise they are just superfluous.
I have watched the 1980's series and have discovered that this movie derives two plot points from the series: "bringing Cybertron to Earth" and "kicking the Autobots out". I have to recall the first point: by bringing Cybertron to Earth's atmosphere, the Decepticons risk inducing powerful gravitational forces capable of tearing the Earth to chunks, as was acknowledged by the cartoon episode but grossly ignored by the movie itself. Yet Sentinel Prime has dedicated his alliance to Megatron just to enslave the human race. If the gravitational forces rip the Earth into chunks, these slaves will perish; so the plan is impracticable. On top of all that, one city Chicago is decimated with several victims being scorched by some factions of Decepticons who are possibly oblivious to their grand plan.
I can only assume that the incoherence in this story is shorter and less strenuous on one's logic. Here, we remember from the prologue that there is a ship that flew from Cybertron transporting Sentinel Prime with his technology. The ship was shot down into the moon and lay dormant for decades. But it is disclosed that the Decepticons shot down the ship without knowledge as to whether the ship would survive and perish. So Sentinel survives and is revived, only to later reveal his true alliance to Megatron. It might have been real pain for Megatron to realize that he had just demoted himself under Sentinel, from Prime to slime. Only Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) could talk some sense into him and <Spoilers>.
Speaking of H-W, I think she was less than passionate in her role. All her dialogue sounds wooden and child-like (as in, like child actors). I would not even think she was the best choice for a character to replace Mikaela Banes, with no emotion and very little rush in her aura unless in more serious situations.
Undoubtedly there is a series of destruction on highways, business districts, the NEST headquarters (which is no longer secret since Transformers can be seen with the naked eye). An orgy of explosions is a must, and there is this very long scene of one building being decimated with some occupants clinging to dear life. I am pretty sure that a lot of viewers were just hoping Sam Witwicky was just going to be killed off along with that overly heinous Jerry "Deep" Wang <urgh!>--thank goodness he was killed off. His appearance is just pointless and downright insulting to the 12A/PG-13 certificate. One other note, Tyrese Gibson only spends fewest minutes on-screen of the three movies. Seymour Simmons (John Turtturo) makes his third appearance for the sake of getting the plot forward, despite his role in the government sector being history. To top it off, he now has to make it big on us that he is rich and has a mansion of his own and no longer lives with his mother or owns a butcher's shop. He suffers from an injury in the highway chase which should have just thrown him out of this movie since he just sits in the wheelchair for the remainder of the film and talks about whatever he likes. There are several more unlikable human characters who should be killed off so that only the robots take up all the screen time.
This movie makes moderate improvements in some sections like having a story that can be digested, no more plot twists, and more action from the robots in disguise. But the Michael Bay formula still ruins the movie's chance of ever being taken seriously.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Old vs. New (French)

VS

Remake de 2014 vs Version 1990

Cette année, j'ai acheté un DVD contenant le remake et les trois films des années 90, et je dois être franc sur les modifications. Au début, je pensais que le remake était correct ; maintenant, je pense qu'il est inférieur à l'original. Mais avant d'acheter ce DVD, j'avais exprimé écrasante dédain pour ce remake pour diverses modifications de l'apparence des tortues : plusieurs appelés les tortues, un sosie de Wayne Rooney, et j'ai personnellement comparés à des hommes d'âge moyen plutôt que des adolescents. Même la série TV en cours d'exécution sur Nickelodeon donne une meilleure description des tortues que le film—, et ce film est produit par Nickelodeon Movies.

 

Donc ce qui a causé tant d'exagération par rapport à l'original ? La version originale de 1990 reste fidèle à la BD de Mirage et la diffusion de séries des années 80 à l'époque en ce qui concerne l'origine des tortues et maître Splinter. Que ce soit Splinter qui était un mouchard pour animaux de compagnie à Master Yoshi ou Master Yoshi se tourna vers un rat nommé Splinter, Yoshi était (et est) le plus petit dénominateur commun. Toutefois, dans ce remake, il y n'a eu aucune mention de Master Yoshi, qui a toujours été la raison de Splinter'responsabilité s un sensei (et de père) aux tortues.

   

Qui a nommé les tortues ?

Encore une fois, les deux sources (le film de 1990 et la caricature des années 1980) font mention de Splinter'dévotion s pour lire un livre basé sur les artistes de la Renaissance dont il dérive les noms. Ce film de 2014, a quant à elle, montre qu'une jeune fille nommée April O'Neill est celui qui a nommé les tortues de cette façon, même si elle n'avait même pas lu ces livres. 

La relation entre les tortues

Même dans les versions les plus tôt précitées donnent toujours chambre à tortues collage entre eux comme des frères. Nous savons très bien de leur personnalité et attendre qu'ils soient comme ils étaient dans le film plus tôt, mais ne voient pas beaucoup de cela dans cette version moderne. Si vous vous rappelez dans le film de 1990, nous avons assisté à des moments où Michel-Ange et Donatello fait des blagues (one-liners) entre eux, médité sur Splinter's d'enseignement ; et aussi où Raphaël et Leonardo a discuté de Splinter'enlèvement s et des désaccords à propos de maîtriser la situation. Je me souviens comment avril rapporté sur l'approche de tortues' à faire face à leur perte. 

 

 

  

La déchiqueteuse

J'ai'm pas sure si Oroku Saki était déjà mentionné dans ce film, mais la déchiqueteuse dans ce film de 2014 ressemblait à une combinaison de Megatron de Michael Bay'série de film Transformers s et le prédateur de la franchise de films éponyme. Puisqu'il y n'a eu aucune mention des Utroms de la bande dessinée de Mirage, ou de Kraang de la bande dessinée, cette technologie du costume ressemble avancer beaucoup trop irréaliste pour un être humain à gérer. Je pense que c'est parce que les auteurs voulaient à redessiner la déchiqueteuse à intimider les images. 

 

  

Le Clan de pied

Qu'est-il arrivé à la bande de voleurs de ninja du Japon ? Ce's apparemment impardonnable d'avoir la posture Foot Clan comme terroristes au lieu de « Ninjas ». Le premier film collé à la bande dessinée, alors pourquoi pas ce film ? 

  

Maître Splinter a une queue préhensile ; les tortues sont encombrants et sportives ninja plus qu'un simple engin ; les scènes d'action sont tout simplement trop terne. Oublier, les histoires d'origine sont également absurdes ; l'intrigue est risible ; et l'écriture est plate. Encore une suite est en préparation. Ce redémarrage 2014 ne parvient pas à reproduire le succès du film 1990, qui touche encore le cœur des enfants des années 90. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie review: The 1990 movie vs. The remake

This year I bought a DVD containing the remake and the three movies of the 1990s, and I have to be frank about the changes. At first I thought the remake was okay; now I think it is inferior to the original. Yet before buying this DVD I had expressed overwhelming disdain towards this remake for various changes to the appearance of the turtles: many called the turtles a lookalike to Wayne Rooney, and I personally compared them to middle-aged men rather than teenagers. Even the currently running TV series on Nickelodeon gives a better description of the turtles than the movie—and this movie is produced by Nickelodeon Movies.

 

So what has caused so much hype compared to the original? The original 1990 version stays true to the Mirage Comics and the 1980s series airing at the time in terms of the origin of the turtles and Master Splinter. Whether it was Splinter who was a pet rat to Master Yoshi or Master Yoshi turned to a rat named Splinter, Yoshi was (and is) the lowest common denominator. However, in this remake, there has been no mention of Master Yoshi, who has always been the reason for Splinter’s responsibility as a sensei (and a father) to the turtles.

 

Who named the turtles?
Again, both sources (the 1990 movie and the 1980s cartoon) make mention of Splinter’s devotion to reading a book based on the Renaissance artists from whom he derived the names. This 2014 movie, on the other hand, shows that a young girl named April O’Neill is the one who named the turtles that way, even if she had not even read such books.



The relationship among the turtles
Even in the earlier aforementioned versions always give room to turtles bonding with each other as brothers. We know very well of their personalities and expected them to be as they were in the earlier movie, but do not see much of that in this modern version. If you remember in the 1990 movie, we witnessed moments where Michelangelo and Donatello made jokes (one-liners) with each other, meditated on Splinter’s teaching; and also where Raphael and Leonardo argued over Splinter’s abduction and disagreements over handling the situation. I can recall how April narrated on the turtles’ approach to coping with their loss.



The Shredder
I’m not sure if Oroku Saki was ever mentioned in this movie, but the Shredder in this 2014 movie resembled a combination of Megatron from Michael Bay’s Transformers movie series and the Predator from the eponymous movies franchise. Since there has been no mention of the Utroms from the Mirage Comics, or of Kraang from the cartoon, this technology of the suit looks way too unrealistically advance for a human to handle. I think it is because the writers wanted to redesign the Shredder to intimidating imagery.



The Foot Clan
What happened to the band of ninja thieves from Japan? It’s apparently unforgivable to have the Foot Clan pose as terrorists instead of ninjas. The first movie stuck to the comics, so why not this movie?



Master Splinter has a prehensile tail; the turtles are bulky and sport more than just ninja gear; the action scenes are just too uninspiring. Also to mention, the origin stories are preposterous; the plot is laughable; and the writing is flat. Yet a sequel is in the works. This 2014 reboot fails to replicate the success of the 1990 movie, which still touches the hearts of the children of the 1990s.

Transformers (2007)

Since the 1980s the Transformers franchise has been a craze in childhood. Toys, t-shirts, television series of various generations, and even a movie of 1986, have been a favourite to children of all ages. There were animations, from hand-drawn to CGI, so it was time to blend live action and CGI. So here we have it, Michael Bay's Transformers (2007).

On a mega budget of $150m, the robots in disguise make their appearance in our world and interact with humans. It is a marvellous sight on-screen to watch the heroic Autobots wage war against their foes the Decepticons. What is the cause of the war? As stated in the prologue, it is The Allspark--the power to turn ordinary technology into transforming robots. The Autobots want to use it to rebuild their ravaged home planet; the Decepticons want to use it to build an army, and dominate the universe. The Allspark crashes into earth and is discovered by mankind before the transformers.

With advanced computers and graphics, the robots are blended into the screen so that they appear to be as real as the human characters themselves. However, many of our well-known characters are much different to their incarnations of previous generations, including Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Megatron, Starscream and Frenzy; new Decepticons include Barricade, Warpath, Bonecrusher and Blackout. Many of them have undergone radical alterations in their patterns of transformation, like a Rubik's cube rather than that pattern from any of the animated series. But it must be noted that a great deal of computer work has been as intricate as possible to give the robots a distinctive look, so that even without their respective insigniae we can tell an Autobot from a Decepticon. If you recall the animated series of previous generations (More Than Meets The Eye, Cybertron, Armada, Energon, Robots In Disguise), you will recall that the Autobots and Decepticons look so much alike that they would need their insignias to stand out. Thus a lot of care was taken in this movie to make the Decepticons look far too intimidating and nightmarish to be mistaken for Autobots.

A problem with this movie is the large chunk of running time focused on the human characters in this film, particularly on Shia LaBeouf's character Sam Witwicky. For a movie titled Transformers, we expected this movie to focus on the titular characters. Many of the fans could care less about the human characters and more about the alien robots. Besides, nobody wants to watch some kid continually stammer on the screen and scream like a sissy. One other thing, Sam's parents truly do not help matters at all, especially not Julie Witwicky.

So Michael Bay brings our robots to life; thank you for the computer animation, action, the humour and the plot. But we are not pleased with some of the human characters that take up too much screen time and spill crudeness onto us with their unwatchable acting and delivery. Work on the script so that excessive destruction to property will be averted; shorten the movie by giving less time to the human characters and focus more on the titular characters instead.