SCORE: B
I really liked TMNT. The film is better than most of the other TMNT flicks (but not the 1990 one), has some laughs, and is overall very fun to watch.
Now, mind you, I’m heavily biased because I’m a massive TMNT fan and have enjoyed it in all its iterations (ok, I hated ‘Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation’, but who didn’t?). Most reviewers have written entire reviews about how much they hate Michael Bay, who didn’t even direct this film. Sure, it was probably his idea to basically make Shredder a Transformer, but whatever. I saw him as more of a Ch’rell Shredder anyway. (Don’t know the reference? Watch the 2003 cartoon series)
THE GOOD:
The TMNT look cool, like a cross between the Jim Lee action figures (from 10-15 years ago http://bit.ly/1B7JBMk) and the Michael Zulli’s version of the TMNT (http://bit.ly/1kvkqhJ)
I liked the allusions to the old 1987 cartoon series, from having Vernon (Will Arnet), to a female Chief Burn (played by Whoopi Goldberg of all people), to lines like Shredder saying “Tonight I dine on turtle soup”, which is straight out of the old show. I also liked references to the other films, the biggest one I noticed was Leo slicing up pizza with his katana and one slice landing on Splinter’s head (which happened in the 1990 film). In that scene, young Leo also wears a shirt but I couldn’t tell what it said on it. On the action figure his shirt says Ninja Pizza, an nod to the pizza place on the very first TMNT cartoon episode. Cool!
William Fichtner does a good job in this flick as Erick Sacks (whose name is an Anglicized version of Shredder’s name: Oroku Saki).
It was cool seeing Shredder shoot knives out of his arm, then use magnetism to bring them back to his suit.
Splinter looks VERY strange and is sort of mean (at least stern) to the TMNT when you first see him. But Tony Shalhoub does a good job voicing him and you get to like him a lot later.
I also liked Johnny Knoxville as Leo.
I really like the differentiation between the TMNT in this film. They all have little differences in their costumes, from techno gear and glasses (Don), a shell necklace (Mikey), a do-rag (Raph), and chest armor made out of wood (Leo). Neat.
THE BAD:
Michelangelo looks like Whoopi Goldberg, something I would have said even if she weren’t in the film already. Weird.
Megan Fox does an okay job as April O’Neil, but I would have liked a different/better actress, like Amy Adams. Oh well.
The bad guy’s motives don’t really make sense. He wants to take over New York so he’ll become insanely rich. But he’s already the head of a major company (with four or five subsidiaries) and even owns a building on Manhattan Island. Isn’t he already rich? And yet, it does make sense because rich people do always want more money, so I guess greed is his real drive. Also, power-hungry people always want more power.
ANNOYING REVIEWERS:
Other reviewers have complained that the writing is poor, which I don’t think is fair. They point out a line of April’s as an example. The TMNT explain their origin to April and she says, “So you’re ninja mutant turtle teenagers?” To which Don replies, “Well, when you put it like that it sounds ridiculous!” Personally, I thought that was a clever line and it got a big laugh from the audience.
Other reviewers have complained that you don’t see the TMNT until halfway through the film (the beginning of the movie focusing on April sleuthing around). But the opening is a comic book version of their origin! Also, you see them like 8 minutes into the film, then again about 10 minutes later. What film did the others watch?
There’s a funny scene with the TMNT in an elevator that I thought was pitch-perfect and the audience liked it, too. But some have said that it’s like watching ‘The Dark Knight’ and having Batman stop fighting so he can break dance. But... the Turtles ALWAYS did shit like that. They’re a spoof on comic books, and so they mock their often overly-serious tone. (Some have even complained about this fact. Ugh!)
Some reviewers have even complained that Erick Sacks wears an Under Armor shirt through the last half of the film as product placement. 1) The UA logo is black on a black t-shirt. 2) Who cares? What a weird thing to complain about in a movie review.