How much slack would you cut Bayturtles if...

[ToTheNines]

Now this is highly hypothetical, but give it a try.

How much easier would you have been on Bayturtles if:

1. They were a photorealistic version of what you expect the turtles to look like.

2. They weren't covered in random trinkets and flair.

3. They weren't 9 feet tall and UGLY AS FU*K.

They still would have sucked, but I think I would have found the movie a bit more palatable. And the general movie going audience might have agreed.

Thoughts?

[TigerClaw]

They would cut them some slack if they had better Writers, Writers who understand TMNT better, The problem is regardless of who writes the movies, Michael Bay calls the shots, He was the one that changed the tone of the 1st movie, after complaining that it was too serious, and then wanting more humor in it.

[IndigoErth]

None of that. I could do with them being not quite as large, maybe no bigger than the average man, but that wouldn't really earn any slack cutting.

The Turtles themselves don't really bother me much anymore. The clothing/gear never bothered me, even if the look of some were a little busy at times. I can tolerate the overdone height and bulk in this one version. (And my fave turned out to be kind of adorable at times - at least in my eyes and esp in OotS - so I can deal.)

If they want slack cutting, it's going to have to be focused on the writing and use of characters (or overuse of non-humans - wtf I meant humans - in some cases). The first film sucks for the PD Turtles, while the story was okay in some aspects. OotS is by far better on the attention and focus they gave to the Turtles, but then the story sucked. Why can't these people do both?



edit: Actually, in terms of their clothing and whatnot, it bugs me most that they were given things that were never used. Such as each of them having a radio on their shoulder in OotS, but never touched it. That it was pointless was annoying.

That could have been played for laughs if, say, the cops heard them on the radios, before ever crossing paths with them, and yelled at them to get off that frequency. lol Only to find out later it was the Turtles they heard. So many lost opportunities.

Leo's throwing knives and those little axe(?) things on Raph's back (that he'd never reach in a million years) is another example. (And of course 95% of the stuff Donnie carries around.) If you are going to give them these tools - USE THEM. Don't just put it there "because it looks cool."

[plastroncafe]

I'd have preferred less clutter in the character design, but honestly...they could look amazing and it still wouldn't change the fact that the story was not so good.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

I'd have preferred less clutter in the character design, but honestly...they could look amazing and it still wouldn't change the fact that the story was not so good.

Even with AC Farley styled turtles?

[plastroncafe]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Even with AC Farley styled turtles?

Oh it still would have been a wet hot mess of a movie with Farley style turtles, but I'd have bought a dvd for like...icons. Or fanvids or something.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

Little to none. The turtle suits from the 1990 movie aren't the best things in the world but that doesn't stop people from enjoying the flick. Bay thinks the opposite is true: people will ignore the bad script if your VFX look neat enough. To some extent he's right. But that philosophy didn't quite pay off for TMNT 2.

[ProphetofGanja]

Honestly, I could ignore the god-awful character design if the story had been something that made sense. Although of course I would have preferred a movie with a decent story AND quality character design. Is that too much to ask for??

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

I'd have preferred less clutter in the character design, but honestly...they could look amazing and it still wouldn't change the fact that the story was not so good.

This.

I can get over visuals, but I can't forgive bad writing.

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

They would cut them some slack if they had better Writers, Writers who understand TMNT better, The problem is regardless of who writes the movies, Michael Bay calls the shots, He was the one that changed the tone of the 1st movie, after complaining that it was too serious, and then wanting more humor in it.

this! 100% this

the designs can grow on you and if they dont in the end its really the last things that needs to be fixed...the turtles couldve been the ideal design and the story was still poopy

[sdp]

The Hulk turtles I actually grew to like, they kind of work in this universe. I can't say I love them but I didn't hate them in the movie.

Now some of the story of April being involved with the Turtles and Shredder coming out of nowhere etc are the biggest problems of the movie.

[Jephael]

I agree with everyone thus far, though the biggest mistake they made was casting Megan Fox as April. She just did not fit the part in both films. In the first one she tried too hard, and in the second one she barely phoned it in. Talk about being on opposite sides of the spectrum.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

I liked that the turtles were Aprils pets before when they were in the lab. That's the only thing I thought was kinda cool.

That always bugged me. I wish they'd made it clear that as a child she just thought of them like pets rather than actually being.

I mean if they really were, how terrible does someone have to be to experiment on their child's pets??

I can hear it now: "I'm sorry little April, I told you that if you didn't take good care of them I'd be taking them away. Now they are going to the lab to be abused for experimentation." (You could almost rewrite this as April caused the fire to get back at her father over it... lol)

Originally Posted by sdp

Now some of the story of April being involved with the Turtles and Shredder coming out of nowhere etc are the biggest problems of the movie.

Although I've always kind of loved the scene where you can sort of see the gears turning in Leo's head and he kneels down like, "Wait, Dad... You always said we were rescued by a great guardian spirit. A hogosha." (Or something like that.) Splinter tells him that this IS the hogosha... And you can kind of see, or at least imagine, Leo getting back up and looking at Megan Fox April like "Oh wtf..." (Before being respectful and bowing to her.) That just HAD to be a huge disappointment after all those years of probably thinking it was far bigger and special than that. (Would be a good spot for fourth wall breaking... even the characters know this plot is ridiculous.)

[Wildcat]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

That always bugged me. I wish they'd made it clear that as a child she just thought of them like pets rather than actually being.

I mean if they really were, how terrible does someone have to be to experiment on their child's pets??

I can hear it now: "I'm sorry little April, I told you that if you didn't take good care of them I'd be taking them away. Now they are going to the lab to be abused for experimentation." (You could almost rewrite this as April caused the fire to get back at her father over it... lol)

Were they actually her pets? I don't remember now.

My issue with this was she cared enough to rescue them but abandoned them in the sewer. Could have taken them to a lake or pond or something. Even the zoo maybe.

[Candy Kappa]

Nope, the story is still trash.

I'd at best probably rewatch a few scenes on youtube now and then if the Turtles at least looked like the Turtles.

[neatoman]

I guess I would be fine with the designs but generally say the movies sucked? Terrible design work is the least of the problems.

[IndigoErth]

Good luck on nostrils never turning up again... Kind of inevitable.

Originally Posted by Wildcat

Were they actually her pets? I don't remember now.

My issue with this was she cared enough to rescue them but abandoned them in the sewer. Could have taken them to a lake or pond or something. Even the zoo maybe.

Yeah, she herself does say so directly to her room mate that they were her "childhood pets." (Which sounds odd coming from an adult woman speaking about lab animals...)

Agree with you, it's so weird that she ditched them like that. Show me a kid that would not have taken them home and either begged to keep them or hidden them!

[RaphaelsIsolation]

They could of made a TMNT movie without a huge ****ing budget?

I mean couldn't they just make a movie on 50 million? I think the could have.

[RaphaelsIsolation]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Now this is highly hypothetical, but give it a try.

How much easier would you have been on Bayturtles if:

1. They were a photorealistic version of what you expect the turtles to look like.

2. They weren't covered in random trinkets and flair.

3. They weren't 9 feet tall and UGLY AS FU*K.

They still would have sucked, but I think I would have found the movie a bit more palatable. And the general movie going audience might have agreed.

Thoughts?

Yeah I mean I didn't like the look very much. It is what it is, and it isn't horrible, I mean the large bulky "almost" Zulli look is ok.

I just wanted TMNT 1, 2, 3 look honestly. They tried making it different for the sake of it being different.

It would of helped a good amount. The look of them just kinda set the tone as overbloated... and lacking of quality.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

The 2k3 turtles were bigger than the 80s and movie turtles but nothing compared to the PD ones.

I remember someone here claiming here long ago that the PD designs were inspired by the Fred Wolf turtles being giant hulks who used their muscle mass instead of their weapons to fight but that's obviously not true and another attempt at FW trolling/bashing.

Yes, they didnt use their weapons alot but other than that, their fighting style is almost nothing like the PD turtles. The FW turtles were smaller and less muscular than many of their enemies and used the environment to win most of the time.

As for the OPs question, no I wouldn't cut them any slack. While Its funny to poke fun at their appearance, I didn't think that their designs were really that bad and still liked their portrayal (except for Mikey being a creep). It wasn't their appearance but mostly the script that really let the movie down.