OK. I watched the film yesterday and I’m compelled to share my thoughts about it.
If I could summarize it in short, it would be: “It is decent and has its moments but…”
Now I’ll try to comment about the film, but I cannot do it without mentioning some spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the film yet and don’t want to know certain important plot points, do not continue reading.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are my favorite heroes since childhood, so you must know that I have some strong opinions about the matter, and I can’t avoid to compare certain elements with the first film from 1990, which in my opinion is still the best movie about the characters to date, and one of my favorite films in the history of my favorite films ever.
So, the best thing about the film is the characterization of the protagonists: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael. They are presented and interpreted as one should expect, they are already established in their role, and they are familiar to the audience that knows them from other incarnations. However, during the film the characters present no progression, there is no major inner conflict to be resolved and one could say that they do not learn any important lesson in the duration of the film.
The villain of the piece, the Shredder, I felt it was a last minute addition to the plot, I mean Oroku Saki. Since the character of Eric Sacks, played by William Fitchner, was promoted as the Shredder in interviews and other promotional material since last year, I can’t help to think that this was the case. Oroku Saki as a character appears to be inserted into an almost completed film to calm down the fans that could be upset because the Shredder hadn’t a Japanese nationality, or ninja for that matter. Check the scenes with Oroku Saki and you’ll see a sense of isolation from the rest of the film.
Both the Shredder and Eric Sacks lack dimension that distinguishes them, they are almost generic. The Shredder only has one scenes that makes him compelling and is not with the Turtles. Eric Sacks doesn’t present any novelty whatsoever. I think the only interchange between the Shredder and the Turtles worth mentioning is the mocking tone he shows when he learns that the Turtles treat Splinter as a father and Splinter treats the Turtles as his sons. But not much else.
The secondary characters fulfill their role. I feel grateful that April O’Neal and the cameraman Vernon Fenwick have this “friend-zone” type of relationship instead of a more full-fledged romance, because we know that Casey Jones is the Clark Kent to April’s Lois. Other notable characters such as Karai or Bernadette Thomson (this film version of April’s boss from the 80’s cartoon, Burne Thomson) don’t add much to the plot, which is sad. Especially for Karai, since her place as the Shredder’s daughter is in a way supplanted by Eric Sacks. There is no mention for Karai being the Shredder’s daughter whatsoever.
The story has an action-comedy drive, which in itself is not bad, but considering that the first film is a very personal tale which theme is family, it is sad that this subject is treated almost superficially and worked on a light level. The humor is subversive in many occasions, which is not bad either, as seen recently in Guardians of the Galaxy or years before in the original TMNT film too. But the use of cheap gags here and there defeats some very solid attempts at humor (I’m watching you, stuck in the sewers scene! You were very funny… until the end)
And talking about action/comedy, I must say that the film has an oversaturation of pop culture references, which is understandable since the protagonists are teenagers and it is natural for them to lose themselves in this environment provided by the outside world from television to music. However it think they went overboard with it, this should have been moderated. The action is excessive too, with overlong sequences that last more than they should, but the exchanges between the characters made this scenes more bearable and fun.
A positive aspect is that the four turtles have a time to shine, which is an aspect that the previous films didn’t achieve. Almost always Donatello got the short end of the bo staff stick, and now there is a palpable balance in the overall participation to the plot from the protagonists. However, as mentioned before, the characters are almost static in their characterization, there is no sense of worthwhile character progression, thing that other films managed to do at least for one of the turtles, since in every other film they had a particular conflict to overcome.
There are many sequences that I found great. I could mention the intro of the film, the homage/parody to Batman Begins in the warehouse (or it was at the docks?), the first encounter of April with the Turtles, the first Oroku Saki scene, most of the flashback narrated by Master Splinter, the first confrontation with the Shredder(mostly because the emotional content), the camcorder scenes of April as a child with the pre-mutated turtles(which is borrowed from the recent IDW comics), the elevator scene (Which I could say it was my favorite scene in the whole film. It was hilarious!), the Raph speech at the end (though I don’t feel it was entirely earned). And Mikey song at the end, which is one of my favorites.
A detail that I would like to see expanded in a better way was the fact that Splinter narrates at the beginning that he trained the Turtles to be heroes, that one day they would save New York, or something among that lines, in contrast to previous incarnations in which the purpose goes from revenge, simple teaching or the most relatable: because of fear of the outside world so they have a chance to protect themselves. But later in the film we learn that it was indeed fear to the people on the surface and what they could do to them the drive that compels Splinter to learn and teach them ninjitsu. I would have liked to have Splinter telling the young Turtles that they would be heroes when they grow up, as a message of optimism aided by the hope in their youths and to have a better quality of life, but inside the reason is that they could stand a chance in a reasonable hostile world.
There is an important element from the mythos left outside: Hamato Yoshi isn’t mentioned and doesn’t appear anywhere in the film. Splinter ninjitsu learning is autodidact (the source being a book, from the cleverly named authors Eastman and Laird) and leads to him to adopt and appropriate the Japanese culture instead of being part of it, which weakens the Japanese motif through the film and lefts it hollow.
There are key scenes that are a homage to the first film and in one of them twists the dynamic, reverting the roles of the participants, which is kinda clever. There are a lot of holes in the plot, mostly because of the shady motivations of the villains and their plan. There is a moment where April reveals that she saved the Turtles when she was young that is stated by herself, and it feels awkward because it is stated and not show. We later learn from the Splinter flashback how it indeed happened. It could have been reworked to show only the flashback.
If I could suggest an improvement to the film, I would add Hamato Yoshi to the mix. Let’s say that he is an honorable ninjitsu master that runs down a Karate Dojo of some sort. He is blind and he is remarkably good at what he does. One night, an evolved Splinter goes out to search for some food for the still child Turtles, and is persecuted by some gang thugs. Hamato Yoshi saves him, and offers his guidance. There is a montage where they train together and he teaches him everything he knows and passes down to him his culture too. He deduces that Splinter is not a human, but he doesn’t care because he knows to judge the heart of everyone. He could die in a confrontation with the foot clan, adding a personal link to the Shredder too. We could find a way to justify his absence to his sons. Maybe they can tag along? Or he trains while the turtles are resting? I don’t know. The point here is to bring Hamato Yoshi to the table, and with him add the theme of legacy to a film that lacks a solid theme to stand.
If the first movie the theme was family, this could be about legacy. About the passing of our values to the next generation and what are those values too. Hamato Yoshi passes down his knowledge to Splinter, and he to the Turtles, and positive values. This lends to the fact that the Turtles are influenced by the culture of the city too. You could work a parallelism there with the legacy of the Shredder to Karai, a path of destruction and disease. Let’s take out the character of Eric Sacks and have his role fulfilled by the Shredder, not as a scientist, but as the head of the organization, much like in the 2k3 cartoons. Food for thought.
In general I can say that is a weak film with a lot of potential, namely because of the source material and the rich story of the characters and the elements from it that uses. But the sum of the parts does not manage to achieve a good level as a movie. I can say that the first film is vastly superior to this one (or every other film in the franchise for that matter). I just hope that in the announced sequel they tone down those mentioned excesses, correct the mistakes and maintain the positive, because I feel that most of the nucleus of the TMNT (the family theme and the characters personalities) is in the right place.
¡Cowabunga, Booyakasha or whatever the young people say nowadays!
