Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- Review

Turtle Power!

Let's be clear on one thing here, I FREAKING LOVE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES! As a kid growing up in the late 80's to early 90's this franchise (along with the influence of Ghostbusters) practically defined my childhood, and was the epitome of everything I would consider to be cool at that time. To some degree it still holds that title in my mind.

The fundamentally timeless values it imparted through the tale of one tight-knit (albeit far from your average) family has always had a strong resonance within me due to how close I am with my own kin. Here was a narrative where the "freaks" were the heroes, and seeing as how I was kind of a social outcast back in my younger years, this meant a lot to me. These guys were quirky and considerably offbeat just like I was, but they could kick some serious ass while saving the world, all without a second thought. There is no doubt that the somewhat crazy (and surprisingly inclusive or even cosmopolitan) nature of the Turtle's many stories birthed my passion for a setting where essentially anything could happen. This was the product that instilled the life-long adoration I have for martial arts to this very day.

Much like a lot of kids from that time period, I consumed everything Ninja Turtle related that my older brother and I could convince our parents to buy for us. Our action figure count numbered somewhere in the absurd to the ridiculous. I still have a lot of those figures today. We devoured the bland cereal and those god-awful green ooze pies. Somewhere in the back of our minds we knew that this merchandise wasn't of any real quality, but these things had the Turtles on the packaging so we loved it anyway. I still have an old t-shirt my mother had hand made for me featuring Donatello, my favorite turtle. One of the first movies I ever saw in theaters was the original 1990 film. Currently my brother and I have seen every Ninja Turtles flick on the big screen (even the CGI TMNT) and this latest installment is no exception.

To go over the general plot of the Ninja Turtles is like recounting Superman's/Batman's/Spiderman's/etc. etc. origin story. Everyone by this point knows it, and essentially all one can truly do when bringing the heroes in a half shell to the big screen for another go around is simply making adjustments to some of the details. There has never really been an overly "consistent" narrative for the mean green team (at least in a concretely defined sense) and frankly I don't think there ever will be. The only things that define these guys is that they're brothers, they're teenagers, they're ninjas, they're turtles, and they fight The Foot Clan/The Shredder. That's pretty much it. Other than that, you can pretty much do whatever with these guys as that has been the case for their numerous adventures over a thirty year history.

I will admit that I had some reservations going into this new movie. Considering the pedigree (such as having guys like Micheal Bay producing and Johnathan Liebesman directing) there was a very good chance that this piece could have been a total disaster. Oddly enough, when the credits began to roll on I didn't find myself feeling liked I had just been robbed of two hours of my life. What I got was an overall decent interpretation of my childhood icons, that I don't think I would mind seeing a little more of. Do I think that the movie could have been better? Sure I do. This movie definitely has some serious flaws when comparing to past iterations, but for what it is, it works.

The changes and liberties taken here are mostly meant to bring the Turtles into a more modern type of film for the next generation to enjoy. Some of these changes and allusions to the past I like, while others I'm not too fond of. The choice to give some of the supporting cast stronger ties to the over arching plot I think could have been a good one, if only done with a little more care. To give an example of what I mean I will need to go into some slight SPOILER territory, so for those who don't want to know any of the details you've been warned.  

April O'Neil now has a much more connected origin to the Turtles and their creation this time around. It turns out that the Turtles are not an accident, but were originally test subjects in a lab that April's father worked at along with a brand new character for this film named Eric Sacks. The test was known as "Project Renaissance" involving four turtles and a rat, and was meant to enhance genetic immunity and healing in humans. A young April came to care for the little animals, feeding them things like pizza and such when the doctors weren't looking. When a fire destroys most of the lab, April manages to save the Turtles and Splinter by running them out of the lab and into a nearby sewer drain. The effects of the mutagen finally begin to manifest, and the group we all know and love takes shape. Personally I don't think all of these threads gel overly well with my own perception of the classic story, but it does at least allude to April's scientific background from some of the other continuities, as well as provide some reasoning to why the Turtles love pizza, or how the mutagen in their blood is of the utmost importance. See what I mean? For the potential new fans out there I'm sure they'll like all of this just fine because on a base level it works, but it isn't exactly what us older/seasoned fans are familiar or comfortable with. 

Frankly I would have rather seen the classic character Baxter Stockman be responsible for the creation of the mutagen that makes the Turtles what they are instead of the new character Eric Sacks. There is a bit of a slap-dash feel to the script, and it is obvious that there were several rewrites leading up to the final cut. This is mostly in part to the fact that as more information became available to the fans, their outcries of betrayal to the source material lead to numerous edits. In the original drafts it was setup so that Eric Sacks would actually be The Shredder, the Turtle's sworn enemy, but due to fan backlash this was changed at the last minute. You see, The Shredder is typically portrayed as a Japanese character and not some white-guy scientist in a power suit. The change to the final script does feature a Japanese martial artist as The Shredder, and they even include his daughter Karai as well. While the identity of The Shredder is concealed through heavy shadows and no one outright mentioning his real name, it's obvious he is supposed to be of Japanese decent. Oddly enough, even though it is a blatant edit, this is one of the few I really like as The Shredder in this movie is a total badass every time he shows up on screen.

While the argument could be made that he looks like a Swiss-army Knife, I think he still looks pretty boss.

In regards to the acting, it's a fairly mixed bag. Megan Fox as April O'Neil is one of the first characters we meet and she comes off as bland as ever. Megan Fox has never really been that great of an actress in my eyes, and with time she simply hasn't improved. I remember when they first announced her as April and I felt that they had clearly made a bad decision. Nice to see that I wasn't wrong in that assumption. Will Arnet on the other hand as the character of Vernon Fenwick (April's camera man) is pretty funny, providing a good bit of levity to some of the otherwise darker moments in the film. Whoopie Goldberg is in here, but frankly I don't know why. She plays the part of April's hard-ass boss, but is so one-dimensional/one-note that she's practically pointless to have. William Fichtner plays new character Eric Sacks, and while his part is only a mostly functional cog within the plot, he at least makes the most of his role where he can. 

The big question though is how well are the Turtles and Splinter done. Frankly I think they did pretty well in regards to casting and acting. The voices fit for the most part (except for maybe Johnny Knoxville as Leonardo) with the actors managing to capture the essence of the attitudes and personalities of the different Turtles. Sadly I do feel that Leonardo, Donatello, and Splinter get relegated to the backseat while the story focuses more on Michelangelo and Raphael. This isn't exactly a bad thing, but it does feel like the creators had some clearly favorite characters going into the project. Thankfully the chemistry between all of the actors is solid, and they do come off like a family. They quarrel and bicker with each other over things, and they even amusingly share in some colorful antics that I've had in a similar vain with my siblings. Of all the things to get right, the Turtles as a unit was the thing they needed to nail most, and I honestly think they did.

Visually Ninja Turtles is a fairly good looking film. The CGI used to create the Turtles isn't completely obvious, and while I'm not a huge fan of the new designs, I do think that they at least allow the Turtles to be fairly expressive. I'd say that they integrate well with the environment, but they do suffer from the uncanny valley effect in a couple scenes. The Shredder looks pretty damn awesome, with his power-armor looking almost real in a good deal of shots, and having an overall intimidating visage. The fight choreography is solid, with the fight between Shredder and Splinter being of note. The action bit that will get everyone's attention though is an escape sequence featuring the Turtles sliding down a mountain side along with a huge tractor trailer. This is where the camera work is at it's best and some of the most memorable parts to the action occur. By the time the Turtles and Shredder face off with their iconic roof top battle you feel like you have a good idea of how each character fights, and the conflict is all around gratifying with solid cinematography and framing to sell the action. 

Brian Tyler's score is pretty good with tons of nods to the previous iterations of the franchise popping up throughout. I'll admit that I'm even a fan of how a few the titles for the tracks are turtle puns or references to other things. Using the song "Happy Together" from the group The Turtles is a great stealth pun in my eyes, and I like how they have Michelangelo sing it badly for April. Even though I'm not a huge fan of rap music I do find the rap number "Shell Shocked" from Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, and Juicy J. to be a great credit roll song that fits the tone of the film. I actually hum it every now and again since watching the movie.

Overall this new Ninja Turtles flick isn't as bad as some have made it out to be. All things considered this could have been much much worse While it is far from a perfect film, it isn't an outright bad adaptation. For a new generation of fans I see this working just fine as a jumping on point, and I wouldn't even be opposed to a sequel just to see if they can do a better job on the second go. For more old-school fans (such as myself) though I recommend just watching the newer series currently running on Nickelodeon or reading the IDW comicbook. Both I feel are superior products in the regard that they hold truer to a lot of the expectations of what older fans are more than likely looking for out of their experience. With all that said though, my brother and I have managed to maintain our perfect attendance for seeing adolescent genetically altered shinobi terrapins once more. In all honesty, much like those damn pies, maybe we only continue to watch because there are four turtles on the packaging, and I guess we're just suckers for that sort of thing.

Positive Factors

• All things considered, not as bad as it could have been.
• Interesting changes to the continuity that works just fine for a new generation of Turtles fans.
• The Ninja Turtles and Splinter come off as a legit family, warts and all.
• The Shredder is pretty damn badass in both look and action whenever he shows up.
• An overall good looking film. CGI is fairly well integrated.
• Solid fight choreography and cinematography for the bigger action sequences.
• References and nods throughout the movie are fun for the older fans.
• Music fits the tone of the film well with a good rap number for the credits.

Negative Factors

• Megan Fox is still lacking as an actress.
• Most of the human characters are superfluous with only Will Arnet's Vernon being any real fun.
• Obvious edits to the script makes things feel a bit on the sloppy side.
• Sometimes the CGI can fall into the uncanny valley. 
• New designs for the Turtles still don't look that great.
• A much better Ninja Turtles show or comicbook available right now instead of this.

Final Rating: Splenderiffic!