'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles': Film Review

 

The Bottom Line

The mythic comic book characters make a long-awaited return.

Opens

Aug. 8 (Paramount Pictures)

Cast

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

Director

Jonathan Liebesman
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Screenwriters Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Evan Daugherty devote a substantial amount of time to setting up April’s investigation of the mystery vigilantes, which results in a frustrating delay before the turtles finally appear onscreen. Extensive use of flashbacks and explanatory dialogue that reveal her lifelong connection with the mutants also have a dilatory effect (while laying groundwork for future sequels), but provide an authentic account of the turtles’ origins while keeping the humor pitched at an appropriately juvenile level.
Not much of that easygoing style rubs off on the human characters, however, as Fox spends much of the movie acting bewildered as April tries to keep up with rapidly shifting plot developments, and Fichtner delivers a generically styled, simplistically motivated baddie. Arnett has the only role that comes close to matching the turtles’ verve, but doesn’t get enough time onscreen to create a lasting impression. The castmembers portraying Splinter and the turtles achieve a persuasive level of realism that was never possible with the elaborate puppetry required for the original film series and adequately fulfill expectations for their characters.
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Liebesman relies on his genre-film résumé to keep events moving at a brisk clip and the motion-capture process employed to facilitate live-action integration with cutting-edge VFX looks superior onscreen, sharply and smoothly rendering some thrilling action scenes and delivering impactful 3D character detail. However, the drawn-out 101-minute running time and the nonstop cartoonish violence may deter some would-be fans, or perhaps the adults who pay for their movie tickets.
Production companies: Nickelodeon Movies, Platinum Dunes
Cast: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Danny Woodburn, Abby Elliott, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Alan Ritchson, Minae Noji
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Screenwriters: Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Evan Daugherty
Producers: Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, Galen Walker, Scott Mednick and Ian Bryce
Executive producers: Denis L. Stewart, Eric Crown, Napoleon Smith III and Jason T. Reed
Director of photography: Lula Carvalho
Production designer: Neil Spisak
Costume designer: Sarah Edwards
Editors: Glen Scantlebury, Joel Negron
Music: Brian Tyler