TMNT: Mutant Mayhem

[KROW]

Okay, I finally got around to watching this and it wasn't that bad. The Splinter/Scumbug thing was unsettling for me and I really didn't care for Donatello's voice, but I liked how it had a shadow of Mutanimals in it, as well as the roles Bebop and Rocksteady took. Overall it was a dumb, fun flick. I've seen worse iterations of this franchise.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by KROW

Okay, I finally got around to watching this and it wasn't that bad. The Splinter/Scumbug thing was unsettling for me and I really didn't care for Donatello's voice, but I liked how it had a shadow of Mutanimals in it, as well as the roles Bebop and Rocksteady took. Overall it was a dumb, fun flick. I've seen worse iterations of this franchise.

Sure it's not horrible or anything but the fact that the Turtles themselves are little more than vehicles for pop culture references, and that the film has a ton of characters who don't really do anything, are serious problems.

I also find it quite disheartening that the movie ends with the turtles just being straight up accepted into human society, that TCRI are straight up evil with no room for a misunderstanding, that Splinter quite literally just is a random rat and that most characters in this movie are just the lame Playmates creations that just existed to sell toys. It's so annoying to keep seeing Paramount just ape the "old successes" in a superficial way, while also disregarding what even shallow iterations like Fred Wolf got right.

TCRI should not be straight up evil, the Turtles should not be unambiguously accepted by the world at large, Splinter should have connections to something bigger and characters like Bebop and Rocksteady belong in the past.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Again, don't care if they steal or not, but you just know TPTB are super proud of this. Like, "We did it! We found a truly original take on the TMNT! Nobody has ever shown how they get their stuff and WE did!" So that piece is annoying. Plus these writers are all big lefties who are counting the days until the socialist utopia. Which is to say, you just know the general idea is "screw those rich shop keepers, their wealth should be redistributed anyway to people like the poor, down-trodden TMNT!" and not just a kind of matter-of-fact "I guess they steal?"

For me, it's a combination of picking up junk people throw away in dumpsters or leave in alleys or ends up floating down the sewer. For food, honestly a mix of bugs and rats and whatever they could find. Until the April and Casey days, of course. No stealing whatsoever required.

Ah yes, the big wigs of a multinational media corporation in America are trying to teach children to steal from business owners contributing taxes in a capitalist society. They did it! They showed us real folk!

Have you ever met a teenager, or been one yourself? Kids do stuff without thinking all the time. I've stolen **** from stores when I was a kid, and I'm sure most kids have at some point - but this was definitely not a representation of real life and some sort of subliminal message from rich people to sow crime amongst civilians.

[TonySiegel]

Originally Posted by Jeff

Ah yes, the big wigs of a multinational media corporation in America are trying to teach children to steal from business owners contributing taxes in a capitalist society. They did it! They showed us real folk!

Have you ever met a teenager, or been one yourself? Kids do stuff without thinking all the time. I've stolen **** from stores when I was a kid, and I'm sure most kids have at some point - but this was definitely not a representation of real life and some sort of subliminal message from rich people to sow crime amongst civilians.

Heard this same argument from the curmudgeon folks at the comic book shop when the first Spiderverse movie dropped. I think people just can't stand change and don't realize that the real agenda is making $$$.

Comics, Hollywood and entertainment companies are casting a wider net to appeal to all audiences...

A Spiderman from the multiverse doing graffiti spoke to my soul... Old heads that hate change are out of touch for real...

[Cowabung-Gal]

Originally Posted by TonySiegel

Comics, Hollywood and entertainment companies are casting a wider net to appeal to all audiences...

Especially the ones who don’t provide any financial support, aka the activists who spend all day whining about the evils of America, capitalism, Christianity, nuclear families, blah, blah, blah.

Why do you think the movie “The Birdcage”, which was released in 1996, did so well at the box office, yet “Bros”, which was released in 2022, was a complete disaster? I mean, “Bros” had way more LGBT content than “The Birdcage”, and the 2020’s are much more progressive than the 90s were. So what went wrong?

[KROW]

I wasn't shocked about the stealing. Ninjas were paid assassins, mercenaries, and thieves, so it... kind of makes sense. Kinda-almost-maybe.

[TheLabRat]

Originally Posted by KROW

I wasn't shocked about the stealing. Ninjas were paid assassins, mercenaries, and thieves, so it... kind of makes sense. Kinda-almost-maybe.

Yes. That's what they're supposed to be. But the problem is that most people always see them as morden caped heroes. Even if they're hero, they're more like ancient greek heroes or pulp heroes like Conan the Barbarian. More morally gray and selfish, but still has some noble heart.

[IndigoErth]

Still, the place they chose to do it is in a kid's movie, in the kid side of the franchise where they're firmly planted in the "hero" genre.

If it was a movie specifically for older audiences and took a bit of an antihero angle, maybe with a little included remorse about having no other choice, then whatever I guess... but "Hey kids, look how cool your fave heroes look stealing from the corner mom & pop shop(s)!" still doesn't sit well with me.

This is the same franchise that once had nunchucks banned out of the fear of imitation...


edit: Came back to mind that someone's brat ironically once stole stickers out of the remaining 2012 TMNT b-day cards I used to have in one of my stores some years ago, which of course is no better than stealing the whole card because now it would never sell and it's still a loss to the company. Yes, you're a fan of hero characters... therefore theft.

And considering how often I do find stickers or other add-ons (wristbands, key chains, hair clips, etc) stolen out of them because people refused to keep an eye on their kids (and now I try to place them high out of reach of younger kids if there is no designated spot for them) , maybe the anti-drug and pro-environment messages of the TMNT back in the day need to turn into anti-theft messages. (I know kids were doing some of that back in the day too, but it does seem more prevalent now with fewer parents paying attention to or feeling accountable for things their kids do in public.)

[Cowabung-Gal]

First official look at Mutant Mayhem Shredder:

Spoiler:

April Fools

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Cowabung-Gal

First official look at Mutant Mayhem Shredder:

Spoiler:

https://media1.tenor.com/m/rZo_iGGhd...dder-where.gif

April Fools

Spoiler:

But we already saw him.

[IndigoErth]

Yeah, remember this vague image?

[KROW]

Artist rendering of the new film's Foot Soldier.

Spoiler:

[LeotheLateBloomer]

So my friend who didn't like the movie asked me this...what was the point in getting Jackie Chan to voice Splinter if he has no Asian origins?

[IndigoErth]

Good question... What's the point of it then other than just packing the cast with recognizable names. Well, and maybe avoiding getting ire for white washing a character, but if he was always a rat and never even a pet...?



Also, reading that made OotS Leo's clueless, questioning expression (when the police chief asks "last name?") flash through my mind. I, too,stopped and mentally went "Uhhh..." lol

[BornAgain]

Originally Posted by KROW

Artist rendering of the new film's Foot Soldier.

Spoiler:

https://i.imgur.com/s4kU7MG.png

lol, what happened to that guy who had a meltdown when we wouldn’t buy his theory that this was re-using Rise assets. He’ll probably have a an explanation for this.

[TheLabRat]

Even Batman can do movies without Joker and find success. Spiderman can do movies without Venom or Green Goblin and still find success. This is a serious problem for TMNT. If TMNT can't make a movie about a Non-Shredder or Non-Krang villain successful then TMNT is going to die theatrically. Even Kung Fu Panda which is a bunch of animal martial artists like the Ninja Turtles can do differing villains. Are they all winners? No but the solid ones are entertaining enough.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by TheLabRat

Even Batman can do movies without Joker and find success. Spiderman can do movies without Venom or Green Goblin and still find success. This is a serious problem for TMNT. If TMNT can't make a movie about a Non-Shredder or Non-Krang villain successful then TMNT is going to die theatrically. Even Kung Fu Panda which is a bunch of animal martial artists like the Ninja Turtles can do differing villains. Are they all winners? No but the solid ones are entertaining enough.

I've been saying that for decades now. If TMNT can't evolve past the need for Shredder (and in most cases, Bebop and Rocksteady and Krang and Technodrome) then it doesn't deserve to. I'd say the same thing for the sordid state of Star Trek -- it already did, but since the Kurtzman era I would say that if Star Trek can't evolve past Kirk'n Spock, Khan, original Enterprise connections or prequels involving such or in-betweens, then it doesn't deserve to whatsoever. And doing so is the antithesis of Star Trek because now we're just perennially trekking in a backwards circle jerk.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Originally Posted by TheLabRat

Even Batman can do movies without Joker and find success. Spiderman can do movies without Venom or Green Goblin and still find success. This is a serious problem for TMNT. If TMNT can't make a movie about a Non-Shredder or Non-Krang villain successful then TMNT is going to die theatrically. Even Kung Fu Panda which is a bunch of animal martial artists like the Ninja Turtles can do differing villains. Are they all winners? No but the solid ones are entertaining enough.

Aside the fact Oroku Saki is needed for the origin, I definitely agree with this. They could do the purple dragons, Triceratons, etc. I just think Viacom/Paramount play it too safe and it's lazy.

[neatoman]

Speaking of Shredder and an origin, who is he in this continuity exactly? He's not the guy who wronged Splinter, there was no Hamato Yoshi to kill here, Splinter was just some literal street rat. He's not a major player in the New York underground, he'd be given more of a reason to show up in the first one if that was the case. He might be an Utrom given his apparent connections to TCRI at the end but I doubt they'll go there.

Are we really to just assume he's nothing more than a mercenary here?

[Powder]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Speaking of Shredder and an origin, who is he in this continuity exactly? He's not the guy who wronged Splinter, there was no Hamato Yoshi to kill here, Splinter was just some literal street rat. He's not a major player in the New York underground, he'd be given more of a reason to show up in the first one if that was the case. He might be an Utrom given his apparent connections to TCRI at the end but I doubt they'll go there.

Are we really to just assume he's nothing more than a mercenary here?

I'm expecting there to be some sort of a soft retcon for the heroes' origins that finds a way to tie him in as a more significant figure that played a part from behind the scenes all along.