Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 REVIEW

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(2014) currently sits at 20% on Rotten Tomatoes critic reviews. What does that have to say about this movie? Absolutely nothing. It is stupid to sit here and state that you shouldn't listen to a critics review of a movie, while offering up my own review, but that is what I am here to do, and you don't have to listen to mine either.

As a kid, the Ninja Turtles were my favorite characters. I loved them. I still have all four turtles from the original movie somewhere in my garage, I have the original movie on VHS, and all three of the original movies on DVD. Turtle fans like me, are the ones who have been complaining ever since Michael Bay was attached as a producer, and when the designs of the turtles came out, Turtle fans threw a fit. Unlike those Turtle fans, I didn't worry about Bay's attachment to this movie, nor did I really freak out about the designs, although it was off putting a bit. As I entered the theater, as I do every movie I have a certain fan attachment to (Batman), I didn't go in worrying about these slight changes in the looks or any other issues fans of the original TMNT had. So how did I feel when I left the theater? I felt like a kid again.

The story wasn't anything special, it is hard to give a movie a positive review when the story isn't well written, and has major plot holes. Movies are forms of story telling, so when not having a good story, its hard to say something positive. Fortunately, that didn't bother me in the slightest. Why? Because I saw this movie in the same eyes that saw the original, the eyes of a child seeing the turtles come to life on the screen. This is a movie that should bring all the Turtle fans nostalgia, but unfortunately these fans are going into it ignorantly, and not realizing they are in there 20's-30's, and were a child when they fell in love with the Turtles. Go back and watch the original 1990's movie, the story isn't anything to write home about, it is also sitting at a negative 40% (only 20% higher then the new one) on Rotten Tomatoes. When you go back to watching the 90's movie, you will always love it because it was the biggest thing in your life when you were a child, you didn't care about the story, you cared about the action, and the Turtles, and how cool and fun and funny they were to watch. Well guess what, 2014 TMNT, the turtles are cool, fun, and super funny, and the action is simply AWESOME.

Lets talk character designs. Sure, its super off putting at first, but once the turtles are in action, and interacting with each other, the design and personalities meld together and then you realize, that is Leonardo, that is Raphael, that is Donatello, that IS Michelangelo. You can't deny these are the Turtles you grew up on (TV/MOVIES. Comics, they are a bit different). If you deny that these are the turtles, you are simply being ignorant and blinded by childhood.

Megan Fox is another issue the fans had with playing April O'Neil. She was decent. Nothing special. If any character in this film fell flat, it was unfortunately Will Arnett as Vern, and I love Will Arnett. Not saying he is awful in this, but his jokes fell flat and he felt a bit underused.

Overall, the critics are going to slam this film because they are looking at it professionally, they are looking for a tight, well plotted story. Fans of the original TMNT are going to slam this film because they can't get over the fact that it is a different generation, and the fact that when they fell in love with the turtles it was new, and exciting for them, and the story meant nothing to them, and the action was mind exploding, and the characters were SUPER COOL, but they were also most likely children. The thing with fandoms (especially a nostalgic fandom) is one small change makes them flip out. You could recreate the original TMNT movie scene by scene, but give the turtles four fingers and they would flip the shit out and say it is the crappiest movie of all time. I loved this movie. I felt like a kid again, I left feeling like a kid. I was in aw of the turtles like I was seeing them for my first time. Something I did NOT feel while watching the animated TMNT movie in 2007 (I did not like that movie). Anyone leaving that theater hoping to see a movie close to the original is going to be leaving disappointed, maybe angry, and these are the people who don't realize that the original movie is special because you were a kid and you fell in love with the movie as a kid, and it will always hold a place in your heart and will always blind you from any negative aspects of that film, they didn't matter to you then because you were a kid, and they shouldn't matter now because it is in a special place in your heart. Give the new TMNT flick a chance, see it as you saw the original as a kid.

I give this movie:
4 and a halfshell(get it?) out of 5.