TMNT 2014 - Thoughts from UK viewers - SPOILERS

[Chris]

Wouldn't be surprised if you're right. Didn't the scene (or a version of it) first show up in the leaked aliens script?

[Leo656]

Pretty sure it did, or at least something very similar.

It's common with big budget flicks. Studios and producers want some idea of where all the money is going, and before they'll approve a project they want assurance there is a big flashy scene that will "hook" people into paying to see the final product. It's also rare that an entire script is trashed, even if it's terrible - they pay people to write 'em, remember - and stuff always gets carried over in some form, especially the big action scenes, so long as they're not prohibitively expensive.

For example, the plane-catching scene in "Superman Returns" was lifted almost entirely from the abandoned "Superman: Flyby" script by J.J. Abrams, and featured heavily in the film's marketing. Same thing, the producers already had one "big" scene they knew "Had" to be included, and worked the rest out from there.

It's not the most organic approach to making a movie - like in this movie's case, stapling a snowy mountain peak onto the outskirts of NYC, somehow, simply because the scene HAD to be in the movie no matter what because it was the "money shot" - but it's extremely common. And a lot of times, that one "money" scene, if done well, can convince people the rest of the movie was great, even if it kind of wasn't. Which is also by design.

[DVD]

OK, I'm not in the UK, but I'm from the UK, and we got the movie here in China a week after you guys, so it's more timing... And I am technically a UK viewer !

So... The movie was great. I had a great time watching it yesterday at the cinema. I was surprised at how busy the cinema was ( it was playing at the number 1 screen at grand gateway 66) and the audience was all Chinese except me. So it is finding an audience. It will be interesting to see later in the week, what the turnout has been.
Back to the movie. I felt it had everything in there. Action aplenty, humour, drama, gratuitous but shot !!

The music was strong, and I realized that I was humming the theme as I walked home.

Funniest line. Mikey with the comment about the cat (I won't spoil it).

The snow Chase was really well done, and the gasps it was getting from the audience was a testament to how good it was. Mind you, I never knew that there was kind of terain 5 minutes from NYC !!!

All in all, a good movie, and I will be adding the bluray to the collection.

[Hero]

Didn't like it.

[Vicky82]

TMNT returned to no 1 at the UK Box Office

Top 10 films 31 October - 2 November

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, £1,429,159 from 514 sites. Total: £11,771,775
2. Ouija, £1,373,907 from 416 sites (new)
3. Fury, £1,246,990 from 503 sites. Total: £5,609,870
4. Gone Girl, £1,061,282 from 472 sites. Total: £19,330,235
5. The Book of Life, £1,056,274 from 540 sites. Total: £4,022,383
6. Nightcrawler, £1,003,822 from 413 sites (new)
7. Mr Turner, £904,947 from 129 sites (new)
8. The Maze Runner, £664,766 from 402 sites. Total: £7,752,518
9. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, £524,109 from 459 sites. Total: £2,468,716
10. Annabelle, £457,026 from 387 sites. Total: £7,126,266

http://www.theguardian.com/film/film...-timothy-spall

[HotNunchuckFury]

Originally Posted by Vicky82

TMNT returned to no 1 at the UK Box Office

Awesome, so pleased it's doing well, especially considering the delayed release.

I've now seen it 3 times myself with various people. I enjoy it just as much if not more each time. I'm genuinely gutted for those of you that are disappointed by it, hope the second one pleases more folks on here. Everyone I've seen it with have also enjoyed it, despite some initially being sceptical or disinterested.

I asked my friends and family if they felt as though they got to know the characters (particularly the turtles) well enough in this film and they seemed surprised at the question as they felt they got to know them really well. Because we were discussing this earlier in the thread I thought it would be helpful to add their point of view considering it's difficult for those of us who already know the personalities of the turtles to judge this. I guess us fans always want to see more character development, to see the characters we know be tested and grow, but from the people I've asked, it seems this movie did enough to not only introduce each turtle to a new audience, but also give a feeling of attachment to them.

[Leo656]

I'd venture a guess that, to most people, it's an odd question in and of itself. "They're turtles who know kung-fu and live with a rat; what's to know?" is probably the stock answer. Thus, little things like character development and anyone actually having an arc or a journey is inconsequential, because I'd say 9/10s of people who went to see the movie weren't looking for things like that to begin with. "The nerdy one wears glasses" is as deep as it need be for that audience.

Of course anyone who went to see it would know the Turtles "well enough" by the end of it: They're cardboard cut-out cartoon stereotypes, all of whom are more or less exactly the same as they were at the beginning. "What's to know?"

I confess, I'm spoiled. All my ideas of how movies should express themes of brotherhood and family come from watching both "Young Guns" movies a thousand times. Writers and producers could also learn a few things from that movie about how to properly juggle a ton of characters without reducing everyone to a punchline or a soundbite. Everyone also has their own arc and ends up a different person at the end than at the start. It's basically amazing at everything. Just sayin'.

[nimajneb]

Watched this a second time over the weekend.
I took my 13 year old brother-in-law and his friend, they loved it. They grew up watching 2k3 and the b-I-l reads my idw comics so he knows a lot about the turtles.
They both loved it and liked the action and character design, they really liked that you didn't need to know too much history.
They also loved the opening too. The biggest complaint I heard from them is that they both like the Raph in disguise figure but there isn't a Raph in disguise in the film!

[Autbot_Benz]

like Leo536 said I think this movie was made for little children and the average movie goer who doesn't know all the Turtle history but might have heard of them.

Same goes for the transformers movies they were not made for the fans they were made for the average movie goer who doesn't know much about the Transformers.

[HeroTurtlesFan]

Originally Posted by Autbot_Benz

like Leo536 said I think this movie was made for little children and the average movie goer who doesn't know all the Turtle history but might have heard of them.

Same goes for the transformers movies they were not made for the fans they were made for the average movie goer who doesn't know much about the Transformers.

I'd rephrase that and say the Transformers movies were designed for BOTH fans and 'newcomers'. Your comment made it sound like 'fans' didn't like the movies, whereas I know plenty of hardcore fans that loved at least a couple of 'em!!

[Leo656]

I'm not a huge Transformers fan, as in, I only know like, the main three character robots by name, but I enjoyed the first film very much. I still think it stands up pretty well as a decent, if silly, sci-fi/action flick that hits a wide audience. However, I thought the second one was every bit as awful as the first one was good, and they never really recovered from the second one making more based on brand name alone despite being so awful.

Really, Hollywood on the whole never recovered from it, because TF2 gave them the message that you can put out any ol' POS, and if the brand name is strong, people will still pay to see it even if they know better and hate themselves later. Why we encourage them time and again instead of staying home and watching good movies, I don't know.

[Vicky82]

TMNT drops to No 3 at the weekend.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/film...olan-mr-turner

Top 10 films 7-9 November

1. Interstellar, £5,378,220 from 574 sites (new)

2. Mr Turner, £1,014,433 from 252 sites. Total: £2,671,313

3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, £738,766 from 489 sites. Total: £12,889,684

4. Gone Girl, £696,874 from 420 sites. Total: £20,634,368

5. Fury, £674,430 from 480 sites. Total: £7,056,559

6. The Book of Life, £655,010 from 522 sites. Total: £4,855,785

7. Ouija, £653,678 from 404 sites. Total: £2,587,106

8. Nightcrawler, £545,221 from 412 sites. Total: £2,169,731

9. The Maze Runner, £396,286 from 369 sites. Total: £8,345,914

10. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, £318,647 from 446 sites. Total: £2,868,463

[Bry]

Originally Posted by Autbot_Benz

like Leo536 said I think this movie was made for little children and the average movie goer who doesn't know all the Turtle history but might have heard of them.

Same goes for the transformers movies they were not made for the fans they were made for the average movie goer who doesn't know much about the Transformers.

That's basically the case. And like I've said before, that's fine for those who are satisfied with that. But we've been really spoiled with comic book, superhero and genre movies that actually have very strong characters and plots, legitimate character arcs, and hold up as quality movies instead of just "dumb popcorn fun", while also being handled by people who treat the properties' histories with respect and reverence and care a great deal about getting it right.

They had a great opportunity to reintroduce the TMNT to the modern era and produce something on that level. But they didn't care enough. Like Transformers, it was all just about monetizing the brand. No love, no heart.

[Vicky82]

TMNT drops to 8th at the weekend.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/film...eps-high-orbit

Top 10 films November 14-16

1. Interstellar, £3,777,804 from 576 sites. Total: £12,131,990

2. The Imitation Game, £2,742,725 from 459 sites (new)

3. Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey?!, £1,800,419 from 453 sites (new)

4. Mr Turner, £741,748 from 383 sites. Total: £4,357,230

5. The Drop, £637,867 from 339 sites (new)

6. Gone Girl, £454,488 from 354 sites. Total: £21,545,587

7. The Book of Life, £442,863 from 492 sites. Total: £5,376,374

8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, £437,437 from 452 sites. Total: £13,506,581

9. Fury, £359,822 from 372 sites. Total: £7,863,014

10. Ouija, £308,516 from 324 sites. Total: £3,207,638

[CJRocky]

This is my first post. shame its gunna be full of negativity but ive got to be honest.

This movie was terrible on so many levels i dont know where to begin... :/

the cartoony intro felt out of place and rushed and cheaply made

The story and origin was all over the place

the foot sucked, the makers missed the mark here, they had an opportunity to do something different from all the other movies but went for guns :/ ninjas vs guns is not interesting. they could of had ninjas vs ninjas and had some good fight scenes, put the turtles against real trained fighters with similar skill sets. dont put them against cowards with guns.

shredder was powerful but had no identity or depth just a no name in a suit you hardly see him out the suit and when the suits on theres no face just a static mask so theres no expression to relate to. just felt hollow

The turtles design is terrible its just really really bad. they dont look like turtles nor do the look like humans, they just look like giant hulking ninja troll fish. their disgusting design took me out the movie everytime they were on screen also theyre so pointlessly huge it makes no sense they cant even sneak about because they are huge and heavy. im all up for a new design im not a nostalgia freak that thinks the old movie is the only way they should look i really want to see a new design and a reboot, but not this!!. this design is just terrible they look like theyve been smacked in the face with a frying pan. their heads look like fruit like a giant Pair or Melon with eyes and trout fish lips. its literally the worst design you could come up with and trust me i know design coz im a designer and im astounded that this design got green-lit. seriously wtf!

splinters design is even worse i felt sick everytime he was on screen and his voice didnt match and he was a straight up dick to the turtles. we're supposed to feel sad when hes crushed under the rubble but it didnt work because he did nothing but hit the turtles and shout at them

uggggh this movie.... im not even gunna bother talking about april and her ridiculous amount of screen time...

i cant find a single good thing to say about this movie i didnt even like the action scenes because for the most part you cant make out whats going on and its so over blown it looks like a video game the best way to hide CGI is to constantly have the camera move and theres a lot of that...

i could say that at least its good that the movie did well financially, but id rather it was a total flop so theyd be forced to sell the rights to someone else that actually knows and cares about the material coz its clear this movie is just a cash grab with no passion or sole.

its actually super depressing to think theres going to be another one of these movies and maybe more :/ and its sad to read all these reviews from genuine turtles fans that can clearly see through all the franchise milking ******** going on

i genuinely dont have 1 single good thing to say about this movie so ill stop ranting now but it just had to be said.

[Mandy Chan]

There's so many things in this movie that bugged me. One for example.. I feel the movie was too focused on April. They might as well called it "The April O Neil Movie".

[Myko]

Originally Posted by CJRocky

they just look like giant hulking ninja troll fish.

Hahaha, this is the best and funniest description I've read of their design. Spot on.

Originally Posted by CJRocky

its actually super depressing to think theres going to be another one of these movies and maybe more :/

Yeah. This was a ****** movie, but we've had that before with TMNT3 etc, but the real depressing thing is that it will be three years or more until the next live action Turtles movie, and it will most likely be just as awful.

[TerranigmaFreak]

Originally Posted by D Piddy 1982

> Story was ridiculous. In the fact that The Foot (Shredder) apparently already ran the city. And Sacks also apparently had a lot of money (big mansion etc). So why did they even need to bother with trying to release the virus. Didn’t make sense. Would’ve made sense if Sacks was a struggling scientist and The Foot were a criminal organisation on the rise but not at the top. To me it seemed both Sacks and The Foot didn’t have much to gain from their ‘evil plan’.

This is one complaint that doesn't make sense to me. Plenty of rich people do incredibly evil things for even more money. Just look around the news. People getting screwed over by banks in financial collapse, underhanded deals to make more money, monopoly and other bad business practices. Just cause someone is rich doesn't mean they don't want to be even richer.

[TrickOrTreater]

Originally Posted by TerranigmaFreak

This is one complaint that doesn't make sense to me. Plenty of rich people do incredibly evil things for even more money. Just look around the news. People getting screwed over by banks in financial collapse, underhanded deals to make more money, monopoly and other bad business practices. Just cause someone is rich doesn't mean they don't want to be even richer.

How about the fact that the plan was stupid and didn't make sense?

Sachs/Shredder are going to release a Toxin that'll probably kill a good portion of New York, from Sachs' own building in the middle of the day.

Then they think they'll make a lot of money by selling the antidote to whoever.

Did they really think no one would notice or what?

[TerranigmaFreak]

Originally Posted by TrickOrTreater

How about the fact that the plan was stupid and didn't make sense?

Sachs/Shredder are going to release a Toxin that'll probably kill a good portion of New York, from Sachs' own building in the middle of the day.

Then they think they'll make a lot of money by selling the antidote to whoever.

Did they really think no one would notice or what?

No, I understand the plan is stupid. Not saying it isn't. I'm saying just cause their rich doesn't mean they don't want to be richer.