Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

[Trevor]

No, I haven't seen it - the South African release is only next month - but I am putting it here so long. I know a guy from South Africa directed it  and that Johnny Knoxville supplies Leonardo's voice  but I've seen the trailers and this is my reaction thus far:



I hope I will be proved wrong but I'm scared. 

[Javakoala]

Just hide in your shell until the danger passes.

[Trevor]

Just hide in your shell until the danger passes.

 

And the IMDB says it made over $65 million on its' opening weekend...... oy..... 

[Olivia Bauer]

I just got internet working in my "Michael Bay Rage Bunker".

I go in here to protect myself from the riots that proceed after the release of Michael Bay's newest bastardization of classic '80s cartoons.

And no there's not enough room for any of you.

[HappyGilmore]

Bay is only the producer.

I'll tell you this much...I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm a huge TMNT fan and I loathe Michael Bay affiliated films. 

[Trevor]

Bay is only the producer.

I'll tell you this much...I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm a huge TMNT fan and I loathe Michael Bay affiliated films.  

Based on your recommendation, I will go see it next month. I might even splurge on a 3D ticket.  

[HappyGilmore]

I'll say this, the first half hour or so kind of drags, but it definitely picks up for the middle and end.

This scene here has no official spoilers, but it's just a fun segment:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Official Movie CLIP - The Elevator (2014) - Ninja Turtle Movie HD

[etmoviesb]

I might be biased since I am a fan of the turtles since I was a child, but I kinda liked this movie. The plot is unoriginal, but I liked the characterization (not the aspect too much) of the turtles; I liked Megan Fox as April (heck, she is a sex bomb in the '80 series, she still is :) ); and overall I liked there are no joke characters... even Vernon has his moments! It also helped that the fight scenes were from OK to good.

The only complain... Leo says nothing in the "tell a secret scene".

[pennywise37]

1stly i liked this more than i thought i would. i don't hate Megan Fox like many people seem to, i can take her or leave her pretty much. but i do think she was miscast in this. she wasn't as bad as people say she was, there are parts in it where she's fine and than there's parts where she isn't. i also hate with a passion how the turtles look they are too BIG for one and they look like crap.

and having Shredder having a lousy entrance for one and turning him into a big shredder wasn't needed. some people say where it's cause it's the size of the turtles and they'd yeah be right no doubt but they didn't need to make them as big as a freaking semi. ok maybe not a semi truck but you get my point i'm sure. they should also should have left out the countless shaky cam's scenes mainly because i freaking HATE shaky cam in any film whatsoever.

all it does is make me dizzy and give me a headache

[etmoviesb]

and having Shredder having a lousy entrance for one and turning him into a big shredder wasn't needed.

Seriously? Are you talking of the scene where the Shredder beats down a goon starting from a sitting position with the hands tied under his back? And says something like: "The mission failed because your men are weak"?

I guess I am in the polar opposite! I loved that scene; when I see it I think: "One of the best bad guy intro ever!"

[dean]

I thought it was better than I feared but overall the plot points were a bit too paper thin for my liking. The original had a nicer emotional core and better stakes for the characters. In the new one it's nice that April is a bit more connected to the turtles but that's more in the realm of 'fun coincidence' as they kind of dump the revelation on without much build up so it seemed a bit forced.

But it wasn't horrible! Which is more than I can say about Transformers.

[pennywise37]

some people hated that April was the one that was named them and with the big connection. that really didn't bother me.
the (1990) is a far far far better film. i saw that opening day back than and i think it still holds up. i don't think this one will to be honest. i think Shredder was not only written better in the original version but also played better as well.

them making him a super shredder i think was done better and looked better in the secret of the ooze too. call me old fashion i don't care but shredder is a guy who only took the ooze as it's called in the 2nd film when he had no choice.

in short it's been done before pretty much. now if they would have had Krang in the film doing that i prolly would have liked that better. something they also didn't do is they gave a good storyline for Ralph and i'm grateful for that, they gave him a personality but the rest of the guys not so much. Donnie's glasses doesn't bother me like it does other people though.

them also adding some of the 80's cartoon in it i liked actually, i never expected to see Vern in any TMNT film at all.
and he wasn't a weasel like he is in the cartoon but a likable guy who yes is a dork but a guy that you could in some way root for. so there are some things about the film i do like. the film did need a better script though

[etmoviesb]

I am happy to see I am not alone in kinda liking this movie. However I agree some points are indeed poor, so now I will speak about the bad points in my opinion:

- the origins of the turtle story, learn ninjatsu from a book? Alone? Seriously?
- in one scene three turtles are prisoners and Shredder is beating Raphael and... Shredder disappears.  What is going on? It is somewhat implied that he needed to to something fast to be in the tower so quickly (the turtles needs quite some time to reach him later) and left middle fight. But still the scene looks badly cut.
- as I mentioned, it is somewhat a pity that "tell a secret scene" is so Raphael-centric. Raphael already had his moments I was hoping more Leo, Don or Mike.
- the turtles being totally bulletproof. I'd find fine if the shell or the skeleton is. But completely is too much as it removes the tension. Once you understand that the turtles essentially cannot be hurt the fight scenes with the goons obviously become totally one sided. I can understand why the choice though.
- the motivations are somewhat thin: Erik -> money; Shredder -> Power maybe? How?

However, those are actually fairly minor points.


And just for the lulz, here how'd I fix it.
- Splinter could be a janitor or a low workman of the lab that get bitten by an experiment rat after the fire and faints for the smokes. April arrives, rescue him and the turtles. He decides to take care of the turtles, but transforms in a rat and so... decides to go in the sewers. April simply thinks he went on with his life. On the sewers also the turtles transforms in humans. The scene continues with Splinter worrying about how to bring up those mutants and find the book and the way. In fact he was a MMA/Muay Thai/Vale Tudo/Brasilian Wrestling/Something professional, but becoming older he lost the touch. However with the book and his previous experience he teaches the turtles. [Extra points, we might have mutant rats somewhere for sequels!]
- About the second point, it cannot be fixed in the movie. But to make the strange scene very interesting in the sequel this can happen: Shredder is in prison, but he is in possession of alien technology (or he is an Utrom like in the 2003 cartoon). He somehow manage to keep a teleporter with him, but it requires really precise timings. He uses it to escape from the prison and indirectly implies why he had to leave the fight, to go to the tower.
- About the tell a secret, well... just change the dialogues in something more meaningful for Leo, Don, and Mike.
- Showing that the shell is indeed bullet proof, but the "soft-spot" aren't. To fix, just change the fight scenes a little bit.
- Motivations, probably just some extra dialogues. Overall on the Shredder side, I can understand Erik desire for money (even if he does appear quite rich already) but Shredder motivations are totally unclear. It possible to fix in the sequel, quite easily if he is indeed an alien.

[pennywise37]

yeah i agree a LOT of it did need fixing and i do agree on them being bulletproof i will say that they had i think it was Mikey? mentioning it in the film, they are turtles not androids hence the T-10000 for example

even though there is plenty they did mess up in the film i also did enjoy it a lot more than i thought i would, the CGI film though is i think a far far better film but that's just my own opinion

[HappyGilmore]

Upon rewatchings of this...I really enjoy it.

Recently it's been announced that Judith Hoag, who played April in the 1990 live action TMNT, will be in this in some capacity, plus they've cast Casey Jones as well as announced that Bebop and Rocksteady will FINALLY make their big-screen debut in the sequel. 

Also rumored is Baxter Stockman, the fly/human hybrid.  Baxter had a brief scene in 2014's TMNT.  So.