William the White Washed Shredder: Why We Should Learn Not to Assume

[Xiewin]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

You guys should be thankful shredder is an Oriental.

If Shredder is not of the orient he is not Shredder.

Even so, the last minute re-shoots completely messed up the story.

[Xav]

Perhaps they could have pulled a Mandarin and made Shredder a title. The movie could have ended with Shredder's elite guard approaching Sachs and telling him he dishonored the name of their master.

[MajorViolence]

Originally Posted by Xav

Perhaps they could have pulled a Mandarin and made Shredder a title. The movie could have ended with Shredder's elite guard approaching Sachs and telling him he dishonored the name of their master.

That would have required creative writing.


Seriously though, I found that to be a brilliant save on Marvel's part.

[ZariusTwo]

It's just a pity the Mandarin retcon was'nt made the post-credits scene for Iron Man III, I'd have made the Stark/Banner session a mini-feature instead

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Forneus

I am sorry but I don't understand this. I mean, yes Eric Sacks (Oroku Saki lol) wasn't Shredder. But somehow I don't think adding a completely nameless man without any character in the film as Shredder was better.

Yes, you have a point of course, but I was not going that far into the details in discussing the matter, was not going into if they handled it the right way or not. I prob should have put quotes around "corrected."

[sethmartin]

It's completely obvious that Paramount panicked because of all the negativity and hired reshoots to try and change the film back to something more familiar to the fans. When you listen to Fichtner say "The Shredder in this version is unlike any shredder you've ever seen" and "it's pretty surprising, his relationship with the turtles", it doesn't make any sense. There is no way that we saw the movie that they originally wanted to make. We saw a studio forced chopped and patched up version. What relationship did Shredder have with the turtles in this? None! I don't even think they test screened the movie!
It's heartbreaking to go back and listen to how hyped and excited the cast and crew was on this. Chances are, it probably was good! Different doesn't necessarily mean bad. I kind of hope they release a directors cut of this. Sachs should have been the Shredder, Asian or not!

[Blips]

Originally Posted by Xav

Perhaps they could have pulled a Mandarin and made Shredder a title. The movie could have ended with Shredder's elite guard approaching Sachs and telling him he dishonored the name of their master.

Yes to this. Since the filmmakers were already going down the Sacks as Shredder route, I wished they'd stuck to that story. If they wanted to react to the backlash, they could've added a scene where Oroku Saki discovers someone in America had assumed the Shredder persona which isn't hard to believe since the public sees the Shredder armor in that crater and it likely ended up on the news. Instead of changing a ton of the existing film, show Saki put on the traditional looking armor surrounded by the actual Foot clan ready to head to America to take on the turtles in the sequel. Show that Saki is furious someone would try to take his title, which would reflect the anger many have that the filmmakers went this route in the first place.

[sethmartin]

If they wanted to react to the backlash, they should have just made the film so good that fans wouldn't care that they changed things! True, nobody wanted an American Shredder, but if they had made the story and character interesting enough, fans would have accepted it. They changed the joker and two-faces origin in The Dark Knight, but nobody cared because it was awesome. I was excited to see the whole "trying to create heroes", "created as weapons" arc! That could have opened the door to other badass mutants. But nope! Just cut all of that out and slap in some random Asian guy as shredder and butcher the hell outta the story just to try and make a few naysayers happy. I don't think the movie is bad but I certainly think it was probably a lot better before Paramount took the axe to it.

[Xiewin]

Originally Posted by sethmartin

If they wanted to react to the backlash, they should have just made the film so good that fans wouldn't care that they changed things! True, nobody wanted an American Shredder, but if they had made the story and character interesting enough, fans would have accepted it. They changed the joker and two-faces origin in The Dark Knight, but nobody cared because it was awesome. I was excited to see the whole "trying to create heroes", "created as weapons" arc! That could have opened the door to other badass mutants. But nope! Just cut all of that out and slap in some random Asian guy as shredder and butcher the hell outta the story just to try and make a few naysayers happy. I don't think the movie is bad but I certainly think it was probably a lot better before Paramount took the axe to it.

What a pathetic movie from paramount, and it had so much potential to create a new and fresh story. Honestly, I never really cared that Shredder was white nor the fact that they were originally created as weapons. I thought it was an interesting new take on the turtles. I think it's sad that now instead of making the fans even happier, they just pissed them off even more.

[Blips]

Originally Posted by sethmartin

Just cut all of that out and slap in some random Asian guy as shredder and butcher the hell outta the story just to try and make a few naysayers happy. I don't think the movie is bad but I certainly think it was probably a lot better before Paramount took the axe to it.

I don't understand why studios listen to a very vocal negative group on the Internet when there's no clear indication of how big that group actually is. The Internet is filled with negativity and there was going to be backlash towards different aspects of the film no matter what. You can't please everybody.

Plus there's no way to guarantee that appeasing the negative group will get them to buy a ticket. Most people who purchase a ticket are probably casual fans who are unaware of all the hubbub around Shredder. Most of the audience at the showing I went to reacted with awe when Donatello flung Raph into the humvee and that was in the first teaser!

[Coola Yagami]

We didn't assume. William said he WAS the Shredder. They didn't just show him and we all just assumed 'oh he looks evil in the trailer, so since Shredder is the default tmnt bad guy, he just has to be the new shredder'. He came out and told everyone in official interviews that he was the Shredder.

[CyberCubed]

As bad as some aspects of this movie were, let's all thank god they didn't go with alien turtles or white Shredder. At least they reversed two potential horrible things.

[sethmartin]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

As bad as some aspects of this movie were, let's all thank god they didn't go with alien turtles or white Shredder. At least they reversed two potential horrible things.

They should have gone with the white Shredder! Sacks should have been the shredder.

[CyberCubed]

Shredder needs to be an Oriental. Sachs can die for all I care.

[Xiewin]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

As bad as some aspects of this movie were, let's all thank god they didn't go with alien turtles or white Shredder. At least they reversed two potential horrible things.

Well at least it sets up a better sequel, but it totally ruined the first one.

[sethmartin]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Shredder needs to be an Oriental. Sachs can die for all I care.

I agree but with the story they had, they should have kept Sacks as the Shredder. It would have made the film better than the tacked on Asian Shredder

[CyberCubed]

I think they're saving the Yoshi and Saki origin for the sequel too. Both are likely from ancient Japan.

[Jester]

Sachs should have never been the Shredder to begin with. All this re-do does is sloppily splice an Asian Oroku Saki into the suit in a weak attempt to appease fans when they should have thought about that BEFORE they made Shredder "Generic White Villain #6,743."

But then again, it's better than Colonel Schrader....*vomits*

[Xiewin]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I think they're saving the Yoshi and Saki origin for the sequel too. Both are likely from ancient Japan.

Well at least they are actually listening to fans. But i'm still a bit pissed that the reshoots completely destroyed the whole story.

[Puddinpop]

Well.. for all those that kept saying over and over that this production quickly added him in after wards here is your answer. Sounds to me like he was involved the whole time.. like Eastman kept saying and no one wanted to listen.. Some I think give themselves a little to much credit around here lol. Shredder was kept in the dark on purpose.. to cause controversy and to get people talking. And it worked. It's ok to be wrong sometimes. I am wrong all the time about certain things.. mainly the Dallas Cowboys. If you were one of the people outraged all over the internet.. you actually ended up helping this movie. Man that HAS TO suck to know that And now the film is on track to knock Guardians out of the number one spot and is projected to earn north of 60 million this weekend.

Here is the quote that interested me

We recently caught up with Tohoru Masamune, and he shared his story with us. He was not allowed to tell friends and family he was playing Shredder all throughout production. He had to keep the entire thing secret until today. Which is strange in and of itself. Why not wait until after the weekend to reveal the real actor behind this new incarnation of Shredder? No one knows!

And this

Tohoru Masamune: They told me that I couldn't say anything until it opens. It's been really weird not being able to tell my friends. Its like I was in the witness protection program or the CIA. But yeah, its something they wanted to keep a lid on. It's supposed to be a surprise for fans. It will be interesting to see what the reaction is. Hopefully it will be positive. I think it was a great move. I think that it will be fun for folks to realize that Shredder is indeed a rocky-socky Japanese dude, you know? Anybody who's a fan knows that he is. So, that was nice. It's interesting that they kept it secret. It's awkward for me in certain ways, because it's very weird for me to have a major role in a big feature, and not be able to tell people. I have one more day, so I'm all good!

And there is a reason no one knows. It was a brilliant marketing ploy. And this isn't the first time its happened. All I want to know is.. when are they announcing TMNT 2?