Movielogr
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman
Twitter Facebook Google+Action | Thriller | Science Fiction
Most recently watched by schofizzy, Javitron, zombiefreak, sensoria, seanCduregger, CaptainBigTime, ashe5k, lordofthemovies, GMOM65
Overview
When a kingpin threatens New York City, a group of mutated turtle warriors must emerge from the shadows to protect their home.
Rated PG-13 | Length 101 minutes
Actors
Pete Ploszek | Alan Ritchson | Jeremy Howard | Noel Fisher | Megan Fox | Will Arnett | William Fichtner | Danny Woodburn | Johnny Knoxville | Tony Shalhoub | Tohoru Masamune | Whoopi Goldberg | Minae Noji | Abby Elliott | Madison Mason | Taran Killam | K. Todd Freeman | Paul Fitzgerald | Malina Weissman | Venida Evans | Mikal Vega | Harley Pasternak | Braeson Herold | Chris Wylde | Chance Kelly | Rick Chambers | Leyna Nguyen | Derek Mears
Viewing History (seen 2 times)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06/03/2016 | TV | Blu-ray | Library | 0 stars |
| 08/09/2014 | Movie Screen | Digital | Theater | 5.5 stars |
| (Average) 2.75 stars |
Viewing Notes
Not nearly as bad as its made out to be. But hardly a good film. I’m clearly not the intended audience all nostalgia aside. I still have affection for the original TMNT comic books but never embraced them beyond that in other formats. A lot of what is presented here could have worked had the production team been a little more thoughtful and attended to the details.
Things like the geography were very distracting. I couldn’t not think about how there are snow covered mountains so close to NYC as well as when this was taking place (NYC doesn’t appear to be in winter yet scenes are filmed around the Times Square 2014 NYE ball drop, which is in a few shots). Just seems sloppy. It’s as though the crew came up with setpieces and sequences then sewed them together with no logic in mind.
When Fichtner’s character refers to the turtles originating from “box turtles” I sighed. It’s a detail thing but indicative of how they glossed over script. Megan Fox is fine but glides through doing the best with a shitty screenplay. So many issues with this movie esp. the final sequence with Shredder (ugh, don’t even want to address this shallow character). Baffling how Sacks is shown leaving his mountain compound in a helicopter while Shredder stays behind to fight Raphael. Cut to NYC and Shredder is on the rooftop entering the computer sequence to release the toxin. What.
Obviously there were edits and reshoots and post-noodling that all adds up to a shoddy, disappointing product. All that said, there are glimpses of good and some fun moments with the turtles. Maybe they’ll actually develop a worthwhile screenplay for the sequel.
The best aspect of my screening was hearing the children in the audience laughing during the movie (at all the correct moments). If kids can get some enjoyment from this than it’s not a total wasted effort.
Lastly, someone must have owed a favor to Whoopi Goldberg. Dumb character in two scenes made worse by casting her.
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