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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)



Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)



5/10


Starring
Megan Fox
Alan Ritchson
Jeremy Howard
Pete Ploszek
Noel Fisher
Will Arnett


Directed by Jonathan Liebesman

I wasn’t expecting to like anything about this reboot, mostly because of the costume changes (actually, the CGI look of the costumes). Based on my experience with reboots, I thought, “Here goes another crapper.” But that wasn’t entirely the case. The story was changed, though some familiar elements were kept, and the movie ended up being fun to watch and captivating. That said, they could have done better with a story about giant talking reptiles.

The story changes didn’t really bother me, as I’ve come to realize that none of the movies or cartoon series stayed true to the original storyline. What do you expect from a movie about overgrown talking turtles who happen to be heroes? There will be bad guys, and they’ll get their butts kicked—which is exactly what happened. Another thing I enjoyed was Will Arnett’s role in the movie. Honestly, I had more fun watching him than Megan Fox, who plays the new April O’Neil.

The best part for me was the return of “COWABUNGA.” Nickelodeon killed the word in their cartoon reboot, but they brought it back here.

TMNT 2014 lacked the genius of the 1990 version. It might have been funnier, but it felt more like everyone just wanted to make a TMNT movie rather than actually putting in the effort to make a good one.

The movie is about a city being turned upside down by a clan known as the Foot. April O’Neil witnesses the clan in action, but to her surprise, an unknown vigilante takes them down. She starts investigating this vigilante and ends up running into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As you’d expect, the introduction ends with her fainting and waking up in their lair in the sewers.

There, she discovers that the turtles were genetic mutations her father had been working on. She shares this story with her father’s colleague, Sacks, who, as it turns out, is the adopted son of The Shredder.

Sacks and his adopted father need the mutagen from the turtles for their grand plan—take a guess!

World domination.

In the end, the movie is forgettable, which is the sad part for me. The first two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)—were remarkably memorable. If you watched them when they were released, you’ll either recall the epic fights in the first one or the Vanilla Ice rap in the second. Here, all I can remember is that “COWABUNGA” is back.

The movie did make three times its production budget, but will that be enough to warrant a part two or three? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

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