Tuesday, July 22, 2014

I Don't Think That Phrase Means What They Think It Means

Just saw a commercial for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie that said "You've never seen heroes like this". Considering that this is like the millionth reboot of the TMNT, I really think they might not fully understand that term. I will be overly surprised and impressed if they really pull off giving us something that we really have not seen before, that also gives something of value to the TMNT legacy.

This is one of the most unneeded movies we've been given. The current TMNT cartoon is doing just fine and has been introducing us to some really interesting and unique concepts for the TMNT legacy. The latest cartoon has taken all the best aspects of the past TMNT and worked them together in an on going narrative that draws you in. It is a new storyline that does a great job of effectively paying tribute to where it came from. And it works.

So far for the new movie I have seen nothing that makes me think they are going to do the same.

We have the turtles, which outside of costumes that make no sense (Mikey wears a sweatshirt around his waist, which could never fit him and only could serve to get in his way), seem to add nothing to the characters.

We've been shown a Shredder that looks more like a really bad joke than a powerful warrior. Sorry, but having a ton of blades attached to your hand makes no sense at all for a fight. And it does not look as cool as I think the creative team behind it thought it would.

April seems almost useless from what the commercials have given us, but we really have no idea if they are going to take the character in a new direction. The present cartoon has done a great job with reinventing that character, but the movie appears to be taking her backwards to what we have already seen.

Of course one thing the commercials have hinted at that I really think is a huge mistakes, is that we have been given the suggestion that the government or someone actually created the turtles on purpose as some kind of weapons. Not sure of any level of logic to that in any reality. That is one commercial that makes me cringe. A big part of what makes TMNT so intriguing is that it seems ridiculous to have turtles as warriors, so the main concept only works at it being an accident. There are a million animals that someone would use before even considering turtle is they were trying for hybrid warriors.

I am at the point where I am hoping to see Michael Bay movies fail. After seeing three of the four Transformers movies, it became clear to me that he has no idea what Transformers should be all about. Yet even as they spiral downwards at every turn, somehow they keep making money. I've no desire to see the fourth one until it goes to DVD and I can rent it. And that will mostly be out of curiosity than actual hope it will be enjoyable. That is how I feel about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well. I so wish the fans of these franchises would vote with their money and make it clear we deserve something better than Micheal Bay and his poor standards of film making. Explosions and special effects are fine tools, but when there is no story to back them up, it becomes pure junk.

1 comment:

  1. only reasons i can think of for the new one is either new special effects they want to try out -- or they think they will reach a younger audience that hasn''t experiences TMNT yet

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