Your unpopular TMNT opinions

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Metalwolf

I hate the semi-traditional dystopian endings. I don't care if Mirage did it, they suck. What's the point of getting invested in heroes if you know they are going to be nothing but giant impotent failures every single time for 'the dark 'n gritty realism'?

Because they're not heroes. Not in the traditional sense.

I agree with you about the multiverse... I always used to be really against it in any kind of official capacity. But it's a thing.

[Metalwolf]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Because they're not heroes. Not in the traditional sense.

I agree with you about the multiverse... I always used to be really against it in any kind of official capacity. But it's a thing.

I couldn't also help but think of multiverses as a sort of gimmicky fad, something that the big name comics did so everyone else had to get in on them to be 'edgy.' And in TMNT it seems like the multiverse concept mainly gets used as an excuse to keep allowing the FW Turtles to show up whenever an injection of the oh-muh-childhood feels is needed.

[Garfield]

Originally Posted by TommyT

Unpopular opinion? That gritty TMNT is just as bad an idea as Rise.

While I wouldn't say the idea of gritty TMNT is bad. and I don't have a problem with Rise. I don't clamor for gritty interpretations of Ninja Turtles like some people do.

Originally Posted by Metalwolf

I hate the semi-traditional dystopian endings. I don't care if Mirage did it, they suck. What's the point of getting invested in heroes if you know they are going to be nothing but giant impotent failures every single time for 'the dark 'n gritty realism'?

I kind of agree with this sentiment but digging in a little deeper. Its not just with Ninja Turtles, its Science fiction and comic books in general that often gravitate to the drab, collapsed, dystopian imagery. That portrayal seems to be a bit mainstream, I think It's a reflection of how cynical and pessimistic many of us have become as individuals. I think it sucks...but I think I have an understanding why we have become this way, so I have to be empathetic too.

Originally Posted by PApagreg

Also I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion but Xever and Bradford were much better as humans than mutants.

I agree and I also really like Steranko as a human and Zeck to. I thought they were visually interesting characters that never needed to be mutants. They were less interesting as mutants. In the case of Steranko and Xever they were more intimidating to me as humans and became sort of goofy after they were mutated.

[PApagreg]

Don't know how unpopular but I HATE fly Baxter, its stupid, gross and it always makes his character worse and uninteresting. Make him into a cyborg or A.I or something but fly Baxter is just awful

[Utrommaniac]

It's also unnecessarily cruel!

[TommyT]

I absolutely loved the horrible things that happened to Baxter in the OT.

[PApagreg]

I'm reading some of the old threads in Rise and I don't understand the dislike with Rise April, for me at least she does the concept of "Teenage April" way better than the 2k12 version

[Donnie]

Unpopular opinions? I have many.

- I hate Bebop & Rocksteady. I hate how IDW brought them into the comics, I wanted them to die with the OT. I don't understand why people go crazy over their figures, their characters, etc. In fact, I think the entire ensemble of TMNT villains is WEAK compared to Marvel's slate of awesome baddies. There is absolutely nobody in the TMNT universe that is comparable to Loki, Thanos, Dr. Doom, Killmonger, and the like. Not even Shredder is as interesting as any of them. I suppose I like Rat King, because of his supernatural arc in the Mirage books and the Nick show. Still, he doesn't compare to Marvel villains.

- IDW lost me when they "killed" Donatello, even though he was brought back. The whole bit reminded me of "Game of Thrones," which I really loathe, because T. Waltz displayed what GRRM made a living from: shock writing, to illicit crazy reactions from fans who love Donatello by killing him off brutally. Just like GRRM killed off all of his good/virtuous characters brutally like Robb Stark and Ned Stark. Yet, that little b*tch Joffrey gets off'ed by being simply poisoned. F**k off. Anyway, I still buy the one-shots but as far as the IDW main title, I was gone by issue #50. Because even when they brought Donatello back, he displayed ZERO animosity or personal vendetta against Shredder & B & R after they basically killed him. That whole rooftop battle in #50 read like a friggin' episode of the OT, minus the beheading. Don's "death" was petty and stupid and not necessary. Now you can't even run a Google search on Donatello without seeing "is dead" somewhere in there.

- TMNT III is a far better movie than TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze. Not only is the writing better -- Michelangelo gets great character development in III -- but I also love the Turtle suits despite many fans hate for them, and TMNT in feudal Japan just rocks my history loving world.

That's it for now.

[Musashi]

Originally Posted by Donnie

Unpopular opinions? I have many...

- TMNT III is a far better movie than TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze. Not only is the writing better -- Michelangelo gets great character development in III -- but I also love the Turtle suits despite many fans hate for them, and TMNT in feudal Japan just rocks my history loving world.

That's it for now.

I sort of agree with that. For me, the two films both have their strengths and weaknesses. I don't hate the Turtle suits in III either, although I really do think the Henson Turtles are considerably better, with the lip movements in particular being a bit basic by comparison. If those III suits had been used from the start, I think they'd be looked on more kindly - It's just that Henson were so far ahead of everybody else in the field at that time.

Most if not all the characters are better served in III, not so much Splinter, although II does have a few bits of nice dialogue scattered around. Each Turtle gets a reasonable amount to do and say, and rather than mostly stand around doing her best with a bland character, as in II, Paige Turco actually plays the same character as Judith Hoag in the first one, just in her own way. Although it is a bit strange to have Elias Koteas back and choose to limit Casey's screen time in favor of a new character - I'd be interested to know why that was done, as I seem to remember Stuart Gillard's commentary is more about the shoot than the writing.

[Donnie]

Originally Posted by Musashi

I sort of agree with that. For me, the two films both have their strengths and weaknesses. I don't hate the Turtle suits in III either, although I really do think the Henson Turtles are considerably better, with the lip movements in particular being a bit basic by comparison. If those III suits had been used from the start, I think they'd be looked on more kindly - It's just that Henson were so far ahead of everybody else in the field at that time.

Most if not all the characters are better served in III, not so much Splinter, although II does have a few bits of nice dialogue scattered around. Each Turtle gets a reasonable amount to do and say, and rather than mostly stand around doing her best with a bland character, as in II, Paige Turco actually plays the same character as Judith Hoag in the first one, just in her own way. Although it is a bit strange to have Elias Koteas back and choose to limit Casey's screen time in favor of a new character - I'd be interested to know why that was done, as I seem to remember Stuart Gillard's commentary is more about the shoot than the writing.

I agree, the 1990 Henson suits reign supreme. I don't think anything will come close to those, unless of course Jim Henson's surviving company attempts to do the suits for the rumored live action Netflix TMNT show. Agreed also on Splinter being shafted in III, he is really the only one that doesn't get much attention. The rest are well developed. Michelangelo in specific like I mentioned was wonderfully written and developed. His love of humans and their society, his need to fit in, and his crush on Mitsu was handled very tastefully. You really feel for him when he is forced to leave Japan at the end. Raphael has a nice arc with Yoshi too, Donnie's love for history and tech come to the forefront, and Leonardo had high points too (saving Yoshi via CPR). Hell, even Kenshin had fantastic development throughout.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Originally Posted by PApagreg

I'm reading some of the old threads in Rise and I don't understand the dislike with Rise April, for me at least she does the concept of "Teenage April" way better than the 2k12 version

I'm speaking for myself based on what I've watched but besides the fact that she's loud, rowdy, and a bit too reckless for my liking, I don't find her in the slightest bit interesting. Whenever the character does get focus, she comes off as dull in comparison to other characters in the episode and she really adds nothing to it to make it engaging. She's really just there. Now in comparison to the 2k12 version for all the flak she got, she was still interesting and endearing. She may had a lot of weird and outright questionable concepts added to her character but she still was likable, at least for the most part.

[IndigoErth]

I'm okay with her for the most part and at least she isn't being the center of attention most of the time, which probably helps. (Though the loud, careless teen stereotype is annoying.) But my god, can she please stop using her own name as a battle cry. (Along with every other annoying sound bite this show loves to reuse over and over.)

Though, side note, I found her judgemental/rejecting attitude of the Turtles trying to embrace their adopted Hamato heritage (season 1 finale eps) off putting. She had no reason to do that.

[cammy85]

Originally Posted by Donnie

- TMNT III is a far better movie than TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze. Not only is the writing better -- Michelangelo gets great character development in III -- but I also love the Turtle suits despite many fans hate for them, and TMNT in feudal Japan just rocks my history loving world.

That's it for now.

I also liked II better than II. It certainly has aged better IMO. There was nothing wrong with Tokka and Rahzar and I understand why they had to bring in Keno. But I didn't like the the "cartooning down" of Shredder compared to the credible threat he was in he first movie. I understand why that had to be done too, but still.

III was a vast improvement and even though it was made just for fun, it told a great story and after watching shows like the 1980s She-ra with the rebellion and overthrowing villains, it went a lot better despite what they reduced Splinter to. Despite III aging better, I still stand by my belief that "The Legend of Koji" was made as an apology for this movie and not necessarily as a decent sendoff to James Avery.

[PApagreg]

Originally Posted by LeotheLateBloomer

Now in comparison to the 2k12 version for all the flak she got, she was still interesting and endearing.

Eh I kinda disagree with the exception of the Splinter stuff she was just there for weird powers and Donnie/Casey ship stuff

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Though, side note, I found her judgemental/rejecting attitude of the Turtles trying to embrace their adopted Hamato heritage (season 1 finale eps) off putting. She had no reason to do that.

Umm if your friends who you knew for years had a 180 in terms of personality you would question it too.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by Vegita-San

I think the movie would have been much better received... ESPECIALLY if it came first. you almost don't need the first one at all now.

I agree. It wouldn't have been an amazing movie but it would have at least been watchable unlike the first 2014 movie.

[Adventuremaster18]

My unpopular opinion is that I don't really want an adaptation of TMNT that's exactly like the Mirage comics or any of the previous adaptations. I've seen others ask for something like that, but I find it to be a bizarre request.

I go by the Douglas Adams philosophy of "What's the point of having two things that are exactly the same?" For those who don't know, Douglas wrote the Radio Drama "The Hithchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and adapted it into a novel, TV series, stage play, comic, etc. He always changed elements of the story when adapting it into a different medium as he felt it was kinda pointless to have two stories that are 100 percent the same. This worked for some adaptations (the book became more popular than the Radio Drama) and didn't for others (his screenplay for the film was mostly used for the film, with some minor rewrites, and is considered to be terrible), but he always made sure to add something new to it.

I wouldn't mind a darker interpretation of the TMNT, more in tone with Mirage and less with Fred Wolf, but I don't want it to be exactly the same story.

[Andrew NDB]

I think at this point I'm a bit more "I want 0% Fred Wolf in there" and less "I want it to be 100% Mirage."

Enough is enough.

[Adventuremaster18]

I don't really believe they should ditch all Fred Wolf stuff. Whether you like it or not (I'm not particularly a fan of the Fred Wolf TMNT cartoon itself), it's part of the history of TMNT and will forever be a part of it. I like Mirage TMNT, but it's not a flawless comic either.

I like a lot of the adaptations such as the 2012 TMNT for reinventing aspects of Fred Wolf and doing something somewhat interesting with them. It also does that with Mirage, many of the adaptations pay respect to Mirage actually (The 1990 film adapts various elements of it, as do 2K3 and 2012, though they can be a bit loose with adapting). Same with the 1990 film and 2K3 series. I feel reinventing the series each time with elements from previous versions, whether it's Mirage, IDW, Archie, Fred Wolf, etc. isn't a bad idea.

I mean if the adaptations had ZERO Mirage influence, I'd understand, but a lot of adaptations still respect it and homage/adapt elements of it.

I feel paying homage to various versions to a good way to respect the history of TMNT, regardless of which version you started with.

[PApagreg]

Speaking of Mirage, I think the designs for the turtles is my least favorite or at least the ones with the protruding snouts. I don't know it feels like half the time they look constipated and they got that Kanamori grin(even though I like it on her).

Even though I rank it below Rise I think season 5 of TMNT 2012 is better than 3/4 just for the sake of having better pacing and having more diverse episodes/arcs.

Tales of the Yokai isn't a good episode, it had potential but there were a number of things that hold it back. I felt like the inclusion of the turtles hurt it yeah I know they were supposed to be the "Yokai" but if we are focusing on the origin of how Shredder and Splinter came to be then we should've just focused on them. Tang Shen was boring she has the same problem as Kirby in that she feels like a plot device and less like a character and basically has no personality.Finally we dn't see Saki and Yoshi being actual friends I mean yeah we saw the latter goofing off with the former but in less than 5 min Saki begins to act like Shredder.

Rise Purple Dragons are better than 2k12 for the sake of the former having character.

Also despite this iteration being my favorite TMNT 2k3 fight scenes were kinda sub-par with the Bishop fight being the only stand out

[Klunk1234]

I was refusing to watch the 2018 TMNT until last month when I gave it a chance... It was horrible and ridiculous. Leo has to be the leader, not Raph. He looks clownish; Raph a gargantuan beast; Donnie with those eyebrows and all that equipment and Master Splinter looking like a Gerbil, not a Rat. The only one acceptable is Mikey.

Worst incarnation since the Next Mutation.

I will stick with the IDW comics, the 1987 TMNT, 2k3 TMNT until season 5 and 2k12 TMNT series.

Since its still January Happy New Year everybody on this forum.