Movies: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

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Score:  ***1/2 out of ***** (B-)

Long Story Short:  The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back on the big screen, now CGI characters in a live-action film.  Besides just the extensive visual wizardry, this TMNT is in the style of its producer, Michael Bay (this is closer to the first Transformers, a quality film, than its horrific sequels).  It even stars (a far less annoying) Megan Fox as longtime Turtle companion, reporter April O'Neil.  It's not a great film, but the style is a good fit and it's plenty entertaining.  

Summer continues to move along (and August is flying by as quickly as usual), but there are still a few films that look good in the month that usually gets the dregs of the season.  Football and tennis seasons are heating up, in contrast, with the second major U.S. Open tune up ending this weekend, and the NFL preseason well underway.  As for this week, I loved watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon on TV when I was young.  The live-action films in the early 1990s were also fun, and so I decided to give this version a try, too, despite a poor score on Rotten Tomatoes.  The 2014 version was directed by Jonathan Liebesman and stars Megan Fox and Will Arnett as the turtles' human companions.

New York City is under threat from a powerful but shadowy criminal group known as the Foot Clan.  While politicians blather that the city will crack down on them, fledgling reporter April O'Neil (Fox) is on the ground trying to figure out what the Clan is all about.  Although even her good friend camera man Vernon is skeptical of her efforts, April manages to witness a late-night smuggling event by the Clan.  As she watches, though, a figure takes down the whole operation but she never gets a good look at him.  At the news station, April's report brings only rolled eyes and heavy sighs.

April is convinced that a vigilante is loose in the City, though, and she rushes to the scene of another crime.  This time she manages to track the vigilante - and his three accomplices - and is of course shocked to find the giant, talking turtles.  The end of the mystery for April, though, is just the beginning of the danger for the entire City, for the Turtles are not only New York's best hope but also its greatest threat...

As you might expect, TMNT is not a stage for Oscar-worthy acting performances.  That said, there is also nothing too terrible to find here, either.  Megan Fox is not a particularly good actress, but she does fine with April, whom the script makes a fairly bland, straightforward heroine.  But she also isn't annoying this time (see:  Transformers), and provides convincing urgency and determination.  Will Arnett does a very nice job as Vernon, essentially her sidekick who also longs for her yet not in an over-the-top or distracting way.  The passive member of the team, his grumbled side comments add considerable humor to the film.  And, of course, we have the Turtles - which this time are fully CGI.  I might have preferred real human beings in costumes, as in the 1990s, but the computerized versions were more impressive than I was expecting and I got used to them before long.  All the turtles have the same personalities as ever:  Leonardo the serious leader, Donatello the dorky scientist, Michelangelo the funny goofball, and Rafael the moody rogue.  Most of the focus in this film goes to Michelangelo and Rafael, with Leonardo getting oddly little attention.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been a pop culture establishment for a while now, so you (I'm looking at you, critics) should know essentially what to expect by now.  It's a version of New York City victimized by the criminal gang known as the Foot Clan and led by the Shredder (in a not so serious but not entirely silly way, either).  Opposing them are four humanoid turtles, whose personalities (and conflicts) drive the story.  2014's TMNT adheres to this formula, and puts it in the style of Transformers (it's produced by Michael Bay, after all).  While I sympathize if this sounds like a terrible idea, it actually fits the franchise well.  TMNT lets you absorb the tense yet over-the-top tone more readily, and the action can get crazy without devolving into "oh look, they demolished another skyscraper" tedium.  Actually this film keeps the Turtles hidden for most of the early parts (yet it's also not slow).  When they are finally unleashed, the cork pops off the fun bottle, especially in a thrilling (if ridiculous) avalanche chase.  There's even some tension, unlike in Transformers, since the Turtles often get their shells handed to them.

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So, let me get this straight:  Lucy is at 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, and TMNT is at 20%.  Huh?  Did the critics just throw in the towel for the second half of the summer, putting it on auto-pilot and guessing how good each film would be?  I'm not saying TMNT is a masterpiece; I gave it a "B-".  But it basically was what I wanted it to be:  a thoroughly entertaining film with characters beloved from my childhood, and adapted to a modern style while keeping the spirit of the franchise.  Yeah, it could have been done better, but it was a perfectly good time at the theater; I didn't throw my money away.  Based on its box office success I would assume a sequel is in the works.  This might not be a great idea, but there's also potential for growth (as long as they keep Michael Bay at arms length...).  Lucy, on the other hand, had an intriguing premise and went horribly wrong in just about every way.  The take away:  yes, originality is good - essential, even, in today's film world.  But you can still do some really cool things with well-worn franchises, and "original" ideas can result in such toxic products that it makes us (or me, at least) want to avoid anything similar for awhile.  So if you are/were a TMNT fan, or just want to see a fun action film... cowabunga!

* "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film July 2014 poster". Via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_film_July_2014_poster.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_film_July_2014_poster.jpg