TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (2014)

Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Cast: Megan Fox, Alan Ritchson, Johnny Knoxville, Tony Shalhoub, Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard, Noel Fisher, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Mos Def, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Woodburn
RunTime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.teenagemutantninjaturtlesmovie.com

Opening Day: 7 August 2014

Synopsis: The city needs heroes. Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and her wise-cracking cameraman Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett) to save the city and unravel Shredder’s diabolical plan.

Movie Review:

As a child, this reviewer often wondered why April O’ Neil existed in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe. Other than the fact that his sister could own the rather curvaceous action figure (which needed a lot of help standing on its own), he couldn’t figure out the reason behind including a female human character in the series. Maybe it’s meant to lead up to this – a live action reboot of the immensely popular franchise (check out the cheesy guilty pleasure versions which were released in 1990, 1991 and 1993, during the height of the franchise’s popularity) starring the super hot Megan Fox as the inquisitive and righteous (read: nosy) reporter.

Since co createor Peter Laird sold the franchise to Nickelodeon in 2009, the turtles took on a different look to suit the taste of the modern audience – something cooler, funkier and edgier. Gone are the smiley reptiles in a half shell. This has made many fans (those who grew up collecting every version of the action figures in the 1990s) of the original series upset. But as Fox’s rather straightforward message to haters of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie would have it, this group of people can “f*ck off”.

The movie still puts the four turtles in the spotlight: Leonardo (Pete Ploszek, though voiced by Johnny Knoxville), Donatello (Jeremy Howard), Raphael (Alan Ritchson) and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) are being genetic mutations raised in the New York sewers under the tutelage of anthropomorphic rat Splinter (Danny Woodburn, but voiced by Tony Shalhoub), their sensei in the martial arts and adoptive father. While the four turtles do not have the surfer dude sensibility of the original series, they do have individual standout characters which are easily identifiable.

There is a slight difference here – the turtles’ transformation is explained as the result of experimentation done by the scientist father of TV reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox), who was working alongside Eric Sacks (William Fichtner) at the time of his death.Sacks is now a big-time corporate leader spearheading the fight against a ninja-themed crime syndicate called the Foot Clan. In investigating the heists, April spies the turtles, who are coming above ground as vigilantes despite warnings from Splinter to stay hidden. Before long, she and her smitten driver Vernon(Will Arnett) get caught up in the heroes’ fight against the gang and their vicious leader Shredder (Tohoru Masamune), whose metallic samurai suit reminds us of Megatron and his mean getup.

It is no wonder because the Jonathan Liebesman directed movie is produced by MichaelBay, the man who is known for his signature flare and slow mo shots, which are generously on showcase in this 101 minute movie. Granted this production will never win praises from the masses, you weren’t exactly expecting an intelligent movie, were you?

The action comedy does what it’s supposed to do – deliver (what some would call a half hearted attempt) dosages of action, comedy while throwing in a CGIladen finale of the turtles and Shredder battling it out at a New York City skyscraper. The human actors are so so in the movie – Fox is bland, Arnett and Fichtner do what they are supposed to do. But hey, this is a mindless action movie. You go into the theatre to be entertained, and be entertained you will. 

Movie Rating:

(Haters will be haters – our advice to you is to go enjoy this mindless action flick for what it is)

Review by John Li