Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman
Starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard, Danny Woodburn, Tohoru Masamune, Minae Noji, and the voices of Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub.
Backstory
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It looms large in my childhood, having come along just my childhood was starting to end. So, in my awkward junior high years, I was still devote. When this new movie incarnation was announced, like a lot of fans, I was worried. Michael Bay producing? After what he did to Transformers? And then there was that leaked early script that changed the Turtles to aliens…. Unlike others, though, I was cautiously optimistic about Megan Fox as April O’Neil. However, as the release date drew near, I found myself not getting that excited about it. But still, being a fan, I knew I was going to see it. Was it worth my $10 at the theatre?
Plot
April O’Neil, ace reporter for Channel 6 news. She’s stuck on the human interest beat, but she yearns to do the harder, “real” news, and is conducting her own investigation into a recent crimewave orchestrated by an organized crime ring from Japan known as the Foot Clan. When stumbling upon a Foot robbery one night, she sees that the crime is broken up by a mysterious vigilante. She also happens to be friends with Eric Sachs, the billionaire industrialist who was close colleagues with her father, a research scientist, who died when the Foot attacked Sachs’ lab. Switching her investigation to the vigilante, April discovers that the vigilante is actually four walking, talking mutant turtles, trained in the arts of ninjitsu. What is the mysterious connection between the Turtles and Apirl’s father’s research? What is the link between the Foot Clan and Eric Sachs? Will the Turtles be able to stop the Foot Clan and their leader, the fierce Shredder, before they destroy the city?
What I Liked
Well, at least they got the Turtles right. Leonardo is still the leader, Raphael is still the angry loner, Donatello is still the quiet brainy one, and Michaelangelo is the goofball. And there’s a great action scene with a semi sliding down a snowy mountain.
What I Didn’t Like
The plot is fairly standard superhero stuff. Megan Fox is Megan Fox. The hilarious Will Arnett is actually pretty bland as April’s sidekick and cameraman Vern. Eric Sachs wasn’t really developed that much as a villain. Shredder gets short shrift as a villain. Bryan Tyler, doing the music, as he has done for a lot of the Marvel movies, has reached that point where all his scores are starting to sound the same. It all wound up being a pretty routine, almost phoned-in superhero movie.
Final Assessment
Not terrible…just bland.