Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) Bluray 1080p MPEG-4 AVC Review

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) Bluray

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aren’t strangers to big screen adventuring. Based on a comic that debuted in 1984, the Turtles were the star of their own cinematic franchise in the 1990s, with the original picture presenting quite an achievement in creature fabrication. There was also an underrated CG-animated effort, 2007’s “TMNT,” which failed to catch fire, returning the brand name to television where the premise has found its greatest success. Now co-producer Michael Bay takes a crack at bringing the Turtles back to the multiplex, overseeing a PG-13 production that uses motion capture technology to realize the heroes in a half-shell for a new generation. It’s a major upgrade in technology, viewed throughout the feature in frenetic action sequences, but the screenwriting isn’t up to the challenge, trying to merge classic Turtle interactions with Bay’s customary event movie coldness.

Shredder (Tohoru Masamune) is preparing to take over New York City with his evil minions, the Foot Clan, armed with a special robotic samurai suit that permits him super-strength and blade-based weaponry. Trying to crack the mystery of the Foot Clan is reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox), a journalist tired of lifestyle assignments. Finding herself in deep with the enemy, April is rescued by mutated turtles Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), Donatello (Jeremy Howard), Raphael (Alan Ritchson), and Leonardo (Johnny Knoxville), and brought to their rat sensei, Splinter (Tony Shalhoub). Realizing that the members of this hero squad are the pets she lost as a child, April is determined to discover exactly what happened to her companions when they were volunteered for a mutagen study, requiring help from billionaire Eric Sacks (William Fichtner), who funded the experiment long ago.

While Bay and his Platinum Dunes team are responsible for the development of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” directorial duties are handed over to Jonathan Liebesman, the uninspired helmer of “Battle Los Angeles,” “Wrath of the Titans,” and a previous Bay production, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.” More of a puppet than a true visionary, Liebesman keeps to the Bay formula, emphasizing noise over mischief, with this latest pass at big screen dominance defined by violence and a dark tone. Perhaps the new “Turtles” is best summarized by Shredder, who is no longer a character on the hunt to rule the world, but a machine that shoots knives and handily smashes anything that challenges it, with the heroes receiving quite a beating when they attempt to take down their enemy. Shredder is a thing, a toy without a personality or goals, keeping “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” devoid of tension as the baddie simply stomps around, while the Foot Clan presence is regulated to stunt sequences where the masked goons are randomly tossed around, never quite feeling like the army we’re told they are.

Liebesman struggles to blend severity with customary Turtle shenanigans, making strained scenes where the ninjas gobble pizza and engage in brotherly banter awkward, clashing uncomfortably with an edgy atmosphere of violence and suffering. The screenplay doesn’t help by adding fart jokes and gifting weird sexual come-ons for Michelangelo (after getting his first glimpse of April, the turtle proclaims that he can feel “his shell tightening”), and the picture doesn’t do well with silliness, which feels like pandering to classic Turtle fans. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is more assured in adventure mode, with the production doing away with a second act, merely going from introductions (including a radical reworking of April’s relationship to the teenagers) to an extended climax as the hunt for Shredder and the mystery of the mutagen begins.

There’s one terrific scene featuring the Turtles, April, and lovesick cameraman Vernon (Will Arnett, better screaming than cracking wise) sliding down a snow-covered mountain chased by the Foot Clan. The action is intense, with Bay-esque camera spasms and unbroken swirly shots, but it’s also the one sequence that’s truly about teamwork and camaraderie. There’s not enough of this interplay in the effort, which tends to take on the characters one at a time, trying to solidify personalities for the inevitable sequel.


There’s a bloated finale in the heart of NYC, and Liebesman gives Fichtner a free pass to overact, which is always asking for trouble. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” has considerable issues, in dire need of a director skilled with tone and original style, but it’s far from a fiasco, with Turtle performances committed, while the humans are best served in panic mode. It’s a mediocre effort that intentionally ignores a golden opportunity to try something new, struggling to be a Michael Bay clone with the occasional “cowabunga” callback.

Starring: Megan Fox, William Fichtner, Alan Ritchson, Will Arnett, Whoopi Goldberg, Noel Fisher (I)
Director: Jonathan Liebesman