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"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (2014) REVIEW


I'll be honest. Ever since this movie was announced, I was certain it was going to fail. Surprisingly, I was half wrong (but I'm still half right).

Created in a laboratory fifteen years ago and now reside in the sewers of New York City, teenage turtles Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo can't help but, against the orders of their master Splinter, sneak out to the surface and stop an organization called the Foot Clan from overrunning the streets of New York. After their latest escapade, they are discovered by news reporter April O'Neil (Megan Fox). Finding out that April's knowledge of the turtles puts her in harm's way and that she also shares a past with them, the turtles try to protect her from the Foot Clan and their leader, Shredder, who has a plan to overrun New York City once and for all.

Like I said in the beginning, my expectations for the movie were low. In fact, I was ready to hate it, but I tried to keep an open mind. Though the first half of the movie was rather slow and boring, the second half is actually very well done. The action sequences are well executed, the best scene of the movie being the mountainside fight. The acting from everyone is on par, though Megan Fox's and Will Arnett's performances takes a while to get used too. However, for a reboot, the movie lacks back story that would easily benefit it by being an extra half an hour longer.

As for the fan-service? It's on neutral ground. The change to the origin story (and no, the turtles are not aliens) was actually an interesting twist that I rather enjoyed. The turtles are fairly-written, Michelangelo is funny and delivers the best jokes in the film, Donatello is made a bit nerdy but works well, and Raphael is a thick hothead with authority issues. I didn't really care for this version of Leonardo though, for he was made into a character that's just... there. Megan Fox barely fits as April O'Neil, but, like a said, I got used to it. Will Arnett's character, however, felt weird since he's an older guy flirting with Megan's character. I feel they should have re-casted his role and made him Casey, the hockey-masked vigilante. Perhaps my main complaint, though, is the Shredder. His character's face is never seen, is pretty basic, and his dialogue is rather corny ("Tonight, I dine on turtle soup."). Don't get me wrong, Shredder's suit is great and his fighting technique is awesome, but he was rather lame in the final fight and too easily taken down, leading the movie to be anti-climatic in the end.

Overall, I'm on neutral grounds with this movie. I feel it could be a lot better, but I also feel it could have been a lot worse. However, I wouldn't mind watching it again.

2.5/5 Stars

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