Michael Bay's Ninja Turtles: RIP TMNT 1985-2014

[beaker]

Hat tip to Drtooth, tho I think this deserves an official moment of silence to pay our respects to a completely ruined franchise.

If you want to remember the Ninja Turtles as an amazing black and white comic, a wildly entertaining 80s kids cartoon, a pretty well done early 2000s kids cartoon or a series of fun games and a couple of good films...don't watch this trailer. We all knew the new Michael Bay TMNT would be bad, but from this trailer...this looks like a whole other world of horror

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Exactly my thoughts. This movie looks absolouteley awful. I wrote this one off as soon as I heardvMichael Bay is attached to it. He literally messes up everything he touches. Too bad the turtles were a victim.

 

[Drtooth]

If the movie does poorly, Nick would be idiotic to dump the franchise. The cartoon is a HUGE hit, and freaking awesome. I didn't think I'd like this series so much that I completely stopped caring about 2k3, but I did. The toys were HUGE over Christmas. I actually managed to get one of the most sought after Target Exclusive Kendo Armor Turtles as a gift. Took them months to restock, and they're selling like hot cakes still... TMNT is back and doing better than the last time. 4Kid's failure to make a franchise that isn't Yu-Gi-Oh saved 2k3 from a 2k3 He-Man like fate. They put a LOT of effort into making TMNT hang around that time.

I'd almost worry that if this was a success, we'd only see the movie. Retailers LOVE movie merchandise. Transformers Animated was screwed by Wal*Mart wanting more movie Transformer toys... Transformers Prime managed to barely escape that one. And that's the reason why we have to wait a year for the next cartoon. A wise decision by Hasbro.

Last TMNT movie, the cartoon toy lines were abandoned all together. It wound up causing the end of the franchise in the end run (especially due to its influence on the cartoon). Even if Nick didn't buy them, they would have had to have gone underground for a few years anyway. That and Nick's hands have done it well. I actually see them marketing TMNT over Spongebob!

As for the trailer... honestly, it really doesn't show me enough to hate it yet, nor does it show enough that it can be salvaged. I'll probably see it for the one good decision- casting Will Arnett as Vernon- but I'm not looking really forward to this one. And sadly, I wanna see Transformers 4 for Grimlock.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well I wasn't shocked by the creepy CGI and shallow blockbuster action. Still, the joke at the end was actually kinda amusing.

 

[Drtooth]

Well I wasn't shocked by the creepy CGI and shallow blockbuster action. Still, the joke at the end was actually kinda amusing.

Yeah, I think I'm desensitized to that kinda thing now is why I'm not horrified. Then again, I wouldn't expect them to not make them CGI. I have no problem with that aspect. Other ones? Shell yeah!

Then again, I kinda hate the second original movie anyway, and only like the third because of Casey Jones. So, like there's at least 2 good TMNT films... #1 and #4 (as Tales of the TMNT the story comes off).

Gaw, I remember years ago they rereleased the first movie in the UK, and it got a bad review because the turtles weren't CGI. Yep. Couldn't find it again for the life of me, but someone complained that a movie made in 1989 didn't have the CGI presence of a modern film.

 

[beaker]

I just cant get into the TMNT modern cgi series at all. Like the Star Wars Clone Wars cartoon, the cgi bugs me. And while there's an amusing roster of bad guys, I just can't get into the designs of the way the turtles themselves look. In fact I downright cringe when I see them. Plus I hate the way the movements and editing. It just feels jarring...and how come we got this beautiful 2007 TMNT cgi but I look at the cg of the nick turtles and it just seems kind of old ? It's kind of depressing for me, that as a lifelong fan there's now nothing for me to get excited about other than some of the comic series. Even the games pretty much suck in the last 5 years. I get why people like the Nick 2012 series. It has some of that quick anime slapstick kid vibe of Teen Titans and various Cartoon Network shows.

To me the 2003-2007 cartoon lasted as long as it needed to. It was nice having one last traditional cartoon. And while the humor wasn't really there, and it felt kind of boring or sparse in places, we got these really elaborate storylines. (Ok I hated Fast Forward and a few of the other story arcs)

To me the turtles ended in 2007. On repeat viewings I've come to dislike the 2009 animated dvd movie, even though I get the meta unified theory aspect to it. I just thought they treated the original cartoon as a joke and a few other issues I had with it. But that 2007 film...can't say enough good things about it. Too bad the company went under.

Regarding the trailer...I didn't see much to like. Like virtually everyone who saw the trailer, those turtle designs are attrocious. And why are they giants? The cinematography and editing is horrible, and Megan Fox as April O'neil? Why not make Channing Tatum Casey Jones and have Splinter as a bearded human played by Liam Neason while they're at it

 

[beaker]

Gaw, I remember years ago they rereleased the first movie in the UK, and it got a bad review because the turtles weren't CGI. Yep. Couldn't find it again for the life of me, but someone complained that a movie made in 1989 didn't have the CGI presence of a modern film.

Haha, sounds like the complaint of kid's these days, not a critic. Then again I guess a lot of critics are akin to spoiled kids

 

[mr3urious]

Not impressed at all. This better not kill the franchise altogether.

...and how come we got this beautiful 2007 TMNT cgi but I look at the cg of the nick turtles and it just seems kind of old ?

You're comparing a movie to a TV show. CGI on TV will never look as impressive as that on film (it's not as cheap as people like to make it out to be), though the Dragons TV series comes pretty close to the level of detail in the movies.

Though I will agree, there are better-looking CGI cartoons out there than Nick TMNT, such as the aforementioned Dragons.

 

[Drtooth]

To me the turtles ended in 2007. On repeat viewings I've come to dislike the 2009 animated dvd movie, even though I get the meta unified theory aspect to it. I just thought they treated the original cartoon as a joke and a few other issues I had with it. But that 2007 film...can't say enough good things about it. Too bad the company went under.

I thought that way too... until I saw the European vacation episodes... They did a LOT worse to the turtles than Turtles Forever did. BTW, new series did a better job with the old cartoon meta-references anyway... even managed to animate it poorly on purpose.

But seriously... if only the Turtles Forever movie was more like the last 10 minutes... that was epic, I don't care what anyone else says.

Not impressed at all. This better not kill the franchise altogether.

I don't think it will. The franchise is too strong. I'd almost worry if it was a hit instead. Because we'd get more movie TMNT than new series cartoon TMNT. Hopefully the cartoon and movie can be separated from each other. HATED that they just made figures of the Movie until the franchise ended last time. That sort of thing affected the cartoon. Though it is going up against Guardians of the Galaxy.

I'll say this. I'm pretty much the only one not hating the character designs. It's not on the level of Scooby-Doo or -worse- Garfield. They actually kinda remind me of Michael Zuli's work. There's another artist that kinda drew the turtles this way, but I forget the name. Not awful, but not great. And no matter how bad this movie might get, I'd say it's a million times better than the rock concerts and some of the crappiest easy reader books. So at least it can't be conceived as the series low point. That Christmas special is far far far worse. It's not even so bad it's good. It's just bad.

 

[Drtooth]

Regarding the trailer...I didn't see much to like. Like virtually everyone who saw the trailer, those turtle designs are attrocious. And why are they giants? The cinematography and editing is horrible, and Megan Fox as April O'neil? Why not make Channing Tatum Casey Jones and have Splinter as a bearded human played by Liam Neason while they're at it

Actually, Liam Neason as Splinter would be awesome...and a lot better than we're getting.

Mickey from Seinfeld. The erasure of any Japanese element and Race Lift of Splinter and Shredder to be white people (see, it works both ways) ticks me off a MILLION times more than this trailer does. I'd almost say this is less horrible a trailer than I expected.