Review - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
I have to start off by saying that this is indeed a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and it feels that way. That is not a bad thing! I actually enjoyed this film and as a long time fan I, like many out there, was nervous about it. However, I am glad to see that I walked out with a smile on my face. I'll also make a note pointing out that I was excited to see this film because I had the opportunity to be a background extra in it and found myself during the film's climactic Times Square battle at the end of the film. Very exciting!
This was a film that was publicly dismissed before it even got started. Fans didn't like the look of the turtles and walked away straight from the start. Well I'd like to point out that everyone has their "favorite" set of Turtles but these guys have been around since 1984 and there have been varying physical appearances to each new incarnation of the team whether it be in comic, cartoon, or movie form. At this point fans should expect and accept change.
When it comes to the Turtles themselves, the two changes to the Turtles that I personally could have done without was the puka shells on Michelangelo and the broken "nerd" glasses on Donatello. The other changes I actually liked. Unfortunately, director Joe Leibesman spent little time developing the characters of the Turtles themselves in hopes that the audience already knows who they are and what they are like. With this said the film gives the Turtles their own personality and style and that part I loved. You do not need to look at the color of their mask to understand which Turtle you are dealing with. Their personalities and style shine through great. Raphael and Michelangelo shine a little brighter than their brothers but it is Michelangelo who steals the show with his humor, pop culture references (which were numerous. This could be good or bad), and attempts to swoon April. The actors / voice actors for the Turtles did an amazing job. It took a scene or two to get used to Leonardo's more grizzly voice but that was not a big deal. Liebesman succeeded on showing the audience that brotherhood and family were very important to the Turtles. Throughout the film this is very clear and as a fan I appreciated that. Master Splinter, the Turtle's "father" and sensei, looked less "clean" than the Turtles did and his voice felt a little off to me. (And he frankly scared me in his opening scene. Man he is rough.)
The rest of the cast is rounded out by Megan Fox as April O'Neil who despite getting a lot of negative feedback from her casting from fans, myself included, did a good job. She delivered a good performance and gave the audience an April that was willing to fight back. There is however a "Look at Megan's butt" moment which wasn't needed for this film. Will Arnett as Vernon Fenwick, April's cameraman, delivered a strong performance that brought several great comedic moments to the film. Whoopie Goldberg plays Bernadette Thompson, the Channel 6 News chief, and is frankly forgettable in this film. This role could have been played by anyone else. William Fitchner as Eric Sacks brought a strong presence to his scenes and becomes the character that you want to see fail (as he should be). Although he looks pretty cool, Shredder could have been developed better and had no real backstory given or real name. Shredder gives the audience some great fight scenes but the short length of the film (1hr 41min) hurt the development of what should have been an amazing villain. The character of Karai makes an appearance as the leader of the Foot Clan but takes a backseat in most of the film and is forgotten. Lastly, the Foot Clan in this film are more like S.W.A.T. members than ninjas so that was a major change that felt weird to get used to.
Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) did an amazing job on the visuals for this film. They were outstanding. The action sequences were fun and fast paced the best of which was the fight between Splinter and Shredder and the downhill snow chase. The best fight scene was seeing Splinter go toe to toe with Shredder and watching the two masters try to get the upper hand on each other. I actually feel Splinter had the fight if he did not lose his concentration when trying to protect the Turtles. The downhill snow chase seemed like in reality it shouldn't have been as long (seriously, what mountainside are they on that close to New York City?) but the fast pace, action, and humor throughout the scene really capture your attention.
As previously noted the film is inexplicably short. At 1 hour and 41 minutes this film just didn't have enough time to fully develop the plot that it wanted to. Sure it manages to squeeze everything in but it does so at the expense of some of the characters' development. Because of the short run time, pacing of the film suffered overall. There was also a huge plot convenience put in to keep the pace moving where April finds an "Inject Adrenaline" button to help out the Turtles as they are weak and being held prisoner.
The film does shine in one last department and that is with the amount of references and nods to earlier mediums of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles work. I will not say them all (there are plenty!) but three of my absolute favorites were the Turtle's saying "cowabunga", Shredder saying "I will dine on turtle soup," (both from the original cartoon) and a pizza slice landing on Splinter's head (a very nice nod to the original 1990 film). I was also very happy to see the Turtles using the full potential of their weapons against the enemy. They were striking to put their enemy down rather than just defending. I took this to be a nice nod to the original comics that were very brutal and graphic.
Overall, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a very fun, action packed film that will delight fans. Children will love it as well as long time fans. However, if you are a purist then you will most likely leave complaining. These are the Turtles of 2014, not the 80s or 90s. Those that are completely new to the franchise could go either way. My advice is to not hold this film to other films' standards. Just enjoy the experience and fun of the movie and you'll like it as well. There are certainly faults in this film but if you sit back and just be a fan then you will have a great time watching it. I walked away happy and smiling and therefore this film, to me, is a success.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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