STACK NZ Jan-Feb #59

REVIEWS

DVD&BD

Ran’s Labyrinth THE MAZE RUNNER

Heroes in a Half Shell TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

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Release Date: 21/01/15

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Release Date: 17/12/14

HIGH-DEF HITS

Joining the seemingly endless list of teen-fiction- turned-box-office-hits, The Maze Runner follows a group of boys exiled from the rest of humanity; memories wiped, they awaken on an island where they must negotiate an ever-changing labyrinth. Teen Wolf ’s Dylan O’Brien, alongside rising stars Ki Hong Lee and Kaya Scodelario, strive to escape this lethal trap and return to the freedom of the outside

Cowabunga! Who would have thunk back in 1984 that this ridiculous sounding quartet of superheroes would escape the pages of a comic book to take over cartoons, movies, video games and cosplay? ‘Turtle Power’ has endured and they have now risen again from hibernation with a spiffy new photorealistic makeover. Producer Michael Bay and director Jonathan Liebesman have started from scratch, introducing the

world. A divide emerges between two ‘groups’ in the makeshift camp, half residing behind O’Brien and half behind antagonist Will Poulter ( We’re the Millers ). And the arrival of lone female Teresa (Scodelario) further disrupts the status quo. They all soon discover where allegiances lie, and come to realise the dangers lurking beyond the walls of The Glade. The Maze Runner is a briskly paced adventure, that lays the foundations for a popular new franchise.

heroes in a half shell to a new generation. This time round it’s Megan Fox as New York reporter April O’Neill, who discovers that the vigilantes targeting the notorious Foot Clan crime gang are six-foot tall talking turtles, with the names of Renaissance artists and an appetite for pizza. Michael Bay’s involvement tells you what you should expect from this reboot, but rest assured, TMNT is cooler and much more fun than one of his Transformers films.

There is no Justice Without Sin SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR

Denzel plus Russian Mobsters equals Mayhem THE EQUALIZER

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Release Date: 14/01/15

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Release Date: 28/01/15

It’s been nine years since Robert Rodriguez teamed up with comic book artist Frank Miller to bring the latter’s monochrome metropolis Sin City to the screen. In this return visit, Miller and Rodriguez have four more stories to tell, some of them featuring familiar faces who met their end in the first film. So, what gives? The Sin City timeline is fluid, with prequel tales – including the titular A Dame to Kill For – complementing two new stories

The ‘80s TV crime series of the same name (starring Edward Woodward) was never like this! Denzel Washington steps into the title role here as a former intelligence operative turned hardware store worker, who befriends a young Russian prostitute (Chloë Grace Moretz) being mistreated by her pimp. After a rather nasty incident puts the girl in hospital, Denzel calls upon his past training

written exclusively for the screen. Which means Mickey Rourke’s lovable rogue Marv is back! So too is Jessica Alba’s dancer, the girls from Old Town and Dwight McCarthy (although this time he is played by Josh Brolin, rather than Clive Owen). Sin City: A Dame to Kill For looks even more visually striking than its predecessor and fans will find this belated return to Miller’s mean streets well worth the wait.

to exact revenge, which consequently makes him a target for the Russian mob. The Equalizer reunites Denzel with his Training Day director Antoine Fuqua for a violent and mean-spirited action-thriller, culminating in a tense and bloody final showdown in the darkened corridors of the hardware store, where the well-stocked shelves provide a veritable arsenal of weapons. Ouch!

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