COWABUNGA! Are not the words the studios behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Paramount and Nickelodeon are screaming right now as the film has debuted to a lukewarm response.
MOVIES WITH TATIRA ZWINOIRA
Last weekend, the film debuted to number one at the box office in the United States with $35, 3 million, according to Box Office Mojo. To date the film has made $79 million in global box office receipts and is trailing its production budget of a reported $135 million by at least $56 million.
However, being a franchise and an international release might save the film in the long run.
The word cowabunga is a popular catch phrase from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (TMNT) franchise and is now synonymous with the wise cracking talking turtles. Unfortunately, Zimbabwean fans will have to wait a little longer for the film as Ster Kinekor plans to release it in the next few weeks, bummer!
However, I managed to watch the movie and let me just say the movie has got better catchy phrases, story, and action. Hell, even the critics have noted a “slight improvement” over its 2014 predecessor.
Growing up, TMNT made me a fan myself and my favourite turtle has always been the attitude wielding turtle Raphael, voiced and motion captured by Hollywood actor Alan Ritchson in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, who to me has really shined as a character.
In this new sequel, the producers brought back classic TMNT super villain, Krang, who wants to bring his crazy war ship from his dimension into ours to destroy the world and recreate a new one and partners up with Shredder, played by Brain Tee, a Japanese American actor.
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As with most super villain plans that are always unrealistic, Krang’s plan is foiled by the TMNT team with the help from characters April O’Neil played by Megan Fox, Casey Jones played by Stephen Amell and Vern Fenwick played by Will Arnett.
Apart from the dazzling special effects and stunning action set pieces, what really makes the movie great is the theme, “standing tall and proud”.
This comes into the fore when the TMNT gang of Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo confidently reveal themselves to the police, getting them recognition.
So with all that said, you might be wondering why the film is not over performing? Well, that is because sequels do not tend to do better over their predecessors except for a few exquisite exceptions, namely, The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Number two on the box office list was the super hero epic X-Men: Apocalypse, followed by Me Before You, Alice Through The Looking Glass and Angry Birds rounding up the top five.
It should be noted that the only original piece in the top five was the Warner Brothers film, Me Before You, which has been well-received.
Me Before You is based on a popular romance novel about a woman by the name Louisa Clark played by British actress Emilia Clarke who is forced to work with the disabled Will Traynor, played by Sam Clafin, another British actor, a disabled and cynical banker who lives in a castle.
The character Louisa is an uptight woman who learns to appreciate life when she hears of all the experiences Will has acquired, prior to his becoming disabled from travelling the world.
On the other side, Will learns not to resent his disability with the help of Louisa, whose optimistic spirit resonates with him.
Although I am yet to watch it, social media has been abuzz over the film, especially the chemistry between Clarke and Clafin that has been cited many times as providing spark to the romance.
This weekend will see the release of another heavy special effects spectacle Warcraft, made from a popular global video game which will be vying for top spot. Also, coming after nearly three years will be the sequel to 2013’s surprise box office hit Now You See Me titled simply Now You See Me 2, which is looking to cause an upset to the Warcraft film.
Now You See Me 2 is a film about a group of magicians/llusionists who must deal with the consequence of their actions from the first film, in a suspense-pumping visual film.
Going into this weekend though, the new horror film The Conjuring 2, a sequel to the 2013 film of the same name, is expected to scare its way to the top of the box office, followed by Now You See Me 2.
