Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film) - Analysis and Review

Shellshocked

That's what a lot of TMNT fans were feeling when they learned that this film was being produced by Michael Bay. And the long road to getting filmed was one filled with drama. Does it put all the naysayers to rest? Let's look at the Plot first.

The Plot

When special interests reporter April O'Neil (Megan Fox) sees an opportunity to move up the broadcast food chain, she finds herself caught in a secret war waged between the Foot Clan and... TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES.

Analysis

There's a lot to be put into consideration about the creation of this film. First, Michael Bay was responsible for bringing this franchise back into the minds of movie executives. And why not? It is one of the most beloved franchises of the 90s and definitely has a huge following. From its origins as a dark and gritty comic that was a satire on superheroes to the big screen with rubber suits to the animated shows that are still around today, the Turtles have been in the lives of a generation. A generation that has now grown and still remember the pizza loving, skateboarding, mischievous yet heroic foursome that the Turtles are. I am from that generation. And yet. I'm not a fan.

That doesn't mean I don't like them. I still watched them and know enough about them to have nice conversations with friends of mine who are fans. But I was never one of those hardcore die-hard fans.  I was a huge fan of Transformers and other things, but never a big fan of the Turtles.

So when it was announced that Michael Bay was producing the latest big screen iteration... I could care less. I didn't think anything of it. Even when it was announced that the title was just going to be called Ninja Turtles and they were going to be aliens instead of mutants, I didn't mind it. I did feel some sympathy for the fans who were outraged about hearing this. For me, I was at that point in my life when being faithful to the source material didn't mattered to me. What mattered was making a good movie. And given Michael Bay's track record, although his movies aren't good he knows how to make entertainment. Except for Age of Extinction, that was like watching someone live smear shit on the big screen. 

However people seem to be forgetting that Michael Bay is producing not directing. Those are two very different things. But from what can be seen about the final product, it can easily be mistaken for a Michael Bay film. So how was it?

Review

It needs to be made clear that this film was directed by Jonathan Liebesman. NOT Michael Bay. Jonathan Liebesman. NOT MICHAEL BAY! Having said that, this looks like a current Michael Bay movie. Everything from the high color saturation, to the lens flares, to even some of the camera movements. Liebesman has a specific handheld camera style that was shown in Battle: Los Angeles and Wrath of the Titans, that really starts to appear like a weak Michael Bay rip off here. His style in the film seems to have morphed into how Michael Bay would shoot the film, but luckily it didn't include the Michael Bay-ism of having overly sexualized women and toilet humor that goes too far. This is a more kid friendly Michael Bay, if it was directed by Michael Bay. But it isn't. Which helps this movie more so than one might think.

The story does play out a little bit similar to Michael Bay's first Transformers film in that the focus of the story is on the human characters before shifting to the non-human ones. Megan Fox rejoins the Michael Bay train as April O'Neil, the iconic reporter from TMNT lore. The story revolves around her struggles of working her way up the news food chain to discovering that she may be connected to the creation of the turtles. Given that so much of it is focused on her, this is where we really see Fox's acting chops get put to the test. And she does... well? It is a passable performance, but is very obvious that a much talented actress could've handled this character better. And given that most of the movie focuses on her, it really doesn't help that we have a barely okay performance as the lead to a very predictable story.

Then there is Will Arnett as April's cameraman, Vernon Fenwick. His character seems to have been written as a potential love interest for April. However the fact that Arnett looks a lot older than Fox, and it makes him look more like a creep than a love sick puppy, it probably would've been better if they casted a younger actor for the part. Arnett does fine with what he's given, but it is obvious that this role was definitely not meant for him.

But what about the ones the audience pays to see? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! How are they? Well, to be quite honest. They were...almost perfect. I say almost mainly because of Johnny Knoxville as the voice of Leonardo, the leader of the turtles. Pete Ploszek did the motion capture for Leonardo while filming, but it is Knoxville's voice that we hear in the final cut. And it really isn't suitable for someone who is suppose to be the leader. I wonder what the reason for this change is, seeing as how the other mo-cap actors get to keep their voices in the finished film.

Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher and Jeremy Howard are the ones who have that privelage, and I'm glad they did because they are actually perfect in their roles. They play Raphael, Michelangelo and Donatello respectively and perfectly. Each of them brings out the personalities fans will know and love so well that it is a shame we don't get to see them as the primary focus of the film. Ritchson's Raphael gets more screen time than the others, probably because he's the badass of the group, but it is indeed fan favorite Michelangelo who steals the show. Fisher does an excellent job playing the lovable Ninja Turtle and has the character down to a tee. Howard's performance as Donatello is admirable as the geeky one of the group, yet given his lack of screen time we can't exactly get a grasp of him. But from what little is shown, he does it perfect.

Of course there is Master Splinter, the overgrown rat that teaches his "sons" ninjutsu...from a discarded book. Yeah, suspension of disbelief. He is voiced by Tony Shaloub, who does an okay job at it, but lacks the kind of gravitas one would expect from Splinter. It is still a nice interpretation, it just lacks gravitas.

And as for the villains, it was misleadingly promoted that Will Fichtner was going to be the iconic samurai villain, Shredder. Well, he's not. Instead we have a Japanese actor who has his face concealed the whole time in the shadows playing the Shredder. This gives Turtle fans a sigh of relief knowing that Shredder is played by a Japanese actor. However, most of the time Shredder is a CGI robot samurai that resembles a smaller version of Megatron from Transformers. Given that this is a Michael Bay produced film, it should be obvious. Even though Fichtner is the primary antagonist of the film, Shredder still comes off as the main threat. He is definitely everything I'd want from a villain. Mysterious and almost unstoppable. In all the action scenes involving him facing off against the heroes, he dominates the fight. Almost too much, but since he's too powerful, it makes defeating him feel like an even greater victory. And its that over powered nature that makes him feel like a genuine threat. Something that Marvel Films seem to lack with their bad guys.

The story is pretty straight forward and predictable, with an ending that copies The Amazing Spider-Man's finale. However given its length of being only 90 minutes, the plot doesn't drag and is a little bit more compact. Would it have benefited with more? Yes. But I'm actually happy with the length that it is. It says what it needs to say, even though it is predictable, yet it is highly entertaining. And fans of the source may feel outrage for the slight tweak that is made to their origins. No, they are not aliens. They kept part of the original origin story, but have it tie in with April O'Neil. It still doesn't detract from the overall film, just hardcore fans will find it detracting.

Final Thoughts

Seeing the 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes makes no sense to me. Yes, this movie is not that great, but it is on the same level as other movies such as Lucy and Hercules yet it gets torn apart viciously. I don't believe it deserves all the extreme negativity that it does, because this is a genuinely entertaining film that is more appropriate for kids than the Transformers films. I think it is mainly because of the name Michael Bay, that keeps people from seeing the genuinely fun and competent storytelling being shown here. It is not a bad movie and it is not a good movie. But it is a genuinely entertaining one.

SCORE: 6.5/10 - Kids are going to love it, and maybe if you look past the Michael Bay name, you might enjoy it too

Let's make "DONKEY KONG" a movie

Whoever made this image, you're awesome!

For those of you who don't know, its also about Mario

Donkey Kong is a legendary video game. When young gamers hear Donkey Kong they will immediate conjure up images of a gorilla with a necktie, but only real gamers would know that it is the game that introduces the world to Mario. Well...sort of. He wasn't called Mario originally but instead referred to as "Jumpman" as a way to compete with Pacman. But for all intents and purposes this is the game that introduces the world to these two iconic characters.

Didn't they make a movie already?

The shot answer to this is yes and no. Yes, Buena Vista Pictures made a film adaptation of Super Mario Bros. back in 1993 starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as the video game icons Mario and Luigi. The general consensus of that film among the video gaming community is... "act like it doesn't exist." Which is a shame because Bob Hoskins is a brilliant actor...but then again brilliant actors occasionally do bad films that they probably had no idea would be bad.

So, am I asking for a remake? Not really. Because then the title would be "Let's remake Super Mario Bros." Where I'm going with this is making a straight forward film adaptation of the original video game.

So how exactly would one were to do that? Well, the idea I have in mind, is probably not the one people want:

Dark and Gritty - The way no one wants to see....unless

Just hear me out. The term dark and gritty usually gets associated with "The Dark Knight." It is a term used to describe something that is real and grounded. Well to me Dark and Gritty means something else. When I think of Dark and Gritty, The Dark Knight does come to mind but so does a film that people seem to forget is Dark and Gritty: The X-Men Film Franchise. People don't seem to realize how dark the film is in terms of subject matter, but it may also have to do with the touches of lightness coming from the need to relieve the serious tension. This is a style that could pose a threat to a movie going experience. Do it right (X-men, The Dark Knight, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and you got a great movie. Do it wrong (Cowboys and Aliens) and that's when debates will start triggering of whether it was the right decision. And believe it or not, the storyline of the original Donkey Kong game can be interpreted as pretty dark.

The Story

The storyline of the original Donkey Kong game is about a pet gorilla that has suffered abuse and mistreatment by his owner for several years. Fed up with the abuse, the gorilla kidnaps his owner's girlfriend and holds her hostage in the owner's factory. Now, obviously the gorilla is the titular Donkey Kong. But who is this abusive owner? Jumpman, or better known today as MARIO! 

That's right, the hero of the video game is the cause for the trouble of the video game. While this plot was really created just to give it an edge against other games that came out at the time, if one were actually to delve into the deeper meanings then you'd realize that you're playing the villain. Our knowledge of Mario is that he's the hero. This is mainly attributed to the later video games that would paint him as the true hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. This can play to people's expectations of Mario in the film.

It could be a small scale rendition of the storyline told in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. But have the James Franco character be a dick and change the setting to the fantasy world of the Mushroom Kingdom then it makes total sense why someone would have a gorilla as a pet. Or how about making the gorillas Mario's workforce for the factory that he runs? He keeps it out of the public eye that he is abusing these animals and instead makes it looks like he takes good care of them. Hell, he could be secretly the villain of the story. Donkey Kong can be his main gorilla who takes the most abuse due protecting the other gorillas from Mario. It would play into Donkey Kong's plan in Kidnapping Mario's girlfriend, Pauline. Yes, Pauline, not Princess Peach. The story would then borrow that element of King Kong with the seemingly villainous ape kidnapping the beautiful woman. Of course this is where that revelation would dawn her about the truth of Mario.

The film can end with Mario being exposed and loses his business, with Donkey Kong and his gorilla comrades being released into Donkey Kong Country by Pauline. As for Mario, he is forced to work with his younger brother Luigi as a plumber.

See what I did there? I left Mario in a bad place while also setting him up for a potential sequel that would serve as his redemption story to being a true hero. Clever huh? Well, maybe anyone can come up with that. But doesn't that sound cool?

The Downsides to making it that way

• People might be turned off by making it kind of serious and a little bit dark with the animal abuse subject matter that some would claim wasn't there
• The title Donkey Kong would be misleading as it is also a Mario movie so a studio might call it Mario Vs Donkey Kong or Mario Origins or something lame to get the public more interested and less confused when they see Mario
• Most people don't know this storyline so it would turn people off to have Mario painted in such a negative light
• Video game adaptations have a history of being bad so that could detract from the number of people who would see it

The Plus sides of making it that way

• It would make the subject matter stronger and the drama really intense
• It would have great action scenes that would all take place in one location, kind of like The Raid but in a factory
• The first big screen adaptation of Donkey Kong and the second stab at making a good Mario Flick
• It would add more depth to characters who are pretty straight forward in all their other games
• It could potentially open the doors to a Nintendo Cinematic Universe (I did say it ends with Donkey Kong Country being introduced and Mario becoming a Plumber)

Final words

Yes, that is the movie I'd want to see. And it may sound crazy to some. But again, any movie idea can be good if done right. What type of Mario adaptation would you want? Something like Marvel that is filled with comedy and moments of character development? Or my approach where it looks dark but it can also be light.