Movie Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
It's been a while since the half-shell heroes have been on the big screen, but this iteration of the turtles is bigger than ever. Does that necessarily mean it's better? Well...not necessarily.
The movie is basically the origin story of the turtles. They live in the sewers of New York for more than 15 years, training and studying the art of ninjitsu. You have Mikey, Donny, Leonardo, and Raphael, four turtles with different personalities. On the top side of New York, you have April O'Neil, a news journalist who's trying to get bigger and better stories than the ones she's assigned. As the turtles move on up to the streets, they soon get discovered by O'Neil, and the adventure begins.
There was a lot of criticism surrounding the newest TMNT movie. For starters, Megan Fox takes on the role as April, and many believed she wouldn't have much of a good performance. Here's how I saw Ms. Fox: she definitely wasn't great, but she wasn't horrible either. She was okay at best, and personally, that was fine with me. Will Arnett plays April's camera-man, and his character was so weak and underdeveloped, that I didn't really care about him. In fact, most of the cast made me feel the same.
Pacing felt like an issue with the film as well. There were scenes that should've been longer, but instead were just rushed through. For example, there was a scene where Shredder was fighting Splinter, but the fight and after-effects of the fight were so rushed, that you don't feel the pain that the turtles or Splinter were going through as much as you should have. It was going by too fast, and I wish it could've slowed down just a little bit.
Although the movie had it's issues, there was a few things to like.
With any hero movie, there needs to be a good bad guy. Here Shredder is the bad guy, and does a good job at it. Every fight he gets with the turtles, he basically kicks their butts. You could see in his eyes that he didn't want anything else except to bring pain to the turtles and Splinter.
Honestly, the turtle's characteristics and personalities have never been captured better in any of their other movies. Mikey is hilarious the entire time, Donny was incredibly nerdy (which was a complaint from some viewers, but it's DONNY. He's supposed to be nerdy), Leonardo was working on his leadership skills, and Raphael was mean and violent. It was nice to see how well they portrayed the turtles, and it was a bit refreshing.
Along with the turtles, the action scenes were amazing. Every kick, punch, and smash against a wall felt and sounded terrific. Some didn't like how to turtles look in this film, but personally, I think they look terrific. When I think of a teenage MUTANT ninja turtle, this is what I would think of. So CGI was pretty darn good overall.
The way the turtles developed throughout the film was also admirable. It was nice to see the four of them grow together as a team and as better beings.
Overall, the film had it's low points and it's high points. It was nothing crazy, but it was nothing horrendous either. As a guy who grew up watching and reading Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I can honestly say that the film did more justice to the turtles legacy than most films previously. It was nostalgic and a lot of fun to watch. But I won't let nostalgia blind me from the problems the film had. Either way...Kowabunga! Kowabunga indeed.
Overall: 7.5/10
The movie is basically the origin story of the turtles. They live in the sewers of New York for more than 15 years, training and studying the art of ninjitsu. You have Mikey, Donny, Leonardo, and Raphael, four turtles with different personalities. On the top side of New York, you have April O'Neil, a news journalist who's trying to get bigger and better stories than the ones she's assigned. As the turtles move on up to the streets, they soon get discovered by O'Neil, and the adventure begins.
There was a lot of criticism surrounding the newest TMNT movie. For starters, Megan Fox takes on the role as April, and many believed she wouldn't have much of a good performance. Here's how I saw Ms. Fox: she definitely wasn't great, but she wasn't horrible either. She was okay at best, and personally, that was fine with me. Will Arnett plays April's camera-man, and his character was so weak and underdeveloped, that I didn't really care about him. In fact, most of the cast made me feel the same.
Pacing felt like an issue with the film as well. There were scenes that should've been longer, but instead were just rushed through. For example, there was a scene where Shredder was fighting Splinter, but the fight and after-effects of the fight were so rushed, that you don't feel the pain that the turtles or Splinter were going through as much as you should have. It was going by too fast, and I wish it could've slowed down just a little bit.
Although the movie had it's issues, there was a few things to like.
With any hero movie, there needs to be a good bad guy. Here Shredder is the bad guy, and does a good job at it. Every fight he gets with the turtles, he basically kicks their butts. You could see in his eyes that he didn't want anything else except to bring pain to the turtles and Splinter.
Honestly, the turtle's characteristics and personalities have never been captured better in any of their other movies. Mikey is hilarious the entire time, Donny was incredibly nerdy (which was a complaint from some viewers, but it's DONNY. He's supposed to be nerdy), Leonardo was working on his leadership skills, and Raphael was mean and violent. It was nice to see how well they portrayed the turtles, and it was a bit refreshing.
Along with the turtles, the action scenes were amazing. Every kick, punch, and smash against a wall felt and sounded terrific. Some didn't like how to turtles look in this film, but personally, I think they look terrific. When I think of a teenage MUTANT ninja turtle, this is what I would think of. So CGI was pretty darn good overall.
The way the turtles developed throughout the film was also admirable. It was nice to see the four of them grow together as a team and as better beings.
Overall, the film had it's low points and it's high points. It was nothing crazy, but it was nothing horrendous either. As a guy who grew up watching and reading Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I can honestly say that the film did more justice to the turtles legacy than most films previously. It was nostalgic and a lot of fun to watch. But I won't let nostalgia blind me from the problems the film had. Either way...Kowabunga! Kowabunga indeed.
Overall: 7.5/10