MovieChat Forums > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) Discussion > They made some really stupid choices her...

They made some really stupid choices here...

posted 10 years ago by LegendInMyMind
6 replies | jump to latest

1. The character designs were outrageously bad. They weren't well thought out, nor did they suit the characters. Hulking turtle monsters is more along the lines of what the TMNT might go up against. They shouldn't be super strong. The badassery comes through other things, you don't have to make things monstrously large to make it badass. Just a childish approach, and they obviously didn't respect it enough to put that under consideration.

2. I actually liked the cast, but Megan Fox seemed to just coast through it like the mindless eye candy she's always been accused of being.

3. Mech suit shredder is almost as bad as...

4. Paramilitary Foot clan.

5. Imo, they should treat this property like a period film and set it in the 80s. That would give some better and more fitting music options than that atrocious soundtrack.

6. Ideal time to introduce other aspects like the Utroms, which they HINTED at. But starting from those first comics and adapting it from there would've been a really great start. Instead, it's kinda bland and without much nuance. Though I thought the turtle cast had good chemistry, the family side of things should've been even more up front. That's what having one of them nearly be killed did for the first film. And then you stick with that for a while and examine the consequences. This film just really didn't take the property seriously at all. Not surprisingly, though, pretty much no one does... 

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] q_leo_rahman 10 years ago

1 - I agree half-way. I feel they focused too much on the superhuman qualities the mutants had (super-strength, healing), and didn't let them have enough kung-fu. I didn't mind the gear they had on, I thought it was a nice upgrading and modernizing of the Turtles. (I think that maybe Donnie should have had Goggles or Specs but not both, and that Raph should have worn a leather jacket instead of a loincloth)

2 - Can't comment. I'm not that good at rating the cast of a film.

3 - I agree half-way. I thought that suit was badass and I loved it, especially its flying knives. It resembles the 2003 version, which gave me cause to believe it was a container for an alien. It wasn't though, Shredder was human. And thus the suit became an issue because it was built for a normal human who couldn't do kung-fu, which was not what the Shredder is.

4 - I didn't mind the change that much, after all the Foot don’t really act on discretion and ninjas are allowed to carry guns if it helps them.

5 - The 80s setting may have worked, I don't know.

6 – I agree with this, using the original Eastman-Laird comics would have been really helpful.

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[–] Btheatrical 10 years ago

1. I like that they're big, if only for the fact it's different and new. Raph's the only one to me that looked too Hulk-like. You can't say their designs weren't well thought out though. The design of each turtle matched their personality and temperament. If anything, their designs were too thought out and over-designed/accessorised.

2. Yeah, Megan is nice to look at but she's awkward for the majority of the film. Doesn't help that she spends most of it in scared-mode. The rest of the cast is pretty superb. I didn't even mind Goldberg as her presence made it feel more 90's.

3. Everyone hates on the mech suit but frankly its the only way a human could do any serious damage to four 6ft turtles with physiques like Dwayne Johnson. It's more the design of the mech suit that's a problem. It doesn't look like a human with high-powered armour, it just looks like a Decepticon.

4. Yeah but then again I don't buy a bunch of ninjas in pajamas lasting long against modern police/SWAT. Making them ninjas with military weapons make them a double threat.

5. Actually this could've been a fun setting. Setting this exact movie in the 80's wouldn't have changed much though (Arnett would still be listening to George Michael either way lol).

6. Yeah, the turtles together worked & had great chemistry, so it's a shame it wasn't focused on harder. Eeven just a scene of them playing video games together would've made a world of difference.

[–] DarkenedHeart 10 years ago

And thus the suit became an issue because it was built for a normal human who couldn't do kung-fu, which was not what the Shredder is.

Shredder most likely doesn't know Kung Fu because he's Japanese and Kung-Fu is a Chinese art.If a Japanese guy was going to learn a discipline it would probably be one (or more) of the many Japanese styles.

I figure however you just mean martial arts in general which makes me wonder if you watched the movie at all. Like the part where Splinter warned the Turtles about how powerful of a warrior he was before they knew about the armour. Or the fact that the armour doesn't instil any knowledge at all. Or how Shredder was referred to as a Sensei (martial arts teacher).

This Shredder is a Japanese martial artist who once nearly killed Splinter pre-mutation so they had a history and runs a powerful Foot clan with menace and viciousness. He also has a majorly badass suit with lots of sharp edges and spikes.

Previous Shredders in films, comics and cartoons had him be a Japanese martial artist who once nearly killed Splinter pre-mutation so they had a history and he runs a powerful foot clan with menace and viciousness. He also has a some-what badass suit with lots of sharp edges and spikes.

Yeah, totally see how this movie Shredder is "not what Shredder is", if ya, ya know, overlook how identical he is in almost every conceivable way...

Seriously, did you watch the movie and pay attention to it?

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[–] d_myerss 10 years ago

This Shredder is a Japanese martial artist who once nearly killed Splinter pre-mutation so they had a history and runs a powerful Foot clan with menace and viciousness. He also has a majorly badass suit with lots of sharp edges and spikes.

Previous Shredders in films, comics and cartoons had him be a Japanese martial artist who once nearly killed Splinter pre-mutation so they had a history and he runs a powerful foot clan with menace and viciousness. He also has a some-what badass suit with lots of sharp edges and spikes.

It's all in the details.

The previous Shredders almost killed Splinter pre-mutation by targeting him whether it be as Yoshi who was his rival within the clan or Yoshi's pet who scarred his face. Their history in Japan with Yoshi is what the 'nearly killed Splinter' is about, not some fire in an American lab (wasn't the fire started by April's Dad anyway? Might be wrong). Here, his history with Splinter is nothing more than him owning a company where Splinter was a lab rat.

The Previous Shredder runs a clan of Ninja thieves called the foot. Not a group of gun wielding mercs who's job doesn't really seem clear, called the foot. The similarity is in the name alone... and that they're the bad guys.

The previous Shredder wore a standard fabric Ninja outfit with bladed gauntlets, shin guards, shoulder pads and a samurai themed bladed helmet. This Shredder wore a Decepticon. He was completely covered in head to toe, even his entire face, with metal and flying magnetic knives.

[–] 10 years ago

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