My review of the latest outing by Michael Bay and company can be summed up in the prophetic words of a co-worker of mine that I will refer to as K. It was so bad it was good.
My overall good feeling at seeing this film is the result of several factors. First, my kids had a blast. I think I enjoyed watching them laughing uncontrollably more than anything. Second, I saw the move on half price night at our local multiplex. This made it much easier to relax and enjoy the movie knowing we spent much less to get in the door than we did at the snack bar. It is odd for me that my movie expectations at $5 per seat are much lower than they are at $10. An oddity of the current context but certainly true.
Third, given all the warring between Mr. Bay and the fan base for this property leading up to the release, my expectations were low. If that sounds like I was pleased that an actual movie ran that had all the required elements and was not replaced by some shrieking infomercial, you are correct. I was struck think, it could have been a lot worse. If any of the rumors about what Mr. Bay wanted to do came true, it would have been.
At the outset of this review, I used a word I now want to explain. It is the word, 'good'. I explained how this film escaped what should have been withering criticism. This movie comes up short on a host of levels. The story, the direction, and on some level the acting all come up short. And by comes up short, I don't mean by a tad, a little bit, narrowly misses the mark. I mean in the ohmygawdwhatweretheythinking definition of the word short.
On some level though, this movie is good on a couple of levels one expected and one surprising. As per usual with Mr. Bay's films, the action and the visuals were top shelf. The action was solidly planned and well executed with top notch special effects and CGI work. I expected no less. On the surprising level... This film was a parody of every Bay film ever made. Certain actors were cardboard cutouts and archetypes for every other one to proceed them in every other Bay film before. The turtles could have been alien robots or World War II battleships for that matter. Megan Fox was well... Megan Fox. The only missing element was Ms. Fox running in slow motion. As a caricature and a piece of unintentional satire it was rather good.
Allow me to be clear, I am done with Mr. Bay and his substandard version of movie making. I would hope that the Hollywood moneymen realize that the bankable nadir of this so-called director and the steaming fecal lumps of films that he produces is over. That statement may seem to be contradicted by the recent Transformers box office results. It shouldn't as that is easily explained. In terms of actual tickets sold there were fewer of them in number than in previous films. One could postulate that increased ticket prices had more to do with it than anything else. The face that it faded fast and disappeared from theaters quickly would seem to confirm this.
If you are considering seeing this film, allow me to humbly suggest you wait for RedBox on this one. Your kids will like it and you won't feel completely mugged of anything but ninety minutes or so of your life.
My overall good feeling at seeing this film is the result of several factors. First, my kids had a blast. I think I enjoyed watching them laughing uncontrollably more than anything. Second, I saw the move on half price night at our local multiplex. This made it much easier to relax and enjoy the movie knowing we spent much less to get in the door than we did at the snack bar. It is odd for me that my movie expectations at $5 per seat are much lower than they are at $10. An oddity of the current context but certainly true.
Third, given all the warring between Mr. Bay and the fan base for this property leading up to the release, my expectations were low. If that sounds like I was pleased that an actual movie ran that had all the required elements and was not replaced by some shrieking infomercial, you are correct. I was struck think, it could have been a lot worse. If any of the rumors about what Mr. Bay wanted to do came true, it would have been.
At the outset of this review, I used a word I now want to explain. It is the word, 'good'. I explained how this film escaped what should have been withering criticism. This movie comes up short on a host of levels. The story, the direction, and on some level the acting all come up short. And by comes up short, I don't mean by a tad, a little bit, narrowly misses the mark. I mean in the ohmygawdwhatweretheythinking definition of the word short.
On some level though, this movie is good on a couple of levels one expected and one surprising. As per usual with Mr. Bay's films, the action and the visuals were top shelf. The action was solidly planned and well executed with top notch special effects and CGI work. I expected no less. On the surprising level... This film was a parody of every Bay film ever made. Certain actors were cardboard cutouts and archetypes for every other one to proceed them in every other Bay film before. The turtles could have been alien robots or World War II battleships for that matter. Megan Fox was well... Megan Fox. The only missing element was Ms. Fox running in slow motion. As a caricature and a piece of unintentional satire it was rather good.
Allow me to be clear, I am done with Mr. Bay and his substandard version of movie making. I would hope that the Hollywood moneymen realize that the bankable nadir of this so-called director and the steaming fecal lumps of films that he produces is over. That statement may seem to be contradicted by the recent Transformers box office results. It shouldn't as that is easily explained. In terms of actual tickets sold there were fewer of them in number than in previous films. One could postulate that increased ticket prices had more to do with it than anything else. The face that it faded fast and disappeared from theaters quickly would seem to confirm this.
If you are considering seeing this film, allow me to humbly suggest you wait for RedBox on this one. Your kids will like it and you won't feel completely mugged of anything but ninety minutes or so of your life.
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