User reviews

Like many other people, the original 1990 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie has a very special place in my childhood. Even if the movie wasn't all that great, it was fantastic for what it was trying to be. Now we're in 2014, where our beloved turtles have been given a whole new lick of paint with a straight-up reboot and have the daunting task of winning the long time TMNT faithful over. Needless to say that for the most part, I am one fan that was not entirely won over.

First and foremost, the Turtles. What is the fundamental premise of the TMNT? They're wise-cracking, pizza-eating, energetic teenagers that just so happen to be mutated ninja turtles that fight crime. The Turtles are goofballs, but in 2014, it's a little bit of a different story. There's still the humor, the jokes and comedy, but now the turtles are massive 6-foot-tall, muscle-bound turtle-men who have a very gritty feel to them, and when they're not in action, look way too real and off-putting. If they weren't green and didn't have shells, the Turtles would literally just be your average hulking action heroes. This franchise is about giant turtles who do martial arts. It's a goofy concept. Giving the Turtles a gritty makeover seems to miss the appeal of the characters in a fundamental way. However, despite the poor design choice of the Turtles, they really are a joy to watch. It might be a lot more serious than you'd expect from TMNT, but the Turtles are still wildly entertaining and more action-fueled than ever with the help of solid effects and choreography that bring the Turtle action to life. If you can withstand the eyesore that the Turtles' design brings, then there is still a lot of old school TMNT magic to revisit.

For the movie's main plot, you have what is essentially the most painfully basic, generic action story that a film can get. The movie is so predictable, it's almost laughable. What is also very disappointing is that the Turtles are no longer fighting crime, even though that's what is essentially believed, but a basic supervillain. Yes, the ultimate TMNT villain Shredder is in the film, but not only does he not get the screen time or proper development he deserves, he's basically cast aside as a secondary villain to the "I'm rich but have to get richer" villain that is Eric Sacks. It's disappointing to not be able to see the Turtles fight their way through dozens of foot soldiers like the old days, with all of the witty remarks during combat intact. There are still funny lines sputtered during combat, but the action scenes are so limited that there's simply not enough of it.

Not helping is the horrendous casting of Megan Fox as April O'Neil. In 1990, April O'Neil was the hot shot news reporter that made the amazing discovery of the Turtles and she developed an amazing bond with them. She was important to the story no doubt, but wasn't essential in the Turtle's story. Fast forward to 2014, and now April is nothing but the center of attention for everything in the movie, even essential back story information about the Turtles. Megan Fox amazingly gets much more screen time than the Turtles, and every time she comes on screen I cringe until our shelled heroes return. Not every action movie has to have an epic story line or to feel gritty and real. TMNT is supposed to be all about the opposite, but the unfortunate presence of producer Michael Bay is clearly felt in the direction of the film. From the camera shots, to the serious tone of the action to the slow motion parts, this movie has too much of a focus on seriousness, when it should be taking itself very lightly.

Like I stated earlier, despite the off-putting design and feel of the Turtles, they still are a lot of fun to watch and are the lifeblood of the film. What is missing, however, is the strong character development of the Turtles. There isn't enough down time in the movie to really get to know them. Some of the best moments of the 1990 film were in the form of the Turtles hanging out, making jokes, eating pizza and training together. That chemistry was not felt as strongly in the new TMNT and the movie just assumes that you all ready know who and what each Turtle is all about. But all you really find out is that one is a jokester, one's a tech geek, one's the leader and one has anger issues. More down time and better character development would've given the Turtles the extra boost to make them the incredibly entertaining bunch they're meant to be.

Being such a huge TMNT fan, I wanted to have higher expectations for this reboot. But with Megan Fox and Michael Bay attached, the poor look and design of the Turtles, along with the general off-setting feel of the film, I had to come in with lower expectations. There are some wonderful action sequences and the Turtles bring enough pop to the movie to make them likable and fun, but sadly, my low expectations were met in this failed attempt the reboot a childhood classic.

5/10

Here we go…

So Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the reboot to the ever so popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman for some reason and produced by Michael Bay, also for some reason.. You all know the story by now. 4 mutated turtles grow up in the sewer raised by a giant rat who knows martial arts and trains them so they can protect the city from Shredder. No difference in this movie.

So the movie opens up in sort of a graphic novel type animation telling the story of the turtles which I'll admit was a nice nod to the original source material from which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came from. From there we meet April (Megan Fox) who's trying to get a story about the evil foot clan that have been terrorizing the city. She then witnesses the turtles stop them and follows them to get evidence of their existence. The turtles stop her and return to their master who says they need April's help. I won't spoil why. From there they must work together and stop Shredder from releasing a toxin on the city.

I wanted simply one thing from this movie after all the crap I've seen from it over the last few years. I want the turtles to be the turtles. I want them to reflect how they were in the 2003 cartoon preferably. A darker take but still humorous and likable. I grew up on that and the 80's cartoon and 1990's movies. Thank the lord I got that. The turtles are the best part of this movie. They deliver some funny lines although not everyone of them hit. Like you can feel that the jokes were modeled for kids which the whole movie is basically. It's like a big toy commercial. Or a Crush soda commercial. Or a Samsung phone and tablet commercial. Yeeeeah lot of product placement in this movie. Very obvious at that. Anyways as for the other characters we have April O'Neil played by Megan Fox who was alright. I really wish they worked on her dramatic screams though because those were just awful. We also have Will Arnett as her camera man who I guess is supposed to be the comic relief in this movie but literally does not have one funny joke in the whole thing even though you can feel you're supposed to be laughing but I didn't even smirk. It was like watching a stand up comic bomb his performance. Splinter was an enjoyable character. You could really see how he tied this family together.

Now if there's one thing I like in a movie it's a good villain. Did I get this? No. No I did not. Shredder has no character to him at all. In the 2003 version of him he got all this character development and I learned the motivation behind why he did what he did. In this he's literally just a guy who wants to make money. Or at least help Eric Sacks (William Fichtner) make money which is a very stupid motivation in my book. Usually villains steal money for the purpose of something bigger but in this.. they just want money. Which Eric already has because he lives in a freakin castle on top of a mountain! How much more money does he need?! Sigh.. Shredder was just so one dimensional and uninteresting. I was so let down by this.

Well what about the effects? They're actually pretty good. They did make the turtles sweat a lot though. Like A LOT. But it looked nice so I was happy about that. One downside is the CGI went down a little when interacting with humans. Like in Transformers 4. Not much to say other than those two things because I didn't focus on it much.

One last thing and I know every reviewer is saying this but it can't be said enough. The climax of this movie literally is the end of The Amazing Spider-Man only in the day time. Seriously watch The Amazing Spider-Man before you see this and see how similar it is. It's crazy.

Going in if you know this director and producer you're not expecting anything amazing. I went in with extremely low expectations and they surpassed them but only very very slightly.

I give it a 5.5/10.

The theater had a bunch of 10 year olds who thought the movie was amazing so at least they hit their target audience. But as a long time Ninja Turtles fan I left disappointed and wanting a little more. If it earns back the money maybe a sequel will be better. It won't but a guy can dream.

Now before I begin this review let me clear the fact that this MOVIE is aiming for the new younger audience. This movie is not focusing on aiming for the fans of the past generation. So lets look at it this way.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is directed by Jonathan Liebsman and Produced by Michael Bay. It stars Megan Fox as April O'Neil, and 4 turtles who don't look that good with the CGI. With this kind of set up, its already predictable that this would be a disaster.

As I watched this movie in a theater packed with a tremendous amount of children. I guess I could say, this movie was entertaining for me. The stars of the movie are, hands down the Turtles especially Mikey. They stole the movie in every scene they were in, and I would watch a 1 hour movie with just all of them goofing around and making jokes. However, in fact the movie often negates the fact that the turtles are the main subject in this movie, it circles it's story mostly around April O'Neil. As for her character, I found her annoying at many times. And because Michael Bay has something to do with this movie, Megan Fox had to do scenes for the "benefit' of Bay as usual. Going back to the turtles, I think that they had nailed them and captured everything that we loved about them, the movie is worth watching because of them. The Villains are one of the weak points of this film. Shredder is a very dull, boring and predictable villain. He is only there for what I believe is fan service. Other than that, his motives are unclear and the reason he is in this movie is for the battle scenes.

As for the story, it is filled with unbelievable amounts of cliché. Because of this, I had no choice but to be irritated at times or sometimes these scenes gave no effect to me whatsoever even if the main intention of the scene was entirely different. The evil plot of the villain, was downright cringe worthy, plot holes were circling from there and there. . Clichés and plot holes aside, the story is what I would imagine for children and all of us were to look it that way, then I guess I could say the plot was alright I guess. The action sequences were just OK, there were some that were interesting and some that was incredibly DIFFICULT to watch. I know Michael Bay didn't direct this, but My God. Every Michael Bay action-cliché is in this movie. The Slow Motion, Explosions, Attractive Women and the incredibly shaky camera. I almost felt dizzy watching some of the action sequences.

At the end of the day, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a great movie to watch if you want bonding times with your kids or if you're totally high or craving for some pizza. In my opinion, it won't ruin your childhood, in fact it might even remind and bring back old memories of your childhood, with the many references being made in this movie. The kids will love this movie and I recommend everyone to bring pizza while watching it.

A dull and boring villain, a mediocre plot filled with a massive amount of clichés and Michael Bay style action sequences. without the Turtles, this movie would be pure trash.

Verdict: 6.5/10

There's hardly a kid born from the 80s who has never heard of this totally bodacious group of walking, talking, pizza-eating, street-fighting reptiles. It has always been a goofy saga, but it was also hip, action-packed, and colorful. Can the same be said about the latest adaptation?

On the surface level, 2014's TMNT at least looks the part. It's a fairly breezy film that never takes itself seriously, packing on generous heapings of goofy comedy, stylish action scenes, and loads of special effects. The first half of the film takes its time to follow April O'Neil around, who inevitably uncovers the secret of the turtles' existence, and the outlandish Foot Clan plot to take over New York City. The last half of the film is pretty much all-out fighting and action, which includes a fight in the sewers, a lengthy chase scene down the slopes of a mountain, and a final showdown on top of a skyscraper. Thus, I found the last half of the film the most engaging.

It's still not without its problems though. Despite the light-hearted tone and all the jokes, very little of it made me laugh outright. The humor is quite low-brow and doofy. Action scenes will be a hit and a miss; fight scenes in the film's first half are horribly shot and edited (on purpose nonetheless). Later scenes are still hectic, but are at least watchable and fairly fun. Scenes in between try their best to keep things rolling fast and without becoming droll, but without any major emotional investment, these scenes tend to drag a bit.

Beyond the surface-level comedy and action, there's not much else to this film. The plot is pretty much a mash-up of typical TMNT fare and 2007's Transformers (also an adaptation of an 80s cartoon where human characters discover some weird life form and gets caught in the middle of a war nobody knew existed; both starring Megan Fox nonetheless). What plot the movie has is riddled with plot holes, and scenes that are simply way too unbelievable (maybe not a valid complaint for TMNT, but with the way the film tries to look believable, the film shoots its own creditability in the foot). The turtle characters are fun to watch, usually, and Splinter is one cool rat. They aren't terribly deep characters, but they are colorful, and there is just enough background to them to keep them from being total caricatures. Other characters aren't as good: April O'Neil is almost annoying as she obsesses over the turtles and shouts her findings at everybody she runs across. Her sidekick is a dork. Shredder is extremely flat, lifeless, and lacking in presence, serving little more than an excuse to have a boss fight at the end of the movie. The film draws some connections between all the characters to give their interactions more backing, but it only strains the creditability of the plot even further.

The film's photography looks good sometimes and terrible at other times. Editing is choppy. Acting is pretty lackluster from the whole crowd; Megan Fox is far from endearing despite her looks, the voice acting can be a hit or a miss, and other actors don't really take their roles seriously, for better or for worse. Writing is pretty daft. This production uses okay-looking sets, props, and costumes. Locales are pretty small-scale most of the time. Special effects vary from good to bad. Music is okay (I got to admit that I found the end credits song catchy).

This incarnation of the Turtles definitely has its flaws, but it tries to be a fun picture, and it is at least partway successful. Not everybody will be quite as easily charmed as I am, so I'm compelled to recommend approaching this movie with caution.

3/5 (Entertainment: Pretty Good | Story: Marginal | Film: Marginal)

I'm not even quite sure where to begin with this movie. I mean, I had decent hopes for it. Leading up to it, so many people seemed to be taking it way to seriously. I mean, come on. Its about giant talking turtles who fight crime. Its not supposed to be that serious. Hoo, boy.

I guess I'll just start by saying this (spoilers ahead), the changes they made to the origin story don't make any goddamn sense, both in terms of simple logic and quality narrative structure. They completely removed any connection between Splinter and the Shredder, so say goodbye to any emotional connection or tension that that would have brought. And this version Splinter wasn't the ninja master, Hamato Yoshi or even a pet/student of Yoshi. In fact, Yoshi seems to have been omitted completely. So, how does Splinter become a ninja master himself? He reads a book. I'm not even joking. After both he and the turtles mutate he finds a book and teaches himself. And it wasn't even at the very beginning. I mean when Splinter begin teaching himself, the turtles are already walking and talking. He not only learned all of ninjitsu but also somehow mastered it, without any instruction or sparring, in less than ten years? AND he taught it to the turtles? BULLSHIT.

The turtles themselves are one of the few not-terrible parts of the movie. All of there individual personalities are right where they should be but we are also kind of short-changed on the amount of interaction they have with each other. A bunch of brothers together, getting up to shenanigans? What a great, natural way to have conflict! But no, the movie follows April way too much.

All of that is indicative of a larger problem with the writing. Both of the villains are BORING. The pacing is uneven and a lot of the dialogue is forced and ham-handed, Michelangelo was the worse in that respect. And believe me, I get it. Mikey is the loud mouth, party turtle. But is is possible (kind of necessary) that if a main character is annoying, to also be likable. Yes, it possible. Severus Snape. Perry Cox. Deadpool. These are all characters that are bad or annoying people but still likable as characters. After a few minutes of listening to Michelangelo, I just wanted him to shut the hell up.

It doesn't get any better with the villains. I don't remember the last time I watched a movie with such boring villains. Instead of just sticking with one main villain, the Shredder, we now have two...for some reason. WE have Eric Sachs, who is a rich scientist/industrialist and the Shredder, an evil ninja master with no personality. Eric Sachs is working for the Shredder for money? But isn't he already like a billionaire with a castle on a mountain and his own skyscraper?Doe he need more money? What the hell for? Shredder is the most shallow and one-dimensional out of this whole damn movie. We're not really told anything of his back story or shown any of his motivation for anything. The foot clan is also no longer a group of ninja warriors, they're...guys with guns. Completely useless guys with guns (that'll be relevant later).

They also unnecessarily tie April, Sachs and April's dad into the turtles' back story...for some reason. We don't even really meet April's father. And April is the one who saved them from the lab fire that killed her father...or wait, was it Eric who killed her father? The movie seems to confused on that point. And instead of keeping the baby turtles (like any little girl who likes animals would do) she...dumps them in the sewer? What the hell? The who thing is convoluted and doesn't make any damn sense.

April O'Neil is uninteresting and stupid. Seriously, I mean she is unintelligent. She is supposedly an educated journalist but spends so much time trying to convince he boss of a "story" of talking, crime- fighting turtles without one single goddamn lick of evidence. Vernon Fenway is apparently supposed to be the comic relief but none of his jokes are funny and his sole role in the film seems to be driving April around. And why the hell is Whoopi Goldberg in this? She had like six lines. Why is she here?

The camera-work was clichéd and chaotic. There were times when the camera was moving around too much for you to easily follow the action. There is also a serious lack of cool martial arts fights for a NINJA Turtles movie, which is not surprising when you turn their main antagonists from ninja into guys with guns. I also couldn't even begin to take the Shredder serious in the action scenes. Are those giant swiss army knives on his hands? What the hell?

Finally, the one thing, in my opinion, that sort of breaks the movie the most is that they made the turtles too damn powerful. Yes, the turtles are kind of superheroes. But wasn't being a bunch of kick-ass ninjas enough? No? You gotta give them super strength too? AND MAKE THEM BULLET PROOF!? Remember the previously said bit about the foot being a bunch of guys with guns? Yeah...you might see where I am going with this. It was bad enough to see the turtles throwing cars around and shattering concrete with punches. On some level, the audience needs to believe on some sort of fundamental level that the heroes are danger, that the threats that they face have meaning. Without that, there is no tension, no real conflict and with that...no excitement. No story.

This movie nuked the fridge.

When the first Ninja Turtles movie came out in 1990, it was an ABSOLUTE BLAST to watch, simply because it was a faithful adaptation of the comic books with character development and stunning visuals to boot; no thanks in part to Jim Henson's workshop of wonders.

I've skipped out on this movie when it was first released, but having just watched it now, I could say with all honesty that I was entertained for the most part, but said enjoyment was marred by the underdeveloped characters; just like it was in the first Transformers movie directed by Michael Bay and even though he only produced this film, his influence clearly is felt throughout this film; especially in the script, which is filled with tired, cliched dialogue and plot twists you can see coming a mile away. The end result is a widely derivative and phoned in experience.

Aside from that, I enjoyed the fight scenes, which are a plenty, though strangely and surprisingly enough, aren't as numerous and overblown like the Transformers films, but they do their job admirably.

But the biggest problem with the film is lack of character development. It's a shame that Megan Fox gets more screentime than the turtles; barely does Kirai and Shredder get any development and as a whole, the film feels disjointed and unbalanced. The original film had a nice balance between character development and action, something this film sorely lacks. Nobody expects Oscar-winning material in a Ninja Turtles movie, but at the very least, flesh out the characters more other than let one of them hog the spotlight for a significant amount of time.

So in conclusion, I suppose the film was entertaining on it's own merits, but ultimately, it was underwhelming.

Sad really, because I was really looking forward to a return to form from the titular reptilian heroes.

The script for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) was written during a corporate boardroom meeting at Paramount Studios. Like all lame, boring, stupid boardroom meetings, people (with no artistic talent) take turns blurting out the dumbest ideas. That is why we should not be giving non-artists such as MBA wallstreet types any creative control. They come up with the dumbest ideas with no respect to the source material. This movie is nothing more than a cash grab.

Allow me to explain everything wrong with this piece of garbage. The casting is terrible. Whoopi Goldberg? Will Arnett? Megan Fox? Sounds more like the cast for a TMNT parody. Megan Fox displayed her worst acting to date. The ridiculously cheesy dialogue kept me cringing through the entire movie. "the 99 cheese pizza", the stupid elevator beatbox scene, the gwen stefani scene. This movie has FLAT OUT HORRIBLE!!! Fart jokes and pop culture references are NOT funny. I'm sure the actors felt embarrassed reciting their lines.

The worst part is the &%#($(*# flying skateboard that Michelangelo has. It took away any sense of realism. I know TMNT isn't supposed to be realistic but the dumb flying skateboard is beyond ridiculous. Some guy who was on drugs probably came up with that idea in the boardroom. All the turtles acted and were designed to look like bad black stereotypes. They made Michelangelo look like Lil Wayne. Giving the turtles "SWAG" in order to appeal to a younger audience is just stupid. The turtles never had swag and making them into a parody of the Cash Money / Young Money crew is a terrible idea. The dumb hipster glasses on Donatello in order to appeal to the hipster crowd is another bad idea. Why the *&%* did they give him a stupid ghost busters backpack. The cheesiness of this movie is way over the top. The TMNT trilogy of the early nineties was cheesy too but not on this level. At least it didn't have #*($^$ flying skateboards and swag turtles.

This movie represents everything wrong with the movie industry today. The corporate big wigs make all the creative decisions. It's time for the artists to take Hollywood back.

CREATIVITY IS BORN OUTSIDE THE BOARDROOM!!

I was never a big fan of TMNT, but the concept was always a unique one. Instead of the far east style of mutual cold looks and "Yaaa!" yells, while the tough good guy fights a cruel enemy, you get these "karate kids" who are in fact mutants and they fight the almost super-human villain.

You get the tension of they having to hide in the sewers as they are still being feared by us - regular people - and the realization that as much as we admire them we also want them on the research table. Add to that the character of April - a journalist who finds herself in triangle of conflict (up yours Louise Lane!): a journalist who uncovers secrets, the confident of the turtles and (in a way) the role of the mother, who would rush to danger to help them and protect them.

This could be a great platform for a good deep movie heavily spiced with great ninja action. But instead what did we get...

1) An absurdly idiotic storyline which kinda gives you the feeling that the story writing was revolving around the already shot action scenes.

2) Action sequences which appear to be copy paste from transformers and only replaced by turtles (I don't count shredder as he always looked like a robot).

3) The role of April is basically something I would put in "Little Pony", which is reduced to nothing more then a brain dead, incoherent (she's a goddamn reporter for crying out loud!) and basically doesn't contribute anything to the good cause.

On the plus side:

1) It was nice that they emphasized the uniqueness of each turtle beyond the color of the head band. Their entire gear is crafted to their different personalities.

2) In the past movies or TV series they were always turtles fighting in human style, in here for the first time they make use of their physical turtle attributes.

Bottomline, this movie could have been so much better, and it feels like it was a wasted opportunity. a reboot I might watch, but if there is a number 2 on the way, then yeah...I'm not giving it another 2 hours of my life.

I luckily avoid reading opinions before seeing a movie. This movie was a perfect entertainment for the less than 1h50 that it lasts. Although I had enjoyed watching TNMT anime when I was adolescent, I've never been a hardcore fan and it is true that I cannot spot any of the traits that other purists criticized about. What I certainly know is that it was a nice combination of Transformers/Batman/Martial-art material based on a plot that seemed solid and justified.

Megan-April was more Megan than April, but she is the right actress for that sort of character. She is not the true red-hair girl I would prefer to see, but she is not less successful than fake blonde J.Alba in Fantastic4, or fake-redhead Scarlett J. in the Avengers. She has the right age and overall stature for the role and she is always fun to watch.

The turtles were very versatile and realistic in all ways and I liked that each one got an emphasized ability (or weakness!), differentiating from the anime where all looked quite the same.

The action sequences were mind-blowing, synchronized at the ultimate speed the human eye can perceive them. Unlike transformers and other movies where the action and fight are so messy, shaken and difficult to follow that you wished to just skip forward to the outcome, in this case it is absorbing, spectacular and humorous. Which is what all TNMT productions are really about.

The music, production design, voices and sound are exactly as they should be to throw you into the screen.

It might not be a 10, but in front of all those purists destroying franchises, 10 is the least I could give to hope for at least 2 sequels. And I don't mind who ever purist out there may just avoid it.

Don't miss it!

Folks, it's no exaggeration when I say this one is bad. And I'm not just reviewing it as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. The Ninja Turtles are a lore. Every telling of the story deserves its own version, like Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, or Batman. Adam West, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck all play different versions of Batman in different universes. Though I have a version of the Turtles I like best, I can set aside that prejudice for this review. It's just a very awful film. It's so bad, I don't understand how the current rating stands at 6 stars.

The movie has no real sense of identity, like the filmmakers really had no idea what to do with it. Where are the Turtles going to go? What are they going to do when they get there? Is it going to be spring time or winter? Should it be in the city or in the mountains? Low to the ground in dark settings or high up on roof tops in broad daylight? Are the Turtles stealthy ninjas or mini-Hulks that just needlessly destroy stuff? And are they main characters or secondary plot pieces? Is April O'Neil tech savvy, or does she still conduct interviews with pen and paper? (Through the first half-hour, perhaps even by the end of the film, you'll have a tough time convincing yourself the title shouldn't have been "April O'Neil: The Movie.")

It's very evident that the writers did not know how to work with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Again, this has nothing to do with a faithfulness to any kind of version of TMNT. Just, really, they had no clue how to make those four elements work. They're not so much teenagers as they are just dumb. The movie lets the Turtles aspect be self-implied. The Mutants part as well, though it does play loosely into the plot (heh, just kidding, there is no plot). The idea of ninjutsu, though, is a complete afterthought. Seriously, it's just sandwiched in there somewhere and plays no relevance to the story whatsoever, nor has an identifying presence for any character, even Splinter or Shredder.

Yeah, Shredder. That's a whole other useless incorporation. The guy is somewhere between a clunky Power Ranger villain (the ones in great big suits that don't move very well) and Bane from "Batman and Robin." He doesn't even fill the main villain role. That "honor" would go to William Fichtner's character, Eric sounds-like-sex Sacks. Shredder's just a tool. His appearance, fighting-style, and overall awkwardness are all loud, awful reminders of how the filmmakers knew nothing about ninjutsu or how to use it. "You know what? Just make 'em fight with ninja weapons, put lots and lots of blades around, and be sure the word 'Japan' gets into someone's origin story somewhere. Close enough."

Yes, the Turtles are kind of funny, but it's completely incidental. There were times when the movie tried to force something humorous, but in the theater I was in, no one laughed. And I was in a packed house. Their personalities are nothing but typecasting: Leo is the serious control-freak, Raphael the brooding B.A., Michelangelo is a goof-ball, and Donatello is the inventive... nerd! Yeah, nerds are inventive, right? Let's make him a snorting, glasses-wearing dork! You know what, just make him Simon from Alvin and the Chipmunks. You never feel like you get to be a part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They're just kind of there. The viewer is more watching from April or Vern's vantage point, never fully involved in the brotherhood.

There's a whole lot more stupid that goes on for the sake of convenience: like Donatello's bo able to flip over an SUV, or the fact that an iron construction beam can't support the weight of Leo and Donnie, but Raph who comes to their rescue can (what, are they as heavy as semi-trucks?). Watch out for the abundance of product-placement. This is a Michael Bay produced film, remember. At one point, Splinter pretty much monologues a Pizza Hut ad.

In closing, I want to leave you with this, because until we get this, these horrible, ridiculous movies will continue to get made. In an interview with an MTV whoever, TMNT producer Michael Bay said that he doesn't care if people think his movies are bad. Speaking specifically about the latest Transformers installation, "They love to hate, and I don't care. Let them hate. They're still going to see the movie!"

This movie is a poo-pile of a film. I'm intentionally avoiding the usual puns like "it was a shell-acking" or "I left the theater shell-shocked" because, again, my affinity for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has nothing to do with how bad this movie is. As long as we keep paying to see what we know is going to be a bad movie, they'll keep getting made. And it doesn't matter that they're bad, because we'll pay for it no matter how bad it is.

Or maybe these movies keep getting manufactured because there is actually a niche of people who like them. After all, it has a rating of 6 out of 10 stars...

What's with all the negative reviews, this is a reboot from the 2007 TMNT . Super fun to watch, action pack and Megan what a babe. Enjoy.

I had very low expectations and nothing else to watch in the plane, so I found it more entertaining than I thought it would be. But if you have better things to do or watch, by all means skip this one.

When I learned of a TMNT movie. I was excited. Then I learned Michael Bay would be doing it. I was no longer excited. The First Transformer movie is watchable if you turn off your brain, the second is robot/explosion porn, the third... Well let's just forget that they made a third. I haven't bothered with the new one. Even if it has Marky Mark. Anyways, when I learned April would be played by Megan Fox I only bought a ticket out of morbid curiosity as to whether this movie would replace the Last Airbender and Bay would replace Shyamalan as the principle ruiner of childhoods. The end result? It was OK. It was fairly enjoyable. The action was great, Michaelangelo actually made me laugh a few times, Raphael is a beefcake, Leo is everything he should be. The only turtle portrayal I didn't like was Donatello. Director says "Hey guys, with all the gadgets and big words and stuff, Donatello is a big nerd. But do you think it's obvious enough that he's a nerd?" Crew member jokingly says "Maybe we should put taped glasses on him too so it's unmistakable!" Director says "Good idea Jenkins!" Crew member says "Bro I was kidding." But they used it anyway. I won't get into the origin story because everyone else makes it clear they hate it. I do too. But I enjoyed the action and had fun not thinking about how stupid the movie was and being entranced by the pretty turtles. It was like an acid trip. Michael Bay is certainly evident throughout. Unnecessary explosions, product placement, Megan Fox bent over and a gratuitous Pervy camera angle of her butt. All of the Bay trademarks are there. But it's somehow less annoying than in Transformers. The weakest point of the movie is, not surprisingly, Megan Fox. It's like after she was cast someone told Michael Bay "hey, you probably don't want to sexualize April. That's not how fanboys want to see her. She's like the girl next door." So Bay gave her a significant subplot and character development with only one money shot on her (of course I throw around terms like subplot and character development loosely. This is Michael Bay I'm talking about. Just because it's done, doesn't mean it's done well.). The problem is Megan Fox wasn't cast in Transformers (or anything she's been in) because she can act. It was just so dull.

Overall, the movie exceeded my expectations, but only because they were low to begin with. I do still feel like if studios took this movie seriously and hired intelligent, talented people to make it, it would have been great. Maybe Shredder would have been scary and not just seemed like a man-sized decepticon. It could have been better. But it could have been much, much worse. I'll take it.

Story, presentation, originality, humor, character presentation and acting are all things obviously left unexplored in this epically abysmal 2014 installation of the turtles franchise.

The action sequences are bland but plentiful. Faithfulness to the original series is lost. Megan Fox acting is quite possibly the worst part of the movie, unbelievable and disconnected throughout.

With as many franchises that he shits on, I advice you to try to stay as far away as possible from anything Michael Bay touches in the future.

If you look at it objectively it's like a mash between most popular action films with extremely distinguishable parts taken from others. Combind that with a story so shallow and predictable that a 5 minute trailer video would be a more appropriate medium for this release. We mourn the times when action movies didn't make us cringe in every other scene.

Okay let me start off by saying this, TMNT is not meant to be taken as a serious film. It's suppose to be a fun film based (loosely) on the comics. This movie is a really good movie. Yes it has it's holes and problems with story structure but overall it's fun and enjoyable to watch. The action is awesome, the characters are funny and the acting isn't great but decent. The film moves to fast and not enough time for the characters to know each other well enough. The CGI of the turtles are fantastic. Cool kids movie. They will definitely love it. Also the 3D really shows in the movie. Go see the movie in theaters. RJ's Rating: 7/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a series that holds a special place in my heart, as well as the hearts of many people. Ever since the heroes and the half shells entered our homes decades ago, fans have enjoyed outrageous jokes, comical fights, and colorful creatures to face up against our noble four. So when Michael Bay announced his plans to produce a new film to modernize the Turtles, mixed reviews poured in about what was in store. The evening has dawned, and once again I've gone back to the hallowed halls of the movie theater to bring you a review. Was Bay's latest project another prolonged mess, or did we get a turtle adventure worth seeing? Read on to find out.

I'm going to come out and say it, if you go in here comparing the movie to the turtles series we grew up with, then you will hate this movie. Of course this movie is not going to break the nostalgic love many hold this series with. Instead, one should go in looking for a new spin on the series, and trying to admire the adventure set forth. TMNT has brought something back to the series that was lacking for some time… action. Under Jonathan Liebesman's direction, this installment grabs the audience by the back, or shells in some cases, and takes you for a fast paced ride. From the get go we get awesome CGI battles, where extras are flung against walls by computer created turtles, whose design was not as terrible as many make it out to be. The animation is smooth, as the four turtles smoothly perform their martial arts, wielding their weapons to defeat the very lame foot soldiers. Most of the movie is adrenaline infused, seldom stopping to explain the point of fighting as they move from one battle to another. Fast paced moviegoers like me will be bobbing in their seats with excitement, wondering what stunt the turtles will pull off next.

Yet for so much action in such a short time period the story is sacrificed. In this reboot the story has taken some interesting twists. The classic tale of the turtles origins is turned into one that brings April O' Neil (Megan Fox) more into the story. Again, die-hard purists might be screaming in outrage at the blasphemy, yet the story is not half bad despite how simple it is. Even the change in characters is not as grandiose as we expected. Vernon (Will Arnett) the egotistical cameraman has become a love struck puppy that is out to get a date with April. While not looking the part, Fox brings April's stubbornness to life, though she is not quite the damsel in distress as back in the cartoon days. Fox does not do a bad job with acting, nothing that is award winning, but not as awful as we thought. Splinter even takes a bit of a change, a lot more aggressive than the sensei we know, with one of the best fight scenes of the movie. Yet the wise rat isn't as key a player as you might have expected from the trailers.

As for the Turtles, their diversity and characteristics continue to withstand the tests of time, though with a little more edge to each of them. In both design and attitude, the turtles bounce a lot of the classic humor off of one another, and mix it into the flow of the movie without much disturbing to the action. Michelangelo doesn't get to pull out as many punches as the rest of the gang, but brings his surfer bum humor into the fray to make it fun. Donatello 's geeky side comes out in full force, most of his participation technologically oriented to go with the inventor side. Raphael gets the most time of the turtles and brings more of the aggressive muscle; while Leo stays the same honorable leader he always is… though again doesn't get much time on the big screen. The team works great together though, and the voice acting for each of them is well suited for the design of the turtles. The writing for the movie is very much like the show, filled with cheesy jokes and simplistic laughs though a lot less puns. Regardless, the results are it is funny and silly, though perhaps a bit too different for those looking to relive the glory days.

The new turtles movie is not the disaster that it had the potential to be. Having Bay as the producer instead of the director was a better decision for this reviewer, because it put the explosions to a minimum and the action I expected to the max. Stable camera-work and animation keeps you in line with the action, allowing you to actually keep track of what is going on. While there is indeed a major divergence in the classic story and humor, it is still a fun adventure. Again I love action movies, but I think many will find this movie a fun flick to watch. Would I bring kids? It is true that there is a PG-13 rating due to the violence and terrorism themes, but I think most will be able to handle it, just exercise some caution. Was it worth a trip to the movie? For action lovers and non-purist TMNT fans, I think it is worth a trip. As for the casual fans, I think this one can wait for home, because it doesn't have all of the aspects that most audiences seem to enjoy. Overall my scores for this film are:

Action/Adventure/Comedy: 8.0 Movie overall: 6.5-7.0

Quickie Review:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), the title is pretty self- explanatory on what this movie is about. Nevertheless here's the gist, a group of teenage turtles who are mutated and have ninja skills must fight their biggest foe Shredder, and save New York City. To a non-fan of the cartoons and comics, this sounds like a ridiculous plot, and it is. There are also human characters that were completely unfunny and throwaway. However, what keeps this movie from being a complete failure are the turtles themselves. There is a lot that is wrong with this movie, but turtles give some shred of integrity to the movie.

Full Review:

Full disclosure here, I am aware of TMNT but I am not a loyal fan. I think even the people who have no interest in watching TMNT are fully aware of all the online negative reaction both pre- and post-release. I follow many bloggers and youtubers, who's opinions I deeply respect that have said they didn't like it or in extreme cases found it to be horrendous. The movie released late here so I was aware of the general consensus beforehand. For that reason I was fully prepared to expect at best 4/10 or even less. But I must admit, I didn't find TMNT to be a great movie but much better than I had anticipated.

Let me touch upon what I did like, the turtles. Say what you will about their designs, but I find it hard to find any fault in their personalities. When there are CGI characters involved it is easy to jumble them together and make them generic. Thankfully that is not the case. Each of the turtles have great distinct personalities. So when you see them interact, they bicker and banter like any siblings do. On top of that they are all genuinely funny, especially Michelangelo (the yellow eye band). He had many funny lines but one in particular near the end had me bursting with laughter. The actions sequences were also generally well done. Yes there is the occasional shaky-cam action but it is balanced with scenes that are smooth long shots that are detailed and well-choreographed.

Now let's talk about what is wrong with the movie. My biggest annoyance were the human characters. Megan Fox as April O'Neil to no surprise was just there to stare at everything that was going on because when she opens her mouth to speak, she is just as monotone as it gets. Give the sound guy in this movie a raise for taking out all cricket chirping sounds that must have happened after every line from Will Arnett. His character was supposed to be the comic relief… Notice how I said "supposed," because every "joke" he had was just followed up with an awkward silence in the cinema. Then there is the overly convoluted and coincidental plot, where for some reason every character is connected somehow. If you give the evil plan by the villain any thought it will just implode to its core. That brings me to the villain himself, Shredder. The filmmakers needs to understand that just making the villain look scary is not enough. A fruit fly hovering over a banana has more understandable motivation than Shredder did the entire movie. For all I know his motivation was to make Edward Scissorhands jealous. He was just a giant faceless robot with glorified Swiss army knives for arms.

I went on bit of a rant there, but I think the majority would agree with the negative points I have made. I think all the negativity I heard previous to watching the movie helped me to expect the bad characters, the thin plot, and the forgettable villain. And so like I said I was prepared for that and was ready to accept it. All I wanted was some good turtle moments and cool looking action, which TMNT did deliver. That may explain why I'm rating this movie not high, but higher than the general consensus. I completely understand the negative reactions, and if you look at my little rant I agree with it all. Still I think if you go with managed expectations, you will leave (at the very least) not completely hating the movie. Look at the bright side, it's not directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

Check out more on my movie review blog The Stub Collector: http://thestubcollector.wordpress.com/

When we are children, there is a toy we love above all others, that is a holy grail of imagination and enjoyment. For me that was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I loved the TV and toys so much, and the films still hold a special place in my heart. So here we have a reboot, This will not end well. OK, let me get over my own personal hang ups towards the film straight away. It's not the Turtles I knew and loved, it's not the same premise, it's not the same message ideas and for this reason alone the film should not be watched or tolerated by anyone. Ever. I can't guarantee this side of me won't return later in this review but for now, I'm going to try and judge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as best I can without bringing in my personal feelings for the product. The Turtles Movie Is a film that attempts to have it's cake and eat it. It wants the integrity and prestige of the original movies and cartoons, but it wants massive set pieces and unoriginal thinking. That's the main problem with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we have seen it all before. There is nothing to make the movie stand out and be proud of itself, I mean in truth there is nothing horrifically wrong with it enough to make me angry, but considering what the film had to work with I just wanted something more remarkable.

The plot is the same plot of any superhero film, Hero's exists, are hidden from the world, a super villain wants to do something bad, they have to come out of hiding to defend the city they love. That's the other thing; that considering the film is just over an hour and half, there isn't a whole lot of action in it, nor is there much comedy or anything else, the entire thing just kind of runs together without any kind of variety. I think that the films blandness is really what comes to the front of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I just never felt like I really knew anything about the Turtles that made them personally unique, or why Shredder had any ties to their past, the film never goes into detail about anything. I could overlook the look of the turtles themselves if they had enough character, but simply put they don't. This is a travesty that cannot be forgiven. It's not even like we see the turtles fight the nameless foot soldiers that much either. There is a sequence in the middle of the movie, where there is a chase and an escape for the turtles, each turtle is used in turn to achieve a goal but instead of looking spectacular or impressive the sequence just looks messy. Now, I am fully aware that for a child who has never seen the turtles or is just a young kid, this film will be engaging and exciting and fun, but that isn't who I am or how I watch the movie. Also the inner film references in the movie are just lazy. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a bit of big dumb inoffensive fun. However I'm predjudist against a film that would do this to my childhood so it's still awful.

That is if you don't get your childhood dreams crushed of course. And I say crushed, because if you say this "killed" your childhood ... well I think it would be a poor choice of words. Though I get the sentiment and the anger if one doesn't like someone tempering with their memories (especially the good one). But still this is just a movie and even if you liked the TMNT as a kid, be aware that this will not be your childhood "heroes" coming alive again.

Megan Fox plays a reporter/character, that seems very close to her own celebrity personality. Must have been fun for her to play the whole "no one takes me seriously in the job that I'm doing"-act. It also shows, that she's not afraid to make fun of that herself. The self-awareness is extremely high. On the other hand you have Will Arnett, a gifted comedian who seems to have the best job ever ... at least in this movie. The effects are pretty good too, which can make this a guilty pleasure, if you let it ...

As a child of the 80's, I was looking forward to the return of the Teenage Mutant Turtles to the Big Screen. The Final Result for me is a mixed bag.

Short synopsis of the plot line: April O'Neill, portrayed by Megan Fox is a Reporter for Channel 6 in New York, regulated to covering Fluff Stories. She is attempting to get a lowdown on a recent crime wave, by the Foot Clan. Through her investigation, she meets up with The Turtles and, and their Ninja Master Rat Splinter. It is revealed early on that there is past link between April, The Turtles & Splinter – a changed part of the story that I like. Turtle Michelangelo, voiced by Noel Fisher, keeps you laughing with his wisecracks, and Megan Fox does an adequate job playing April. The other voice talents do fine as well, and I think look of the Turtles is fine, internet criticism and all.

Having said all that – The overall story and some of the Dialogue needed to be fleshed out. Some fun, but I can't rank it over the original 1990 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", or the 2007 Animated TMNT. If the Movie does well at the Box Office, I hope for improvement with the Sequel. 2 ½ out of 4 Stars.