TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES Review

It's somewhat disappointing this is going to likely end up as a one off. As a kid, I loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as I suspect most did who will be writing reviews of this latest incarnation and were born between 1980 and 1993. We identified with one of the personalities, we latched onto one of the colors and had to have everything in that hue while collecting all of the action figures and devouring the animated series and Jim Henson movies. For me, TMNT were the definitive super heroes, the pre-cursor to Power Rangers that grew to be a place of nostalgia where one could always retreat and find comfort in something as discomforting as green ooze. I can even remember becoming excited for the post-Power Rangers attempt to rejuvenate the series with The Next Mutation, but I felt the same way as it seemed most did as the series only lasted one season. I grew up, things changed and I didn't hear from the Turtles for a period of time. It seems though that Nickelodeon is trying to capitalize on their recently purchased rights of the Mirage Studio characters as they have a new CGI animated TV series airing and have partnered with a few other studios to bring the heroes in a half-shell back to the big screen once again. It always felt like an inevitability that the Turtles would one day return in the form of a feature film (2007's TMNT certainly didn't do anything for me), but I never had much ambition for what it could be or what direction it might go given the advancements in technology and the touchstones the early 90's films have become. It seems breaking that stigma has refused to give in as the press surrounding this latest live-action movie hasn't been the best. With each film I try to walk in with an open-mind and sense of optimism though (it's what I like to think keeps me distanced from the jaded critics who allow the amount of movies they see to change the perspective of how mainstream audiences might receive a film) and when it comes to something with as ridiculous a premise as turtles who are not only teenagers, but mutants and ninjas fighting a guy who now looks like a transformer you can only hope the filmmakers realize what they have for what it is. For me, Jonathan Liebesman's film is exactly that while doing its best to incorporate the look and feel of what super hero movies have become in this day and age.

New Trailer and Posters for TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

Being a child of the late-80's/early 90's I loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and everything their faces were plastered on. As I was only six when the third live action film came out in 1993 I even loved that time-traveling adventure to ancient Japan or "Turtles in Time" as it is now referred. It has been unfortunate it's taken this long to bring the heroes in a half shell back to the big screen as I wasn't a fan of the 2007 animated film, but that was likely because I'd grown up and matured and didn't want my childhood heroes reverted to cheap animation. It seemed at first like the ball would never start rolling on this re-boot or that Michael Bay (who is producing) would piss so many people off it would be dead from the get-go. Prospects now at least looks somewhat promising as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello have clearly been ushered into the age of super hero films with an edge. Director Jonathan Liebesman (Wrath of the Titans) has given the turtles new and updated looks that classify them in a more-grounded kind of reality, but with giant, mutated turtles, talking rats and men in transformers costumes you can only get so "real" and I hope they keep that in mind. It also doesn't bode well that the story seems to be lifted straight out of The Amazing Spider-Man re-boot with April (Megan Fox) playing a pivotal role. I understand my tastes have matured and that this film is going to be aimed at new, younger fans of TMNT, but I'm hoping it will be as equally pleasing on both a nostalgic level and a B-movie summer actioner which the trailer seems to balance well in terms of seriousness, comedy and action set pieces. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also stars William Fichtner, Will Arnett, Abby Elliot, Whoopi Goldberg, features the voices of Johnny Knoxville, Tony Shalhoub and opens on August 8th.