Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) Review

Seeing as we are looking at a sequel to 2014's 'TMNT' film this Friday, I thought I would give another look at the first film and give some retrospective thoughts before I review this week's 'Out of the Shadows'. Like many before, I hated this film when it came out and even now I wouldn't say it's even close to the franchise looking its best in the mirror, however I think the harshness has since dwindled and we can look at this film for what it is.

What it is is just a summer action flick with many flaws, but one in which you can have a good time for an hour and a half. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to me was never meant to be brilliant in any way, it was a fun idea that took off into some great entertainment nothing more. The harsh criticisms toward the film from its fan base (admittedly myself included) is rather strange being that they seem to think of a film about giant anthropomorphic turtles that eat pizza and fight crime is supposed to be some kind of high class thing.

The film's action is its strong suit, which producer Michael Bay love him or hate him is talented at despite the scenes going overboard before long. The turtles themselves are a criticism that I still have to agree with. They are creepy to look at, just really bad and its a problem that's impossible to ignore (being that they are the primary characters). The casting in general is pretty bad as well, with Megan Fox being her usual self. The fact that she doesn't even look like or is written like April O' Neil is just a cherry there. However, the biggest flaw of the film really is its lack of grandness if that makes any sense.

The villain of the film just lacks any menace and really feels somehow like an afterthought. This is really what gives me hope for the sequel is the variety of it compared to this film. As I said above, many many flaws hold this one back from summer blockbuster greatness (if such a thing exists) however, I think the backlash is a little unwarrented. We have seen this franchise in much worse shambles than this (TMNT III, Next Generation, Comin' Out of Their Shells etc.) and I think even with all those strikes I stated above the film is still fun to watch.


I'm going to give 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' a C-

I hope to see you this weekend for my review of 'Out of The Shadows'. Thanks again folks.