Saturday 11 October 2014

Film Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)


Genre: Action Adventure  Comedy

Cert: 12A 

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Screen writer: Josh Appelbaum , André Nemec , Evan Daugherty , Peter Laird , Kevin Eastman

Starring: Megan Fox , Will Arnett , William Fichtner , Alan Ritchson , Noel Fisher , Pete Ploszek , Johnny Knoxville , Jeremy Howard , Danny Woodburn , 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

Running time: 101 min

Parents advised to read before viewing film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity: A woman wears figure hugging jeans that emphasize her hips and thighs throughout the film.

A woman wears clingy, tight tops that reveal cleavage and emphasise her bosom.

Women wear scoop-neck tops or dresses that reveal cleavage and some bare arms/shoulders.

A billboard features a woman from the waist up wearing only a bra and revealing cleavage and her bare abdomen. Two turtles hide using the covered breasts on the billboard as camouflage, one of the turtles has his hands placed on the breast and raises his eyebrows suggestively.

A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle has a crush on a woman, telling his brothers "she's so hot he can feel his shell tightening", telling his brothers he has "dibs" on her, smiling at her, offering her his secret stash of soft drinks and singing a rock-and-roll love song off key while hanging out the back of his van; the van drives away from the camera as male voices inside the van say, "Give up Mikey."

A man stares at a woman's clothed buttocks as she leans out of his passenger window while he is driving.

A man asks a woman colleague on a date several times and she always refuses.

A man tells a woman colleague that she does not need to make up work assignments in order to spend time with him and she becomes defensive in denying his accusation; he finally accepts her refusals.

Violence & Gore: Several extended fight scenes include a rat/man against two sets of four villains and against a warlord, and four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles against a warlord wearing a knife-covered suit of armor; the rat/man sweeps villains away with his tail and uses kicks and punches to fell them while the Turtles and warlord use punches, kicks, stomps, rolls, throws, chokes and weapons (no blood is seen); we hear slaps and kicks as well as some groans, whoops, crashing debris and we see a large turtle foot in close-up kicking the warlord away while another turtle foot in close-up stomps a man below the frame; the warlord picks up each Turtle and tosses him away with a crash and at one point, all four Turtles hang from the side of a tall building, but swing one another back up to the top; the fighting continues on a metal framework tower that creaks and leans over, dropping debris beside two men on the street (we see them lying unconscious while other men and women duck and run away); the warlord's ejected knives and a sword cut through metal and cause a woman to fall (we see knife cuts on metal in close-up near her hands), but Turtles catch her before knives are thrown across the screen in close-up, the warlord suffers knife cuts and a sword stuck into his throat and shoulders (no blood), and falls hard to the pavement, creating a deep crater that we see from above; he lies in his shiny armor at the bottom of the hole and one of his hands forms a fist as the scene abruptly ends.

A business owner at a harbor says that villains have robbed his fleet continuously for 10 years as the scene cuts to the dock at night and masked villains with assault rifles steal chemicals from cargo containers; a lone vigilante in the shadows whoops as we hear clinking metal and villains and cargo containers being thrown across the screen from off-screen before seeing men and one female villain lying on the ground in shadows (no blood is seen) and a cargo container smashes against a wall and other containers; a woman watching the action finds two Japanese letters painted in blood on the side of a cargo container.

On a nighttime street people run out of a subway station and toward the audience screaming while a woman runs toward it until she sees villains with assault rifles and we hear a gun shoot off-screen; one of the villains grabs her and throws her to the platform floor where subway riders lie face down (no injuries are seen) until four silhouetted figures fight the villains, knock them unconscious and disappear; we see close-ups of rifles and swords and hear clinking metal, slaps, kicks and punches in addition to a few villains being thrown across the screen and landing on the platform (unconscious with no blood shown) while SWAT officers in cruisers with sirens blaring and lights flashing arrive to find the villains unconscious and hostages running away.

A man says that he did not need many bullets to kill a woman's father, before picking up a handgun and firing at the woman and her male friend, but misses; the woman distracts the man with blasts from a dozen ceiling fire extinguishers while her friend knocks him unconscious with a heavy microscope from behind (the friend suffers a shoulder injury and later wears his arm in a sling).

A scientist says that his father did not return from Vietnam and a Japanese warlord raised and trained him in martial arts; in a meeting with the warlord in a darkened dojo, the scientist agrees to help take over New York City via biogenic warfare whereupon the warlord says, "Tonight I dine on turtle soup"; the man gives the warlord shiny armor equipped with hundreds of blades on the shoulders, arms and legs (we see the blades extended at the hands and shoulders that look like sharp bird feathers); the warlord wears the armor in several scenes, stomping on challengers, sending knives flying across the screen and toward the audience and then retrieving the knives with electromagnets.

A close-up shows a black-robed man from the back, kneeling in the darkness with his hands tied behind him as the back of his bald head sweats; he fights away multiple attackers with head-butts and kicking and sweeping foot action, breaks his bonds and criticizes his attackers as inept and causing the woman leader to tremble in fear (in shadows, we see that his face is heavily lined and scarred).

Turtles are tasered with cattle prod size weapons several times (they yelp and chant "Pain is in the mind") in the rain and in a laboratory and enclose them in large glass cages with their arms chained to the walls.

The turtles find a warehouse full of villains and escape hundreds of bullets by ducking behind a heavy metal door as it slides shut.

A large armored warlord kicks a small woman in the stomach, throwing her and holding her stomach in pain.

A woman falls, slammed to a floor in one short fight with a Turtle.

A Turtle jumps through the wall of a van in which he rides, leaving a large hole.

An extended high-speed chase occurs after four Turtles and two humans steal a semi-truck and are chased by villains in SUVs that launch spears on long cables: some SUVs crash into each other on a mountainside in snow and slide off a ledge (we see no injuries), and Turtles grasp cables and slide downhill fast in the snow on their shells in close-up and across the screen toward the audience while whooping; an SUV flips along its long axis several times toward the audience and another SUV hits the semi-truck with some cracking glass, a Turtle punches through an SUV roof and grabs the steering wheel, sending the vehicle off the mountain (no injuries are seen) and the truck driver stares at his female companion as he hits a large snowdrift causing the cab and trailer to detach and fall over an embankment, creaking loudly; the humans hang from a cliff ledge along with a Turtle as other Turtles pull them all back up to safety (the SUVs drivers are never seen on screen again).

Turtles and a woman sit hunched inside a tower framework as it falls from a building and onto various signboards as it descends and sends up dust and sparks; two of the Turtles admit to fear and they all finally touch down without force on the sidewalk, unharmed.

A woman climbs a fire escape and a metal ladder to a rooftop, where one of four Turtles lassoes her with a long chain and pulls her to the roof where the Turtles tell her not to mention them to anyone and they wipe her cell phone camera of any photos.

A woman faints at the sight of the four Turtles and she awakens in the sewers of NYC where she meets a tall rat wearing a kimono; the Turtles bow to the woman after a rat/man tells them that she is a great guardian spirit.

A flashback shows a man setting fire to a laboratory, tall flames rising from equipment and papers and we hear that he dies in the fire as we see the charred equipment and piles of ashes in the room.

A rat/man lies under rubble in a sewer and is uncovered by a woman and a Turtle; he is gasping and weak until the Turtles inject him with a healing compound. Villains toss explosives into a sewer and we hear a muffled pop and see smoke, sparks and some light flashes (no injuries as the Turtles and a rat are thrown toward the camera).

Line drawings of cardboard-like figures of humanoid turtles and karate villains dressed in black with black masks appear.

A drawn human male figure lies in a street, reaching up to a villain that carries an assault rifle; the drawings end and weapons whose users are unseen swing through a dark room in which one small spotlight illuminates on each weapon as it appears; swords slice bricks, apples, and a watermelon in two while a long staff seems to swing itself.

A flashback time-lapse scene shows a young girl releasing pet turtles and a rat into a storm drain and the animals grow and change into tall humanoids in the sewers; we hear that an injected mutation-causing chemical caused the transformation and can cause self-healing on a cellular level.

Two flashbacks show small turtles being injected with an unknown substance (please see the Substance Use category for more details) and a tiny turtle's head butts his fish tank wall, cracking the glass.

Four Turtles appear as muscular, hulking green male humanoids who carry weapons that include ninja swords, a Bo staff, nunchaku (nunchuks) and sais (handheld tridents) while they each sport a few slice-like scars on their lips, wear colorful masks and have large turtle shells on their backs; we hear that the humanoids resulted from a scientific experiment that caused a mutation in small box turtles.

A man tells his assistants twice to draw all the blood out of four Turtles, even if it kills them, but the assistants do not succeed.

Two Turtles bicker, argue and push each other throughout most of the film.

A newspaper editor continually belittles a younger female reporter, calling her crazy and finally firing her.

Four Turtles pull up to their human friend's new car while driving a new van and raising a rocket launcher to show off; it launches and blows up the new car in tall flames under a viaduct.

Turtle men are shown sagging after a loss of blood and until a woman inputs a high dose of adrenalin into the computer that is somehow connected to their blood systems; they jump up, smash through glass walls with loud shattering and run to chase villains as one shouts, "We're bulletproof!"

Profanity:  2 incomplete S-words, 1 use of damn, 2 use of ass. (e.g. Oh My God and Oh God).

Name-calling (cowards, rat, crazy, insane, dumb-dumb, freak, stupid, little girl and human dirt) and exclamations (shut-up and geez.)

Stereotypical references to men, women, teenagers, superheroes, karate masters, kung fu brotherhoods, villains, Asians, mad scientists and reporters.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking:Two incense cones of an unknown substance burn in close-up briefly and we see wafting smoke.

Villains steal unknown biological chemicals from cargo containers (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details.)

High doses of adrenalin cause four Turtles to chatter quickly and gesture wildly as well as run and jump and roll.

Two flashbacks show small turtles injected with an unknown liquid.

A centrifuge distills turtle blood into a green chemical substance containing a mutation agent.

Turtles say they have injected a rat/man with a healing compound (we do not see it).

A blurry banquet scene features tall glasses of dark and clear beverages (possibly alcohol) on tables; no one is shown drinking.

Frightening/Intense Scenes:  A few jump scares in the film.

The sometimes-explosive violence includes a lot of martial arts fighting. Shredder can appear frightening and intimidating to younger children.

A flashback shows a devastating fire, the Turtles being tortured, and near deaths.

In one scene, one of the bad guys is forced to inhale a toxin that kills him. Though he is barely audible, the scene may be disturbing to watch, considering what happens to him throughout the scene. This particular scene may be disturbing to people who had a member of the family get this sort of treatment.

The film may be too intense for younger fans of TMNT.

Overall: 20.5/50

suggested rating PG-13 for sequences of martial arts action violence.



Story: Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O'Neil and her cameraman Vern Fenwick to save the city and unravel Shredder's diabolical plan

Likes : KNOCK KNOCK YOUR ABOUT TO GET SHELL SHOCKED !!!!!! First of all i will say everyone is entitled to there own opinion's, but i say sod the hater's of this film that hated iver because they say it ruin there childhood or because of Michael bay which didn't even direct this film, he endorsed. If you couldn't find this film at least entertaining then there is seriously something wrong with you because this was seriously entertaining & a well made film.
This has to be a first for me Megan Fox actual suited this role a April 'o' Neil, this is the first time iv seen her in a role that actual works for her make her look better on screen, i think this is because they haven't tried to make her in to these stereo type bimbo town stuck up type girls, this tone down role playing a reporter really works for her.
The way i see it is the original turtle film's was great in the 90's, but sadly ruined with the third film, but still is a great film for its generation, this this is meant for this generation of kids growing up which was brilliant done in my mine, yes i know they use C.G.I but it was brilliantly done. The cinematography is stunning special the fight scenes, now you just could get that amazing martial arts with actors in the suit, Tohoru Masamune playing Shredder was bad ass, the suit alone made that character more intense & frightening as a fighter dam he was almost to much of a match for the turtles alone which gave this film a better edge for the character, because having an enemy to easy to beat ruins the menacing look of the bad guy so this works well for the character.
With the story concept it dose pay homage to the original turtles film, but is a slightly different way of story telling with Stop motion capture & animation which is brilliant done to show them training & growing up to become the hero they are with some funny moments & some of the best C.G.I effect ive seen.
The turtles them selves looked bad ass, special with the C.G.I there look is perfect to potray turtle with ninja training, Leonardo played by Pete Ploszek but voiced by Johnny done an awesome job voicing this character, made him more bad ass with the voice, Raphael played by Alan Ritchson (smallvillle) gave Raphael this attitude of the tough guy in the group which along with th c.g.i just brought out his character better as it gave him a look of a serious bad ass fighter which i love the mimic of the batman voice which was funny in this film. Noel Fisher as Michelangelo was awesome i love this way he gave this character this surfer dude joker character with some hilarious moments, Jeremy Howard done brilliant acting job with Donatello's character, i like the way they gave him the tech look which he was in the original tech whiz, few funny moments as well, Danny Woodburn playing Splinter done a great job voice by Tony Shalhoub done a brilliant job with the voice acting, what is really good with this film is we get to actual see master splinter fight which was one of several fight scene in this film that awesome special the fight scene with Shredder, what an awesome fight scene.
Will Arnett playing Vernon Fenwick did a great acting although i feel they tried to stereo type him as the Seeley reporter that like April, but he did come off funny at time's.William Fichtner playing Eric Sacks is really good at playing the charming but charismatic bad guy in film's, i think he pull this off pretty well in this film playing both side while hiding his true who's side hes really on. This whole film is well put together with a great storyline, you really can not fault this film, as it is very entertaining film, with brilliant characters & great acting, this is a worthy remake of Turtle in my opinion.
special the sound track knock knock your about to get shell shocked by Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign ft. Kill The Noise  Madsonik [Official Audio] what an awesome theme tune for the turtles this makes.

Dislikes : There isn't anything wrong with this film very entertaining & worth watching, although some will disagree because of what some will say about Michael bay which it all negative whining

Overall : Great Special effect, awesome storyline, brilliant design on the turtles & Shredder, awesome sound track long with brilliant acting.brilliant C.G.I

Rating: 5 out of 5 for entertainment / 10 out of 10 for story / special effects for stop motion capture & FX






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