Thursday, May 8, 2014

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, 2014 Revival

I remember being a fan of the TMNT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles) when I was a little kid. Back in the late 80's, and for most of the 90's, the TMNT were a huge part of the lives of little kids everywhere. You couldn't go anywhere and not see the turtles. They were on everything: video games that spanned several consoles, several upon several toys, board games, coloring books, and last but not least, the TV show that aired on Saturday mornings.

I don't really remember much from the cartoon. The only thing that I remember was that I loved it and couldn't get enough of it. Turtles mania was everywhere, and I was hooked. I watched the Saturday morning cartoon. But it didn't stop there, no. I collected a good amount of the action figures. I had Super Shredder from Secret of the Ooze, a Michelangelo karate/footballer hybrid of some sorts, a Raphael toy that was like a Mecha, Raphael as a magician, Donatello from the third TMNT movie, and a TMNT playset. The toys were great, and the selection was unbelievable. And how could you not have a great selection? The show had a huge roster of characters: Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, Splinter, April O' Neal, Casey Jones, Shredder, Krang, and there's plenty of more characters that I purposely left out. The point is: it made sense to have this many toys. It made a lot of money for them. And it brought so much joy to us fans. So the way I see it, everyone wins.

Turtles In Time is one of my all-time favorite video games based off of our heroes. I remember renting this game from the video store on a Friday afternoon. My cousin and I both played it, and I had an absolute blast. Back then, my favorite turtle to use was Donatello. He was my favorite. But nowadays, I prefer to use Mikey, who has been my favorite since about 2003. This game has aged very well, and my love for this game is simple: I love Beat 'Em Ups. It's an absolute blast to play, whether it be by yourself or with a friend and or family member.

I was still a fan of the TMNT by the time I bought my very own VHS copy of the first TMNT movie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_(film_series). This movie was darker than anything I have seen, but I loved it regardless. It provided a different take on the TMNT, and I do appreciate the mature tone that the movie had. You had the turtles curse every now and then. The movie was also pretty violent, at least compared to the TV show. The fight scenes were also well done.

One of the things that I loved was the way that they portrayed Splinter's relationship with the TMNT a.k.a. his sons. He was their teacher, their superior. But he was also their father, and they looked up to him with that kind of respect.

And last but not least, I loved the fight scene between Shredder vs all four turtles. As good as they were, they were no match for the Shredder and his experience.

The movie was really good back then, and it still holds up well. In fact, I'm still impressed by what they were able to do back then with the technology

Bottom line: I was a huge fan back in the day, and I'm still a fan. I have respect for what the TMNT did for me (and fans alike) back then, and what they continue to do for the fans of today. So it's with that love that I watched the trailer for the new TMNT movie, and I'm pretty disappointed.

April doesn't look much like April at all. Shredder may not be Japanese. The TMNT themselves are huge and have a lot of stuff going on with their outfits. They have a lot of stuff on them that's just not needed.

I'm not trying to be a hater or anything. In fact, I want this movie to be good. It's been an awful long time since the last Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, and I honestly want this movie to be a success in every single way. That way, we'll continue to get more live action movies in the future.

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