TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES DVD (2014)

SYNOPSIS: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are bigger and better than ever in this blockbuster hit loaded with nonstop action and laughs! When New York City is in trouble, it’s up to these four ninja-fighting, pizza-loving brothers to save it. Aided by determined reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and their wise master Splinter, these unlikely heroes must face their ultimate nemesis - the evil Shredder.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Produced by Michael Bay and directed by Jonathan Liebesman (Battle Los Angeles, Wrath of the Titans), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the latest revival of an old comics/animation property. So instead of transforming talking robots with Mark Wahlberg or talking blue creatures with Neil Patrick Harris, we have talking Kung Fu fighting turtles with Megan Fox.

Presented in live-action hybrid format, four relatively unknown young actors did the motion capturing performance for the four wisecracking turtles and together with a television reporter, April (Megan Fox) and her lusty cameraman Vern (Will Arnett), they are on a mission to save New York from the mysterious Foot Clan which has been terrorizing the city. 

The story on the whole is half-hearted and despite the sheer amount of reference material the writers could have accessed to, the three credited writers cooked up a story that they themselves have problems believing in. Try believing the fact that Master Splinter became a ninja master by learning his skills from an abandoned manual in the sewer and a corporate head, Sacks (William Fichtner) is actually the adopted son of Shredder! Bearing in mind that Shredder appeared for less than 20 minutes and he worn a suit more powerful than Robocop.    

But I guess it comes with the package when Bay is onboard and Liebesman even faithfully replicate his signature moves and trademarks liked slow-mos, lens flare and shots that swirled and turned faster than a Ferrari. Still, if you don’t have any qualms on the above, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is actually a tolerable affair given that nearly every minute onscreen is peppered with silly one-liners, explosion and photo realistic visual effects from ILM.     

The biggest credit has to go to the four actors for giving life to Leonardo, the all-so-serious leader, Michelangelo, the clown of all, Donatello the gadget guy and Raphael the emotional one. Not only we don’t get to see their faces and in Leonardo’s case, we don’t even get to hear the actor’s voice.

Generally speaking, this is another product done for the most part on a computer by the wizards at ILM. Audiences sick with the latest Transformers instalment should stay clear otherwise, families with younger kids should love the mutated reptiles.   

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Digital Reality takes a 17 minutes in-depth look into the motion-capture process, visual effects and other technical aspects of the movie.

The various key actors talk about their own memories of the turtles in It Ain’t Easy Being Green.

Evolutionary Mash-Up offers some fun facts about turtles and ninja weaponry.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Any movie associated with Michael Bay triumphed in the audio and visual department. TMNT is no exception. Visually stunning with picture perfect presentation and a dynamic Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, this is yet another strong reference title.  

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee