Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014

• Directed by Jonathan Liebesman
• July 29, 2014 (Mexico City Premiere) / August 8, 2014 (US)
• Based on characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

Four teenage mutant ninja turtles in New York City confront a gang of criminals known as the Foot.

As a fan of the cartoon and the original film series, I went into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 with a great deal of hesitation. Not only am I not a fan of reboots (few are ever worthwhile), but the first images of the turtle designs along with the news of Megan Fox’s casting put my expectations so very low that I skipped this when it came out in theaters and waited until I came across a used copy. While I can’t offer any apologies for not seeing this sooner, I do certainly feel that it exceeded my expectations. And I do feel it is far better than some give it credit for.

This film ditches much of the family friendly elements that marked the original three films as well as the original TV show and takes some more mature though not seriously mature stance with the effort. It’s certainly a comic book movie for the modern age and not something from 30 years ago.

Most noticeably the Turtle designs are aimed at a greater level of realism rather than being something more akin to the comics. I think they went too far in that direction though with the use of CGI rather than a guy in a suit and ot something that looked more like an alien from Star Wars than something inspired by anything that came before.

They also heavily connect the Turtles’ and April O’Neil’s (Megan Fox) pasts to the point it puts a strain on credibility. And that brings me to something. April’s father died in the destruction of the lab where the Turtles were. The Turtles’ origin as recalled by Splinter and April implied that April’s father did all the destruction on his own and accidentally got caught in things. Yet the film’s chief villain of Eric Sacks (William Fichtner) clearly states he sent Foot Clan soldiers to do the dirty work and they killed April O’Neil’s father. And there’s also dialogue before that element which certainly supports it. Either I am missing something or because of changes Sacks’ conflicting elements accidentally were left in.

Speaking of Eric Sacks, I have heard that initially his character was to be revealed as a the Shredder and the scenes where he spoke to the Shredder were hallucinations on his part. That would’ve been an interesting twist but there were scenes added in which completely undo that. That’s actually one I think I could’ve gotten behind. It sounds certainly like a unique twist.

Sacks as a villain is charming and fatherly and then appropriately evil. Fichtner is one of those actors who should be much more successful than he is given his clear talent. Megan Fox is okay in this. When she wants to be she is an adequate actress. Nothing mind blowing or impressive but she can do okay. Will Arnett as Vern Fenwick is a sad sack and desperate. He clearly lusts for April and she is clearly clueless on that. Either that or she simply uses it to get what she needs as it appears to be towards the end. I might be reading too much into it, and I probably am.

The Foot, unlike the original live action film, is a serious criminal organization here. They appear to have their hands in everything and not just run a petty crimes crime ring. The difference between the Foot here and other presentations that I have experienced is that the Foot are more of a paramilitary organization with uniforms than they are a ninja clan of any type. They sport guns and I am not sure we see any martial arts.

The Shredder’s suit redesign looks more like the Silver Samurai from The Wolverine than what the Shredder is better known for. Sometimes costumes need tweaking for live action but should always be recognizable as belonging to whatever character they are. Add to that the first shot of his helmet looks like the Predator. But does it look like The Shredder? Hardly.

While the execution is not bad, the heavy connections of everyone’s past and that the villain struggles little to complete their plan or the heroes doing little to figure out what is going on but rather have the answers handed to them hurts things. Basically The Turtles had to wait and everything came to them. A little more struggle than we got was warranted.

While nothing great or spectacular, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 is better than it should’ve been film. It’s entertaining enough and exciting enough that you won’t regret watching it and may even pop it in again.