Just saw the new Turtles movie. (Spoilers inside.)
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 12:03 pmI just got back from the Michael Bay produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Let me say right off that there was nothing I disliked about it. It was a lot of fun. Some spoilers follow.
I won't make this long, just touching on some main things. Megan Fox did well enough as April O'Neil. If she made any mistakes I didn't notice, because she wasn't the focus of the film. Rightfully, the Turtles were. The only thing that was obvious was that she had some minor plastic surgery to her face. It was noticeable every time she smiled. Will Arnett was good as the comic sidekick Vern Fenwick. He had some good 1-liners, only to be bested by Mikey. The Shredder wasn't elaborated on much, just that he was a Japanese martial arts master who was greedy and had it in mind to make his Foot Clan unstoppable, using the mutagen that turned the Turtles into who they are. His human collaborator, Eric Sachs, played by the always awesome William Fichtner, was menacing enough, but again, he wasn't the main focus of the film, so he did what he had to do to pass his screen time without coming off boring or annoying.
Now. Onto the Turtles and Splinter. My favorite has always been Donatello, and after this movie I like the character even more, if that was possible. He was the glasses-wearing, bow staff-wielding tech wizard, who in my opinion had the best line in the movie: "Can I be the badass just this once?" And proceeds to be just that. Mikey had more than a few good 1-liners, mixed in with some unhealthy obsession with April. He was definitely played up as the irresponsible, little bit horny teenager. Basically, he was hitting on April. A LOT. To me it was funny, but considering the suggested inter-species erotica, it might be off-putting to some. Raphael was like he was in his previous iterations, kind of an emo hard ass. However, that pays off at the end in an emotional yet funny moment during the movie's climax. He's also the only 1 to take on Shredder by himself, besides Splinter. Leonardo wasn't given much, he was just kind of the "extra Turtle" until the end, when through teamwork it is established that he is the leader, because he can get them all to work together. Splinter had his moments, from providing the back story of how they came to be, and a pretty cool showdown with Shredder, that actually reminded me very much of Optimus against Megatron from the 1st film. (He gets a few shots in, but Shredder basically bitch slaps him around the sewers, until the Turtles give themselves up.)
The story of the film wasn't complicated, but it was delivered clearly, and the awesome action sequences (fights, a really cool truck chase) supported the progression of the events without wasting time. Basically, it was almost like Age of Extinction with all the slow parts taken out. You could definitely see Bay's influence, even though he was just the producer. But the final product was better than AoE, because Bay didn't have final say. I don't want to start an argument about AoE or Bay, I just brought it up because he was involved in the production of this movie. The only thing that was kind of a disappointment, was that the end sequence almost copied the 1st Amazing Spider-Man, with the Lizard climbing up to the top of a New York skyscraper to release a toxic gas, with the Shredder replacing the Lizard, and the Turtles and April replacing Spider-Man. Also, at the very end, they do get their iconic van with the launch pad from the 80s cartoon. Bay did throw in a slight nod to Rosie-Huntington Whiteley as a Victoria's Secret model at the very end. All I gotta say is, turtle shell bra!
Overall, as I said, I had fun from beginning to end, there's nothing outright bad I can say about it. The story wasn't taken from any previous TMNT continuities, just some details of it. I definitely recommend it. If you're a die-hard TMNT fan, you might be disappointed, but as a fun sci-fi movie, it's well worth the time and money. It was a bit campy at times, but in a good way, like the Batman movie with Jack Nicholson. I might go see it again in 3D. The visuals (especially the Turtles) were amazing.
I won't make this long, just touching on some main things. Megan Fox did well enough as April O'Neil. If she made any mistakes I didn't notice, because she wasn't the focus of the film. Rightfully, the Turtles were. The only thing that was obvious was that she had some minor plastic surgery to her face. It was noticeable every time she smiled. Will Arnett was good as the comic sidekick Vern Fenwick. He had some good 1-liners, only to be bested by Mikey. The Shredder wasn't elaborated on much, just that he was a Japanese martial arts master who was greedy and had it in mind to make his Foot Clan unstoppable, using the mutagen that turned the Turtles into who they are. His human collaborator, Eric Sachs, played by the always awesome William Fichtner, was menacing enough, but again, he wasn't the main focus of the film, so he did what he had to do to pass his screen time without coming off boring or annoying.
Now. Onto the Turtles and Splinter. My favorite has always been Donatello, and after this movie I like the character even more, if that was possible. He was the glasses-wearing, bow staff-wielding tech wizard, who in my opinion had the best line in the movie: "Can I be the badass just this once?" And proceeds to be just that. Mikey had more than a few good 1-liners, mixed in with some unhealthy obsession with April. He was definitely played up as the irresponsible, little bit horny teenager. Basically, he was hitting on April. A LOT. To me it was funny, but considering the suggested inter-species erotica, it might be off-putting to some. Raphael was like he was in his previous iterations, kind of an emo hard ass. However, that pays off at the end in an emotional yet funny moment during the movie's climax. He's also the only 1 to take on Shredder by himself, besides Splinter. Leonardo wasn't given much, he was just kind of the "extra Turtle" until the end, when through teamwork it is established that he is the leader, because he can get them all to work together. Splinter had his moments, from providing the back story of how they came to be, and a pretty cool showdown with Shredder, that actually reminded me very much of Optimus against Megatron from the 1st film. (He gets a few shots in, but Shredder basically bitch slaps him around the sewers, until the Turtles give themselves up.)
The story of the film wasn't complicated, but it was delivered clearly, and the awesome action sequences (fights, a really cool truck chase) supported the progression of the events without wasting time. Basically, it was almost like Age of Extinction with all the slow parts taken out. You could definitely see Bay's influence, even though he was just the producer. But the final product was better than AoE, because Bay didn't have final say. I don't want to start an argument about AoE or Bay, I just brought it up because he was involved in the production of this movie. The only thing that was kind of a disappointment, was that the end sequence almost copied the 1st Amazing Spider-Man, with the Lizard climbing up to the top of a New York skyscraper to release a toxic gas, with the Shredder replacing the Lizard, and the Turtles and April replacing Spider-Man. Also, at the very end, they do get their iconic van with the launch pad from the 80s cartoon. Bay did throw in a slight nod to Rosie-Huntington Whiteley as a Victoria's Secret model at the very end. All I gotta say is, turtle shell bra!
Overall, as I said, I had fun from beginning to end, there's nothing outright bad I can say about it. The story wasn't taken from any previous TMNT continuities, just some details of it. I definitely recommend it. If you're a die-hard TMNT fan, you might be disappointed, but as a fun sci-fi movie, it's well worth the time and money. It was a bit campy at times, but in a good way, like the Batman movie with Jack Nicholson. I might go see it again in 3D. The visuals (especially the Turtles) were amazing.
Though having said that, given AoE is comingout fairly soon, this should be out before the end of the year.
