Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Reboot)
 

Live action. This news has been around a while. I remember hearing about Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes starting development a while back.

For no real reason, I thought of it tonight and was reading up about it. There are really no new developments other than that the Iron Man screenwriters are working on a new script and it's slated for 2012.


Thoughts?

Fanboys seem fairly paranoid that he's going to direct as well and make it like Transformers.

Personally, I don't know where they should go with this, but I think it should be one of two ways:

The original first movie is great. Underrated even. If you've read the early comics, you will know that it follows the original storylines very closely, and upon reviewing at an older age, I find it holds up. It's "dark" and "gritty" (overused terms) and really works at capturing the tone of the story and New York that I love in those books.
On top of that it works in several small aesthetic elements of the cartoon, which had to be done, but work well because of how reasonably they are applied.

The sequels obviously went total cheese, but I think the first is the perfect marriage of the comic to the cartoon.
So the way I see it, is that it would be best if the reboot goes hardcore in one direction or the other.
They should either go balls out, Sin City style graphic novel movie style. (Which is highly unlikely.)
Or, they should make it very high budget movie (like Transformers) and go all out with the cartoon stuff. The Technodrome, Krang, Rocksteady and Bebop, those drill things, Dimension X, huge action sequences. Pretty much like Transformers*

I actually think the latter might happen, since the nostalgia thing clearly sells nowadays and the cartoon is something they probably want to cash in on in the style of Transformers and G.I. Joe.

Not sure how I feel, because even though I love the cartoon I grew up on, I've grown to appreciate the original comics even more as an adult.


*quality negotiable.

I'd like to see them go even closer to the Mirage Studios comics.

That's one of the things that made the first live action movie "darker." While it still contained a lot of conventions from the cartoon and the Archie (I think) comics, it still borrowed a fair amount of flavour from the originals.

Yeah the original movie was great but I dont know. Making transformers look real is easy since they have no faces.

Yea def, in fact the plot is nearly 100% composed of various plot points from the first 10 or so issues of the original comic.
I just re-read them recently and compared. Pretty interesting how true it really is.

A few examples that really stuck out to me:

- Opens with their supposed first mission.
- Their entire backstory to a T, as well as Shredder and Splinter's.
- Raphael first meeting Casey Jones on his own, and having several fights with him before he met the rest of the Turtles.
- Splinter being kidnapped while they were off with April.
- Turtles turning to April for a place to crash after said kidnapping.
- Raphael arguing with Leo and leaving.
- April having a Volkswagen mini-bus and an antique shop.
- The Foot attacking them in April's antique shop and Casey Jones coming to the rescue.
- Then they escape and go hideout at a farmhouse in the boonies before making their grand return.
- Rooftop battle with The Foot and Shredder where he falls off and "dies."


Probably even more. I want to get my hands on more volumes.

The only way they could get any closer would be if they were to completely ditch the semi-comedic Turtles, and go with Frank Miller-esque ninjas, and maybe even film it in black and white. And I'd obviously like them to re-arrange or use alternate plot points from the comics rather than rehash.

I would be all for it, but I don't think the studio would. Especially since it's Nickelodeon who now owns the rights.

I think it would be a bigger hit than they probably think, given the fact that the demand for comic films is high, and the majority of childhood Turtles fan are now adults.
In a perfect world, they'd make a modestly budgeted movie like that, and their likely big budget nostalgia trip.
I think they'd certainly both find their audience

I'm pretty sure they can make the Turtles look real since Jim Henson's shop already did it in 1990.
As real as a mutant turtle would actually look, I think.

They could probably go even further to make them look real. Not in a computer though. That would suck.

Either way, it needs more Usagi Yojimbo, and Ace Duck.

Seriously though, a Usagi Yojimbo movie should be made based on his comics.

As someone how hasn't gone to see a movie in theaters since taking my brother and his friend to see Scary Movie 4(I almost fell asleep during), I think I'll definately go see this should it be anything like the 1990 one. Matter a fact, I'll go watch it now.

I'd be the first mother fucker in line for that. Him and Panda Khan would wreck some shit.

Oh, Definitely.

While I LOVE the series and an intruiged by a new movie, the old ones are so classic I don't know if I could get behind this. So conflicted

The 2nd and 3rd aren't really classic. They're pretty bad. I don't want to speak too ill of the 2nd because I loved it so much as a kid. It's a fun kids movie, but nothing more.
And the 3rd is really quite abyssmal.

I do, personally, view the first as a classic, but unfortunately I think it's pretty underrated and forgotten. I don't think starting over is really blasphemous.
There are plenty of new directions to go.

I'd welcome it just as much as I did the new Batman films. I love them, as well as the Burton films. Neither really impacts my enjoyment of the other too much.

I can't see how they don't make this geared towards kids. It would be hard for any reboot to top the original TMNT movie from the 1980s.

I already thought TMNT was rebooted like this one!!

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Technically, that's a sequel to the 3 live action movies. Either way it wasn't as successful as they wanted it to be and they're going to go back to live action.

It would lame as hell if the Turtles themselves were CGI though.

http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/oG4cPRvBGgw/hqdefault.jpg

Nightwatcher was the best part of that movie

If Corey Feldman isn't in this new movie I riot.

Haha, It's aka Raphael.. Yeah it felt like he invented his own alter ego superhero flick despite he wanted to go solo without Leo and company. :p

It's not really a sequel to the movies.

It relies more heavily on the newer cartoon, though it does include elements from the movies. I'm not sure if the intent was to "bridge the gap" or not, but it's not really a sequel to the movies.

I liked the new movie, though I understand a lot of people didn't. Loved the "Sibling rivalry" between Raphel and Leonardo, which evidently comes from the fact that in the new cartoon, Raphael was supposed to be the leader (but for his temper). Though it amused me that the big bad in this movie was played by picard, when the movie so heavily paralled Gargoyles (Where the big bad was the second in command from Star Trek, and there were like 50 other Trek members in the cast).

Could have done without Leo going on Walkabout, or Raph's alter ego, but they did a lot right. And I like it when Casey Jones gets a strong role.

It's in continuity with the live action movies. They didn't make that as clear as they could, and it's clearly cartoonized, but it's supposed to be a 4th installment to that series.

Michael Bay? Great mediocre writing and explosions.

Or at least that's what it said on the special features and some stuf I read online. They obviously present it in a way that it stands on it's own as a "reboot" at the same time, too. So I can see how people wouldn't notice. I didn't until I heard about it this week during my recent Turtles kick.

Then there's also the whole thing where they show the trophy case at the end that includes the movie versions of Shredder's helmet, the ooze canister, and that time travel lantern thing from the 3rd movie.

Anyone seen that Cartoon movie where the original Cartoon TMNTs get transported into the New Cartoon, and eventually the Comic book universe?

It was actually pretty good, though it kind of shit on the OG for being too goofy and the new shit was all SERIOUS

Really, he just wanted to do shit even though they weren't supposed to.

Then they did a shitty job.

The story, personalities, and interplay fall in line with the cartoon, not the movies.

There are elements that reference the movies, yes, but they're kind of drowned out by the other 95% of the movie.

It's the fourth turtle movie...If you ignore 2.5 of them. I mean, it's cool they said it, I guess, but seriously.

Also, thought the elements from the shrine were a nice touch, but at the point you can only really finger a connection with minutia that might as well be an Easter Egg....

Yeah.

That is because TMNT was created to be serious.

I agree. I was just throwing the info out there. It's technically supposed to take place some years after and be the same characters, even though they don't act it.
Also, by then wouldn't they no longer be teenage? It should just be MNT, right?

It's interesting to see how different the first 5 or 6 episodes of the original cartoon are compared to the rest of the series.
That's because they were the "pilot miniseries" to get it picked up, and it wasn't fully controlled by Playmates Toys yet.
I'm pretty sure they eventually started writing the show to advertise new toys.
I mean, it's still goofy, but it's not nearly the same. They actually portray Shredder and Krang as competent.

I've never seen any of the new cartoon aside from that movie special. I hear it's more serious.

do kids even know who the turtles are anymore?

I would say, for the most part, not really. And I'm pretty sure that's what Michael Bay and Nickelodeon/Viacom are trying to change, because it = $$$

Yeah my boys know the turtles without me even mentioning them.

Couldn't be worse than Daredevil.

Daredevil wasn't that bad.

Sheesh.

I didn't mind Daredevil, it wasn't as good as I though it would be but not terrible.

It's certainly middle of the pack for comic movies. There are so many that are far worse than it.

If you are familiar with, and love the Frank Miller era Daredevil books, it is certainly dissapointing, as the nature and tone of Daredevil is something that could work on the level of Batman Begins. I fully support a reboot of much higher quality.

But at the same time, it's a competent and passable movie. It's not a favorite, or something I love watching, but I don't hate it.
I can enjoy it if I'm in the right mood when I come across it.

Honestly, my only problem was Jennifer Garner as Elektra. She just didn't have the look or presence to play the character.

I definitely had other problems. Basically the overall approach and presentation. But I certainlty don't blame it on Affleck like everyone seems to.
Jennifer Garner is definitely not Elektra though. I don't know who is.

I never saw the Elektra spinoff.

Reboot got shut down by Paramount with some places saying its just a year delay and others saying its been canned entirely. Official reason given was "script issues" for the potential film.

http://www.screwattack.com/news/ninj...eboot-put-hold

I hope Michael Bay gets the boot, before they consider resurrecting the reboot idea.

Go with Bay whose movies printed money or online people who just don't like him? Hmmmmm...

Seriously he wasn't going to direct. And one of the original comic writers were in on the production.

I do think it's interesting that the TMNT that most people cherish was in itself a bastardized version of the original. So aside from the original movie (peep the late great Jeritron's analysis above), the original fans were pissed on for decades.

That's why I'm 'whatever' about whatever version is getting cooked up.