How did Splinter survive?

[Galactus]

So this has been bugging me for a while and I thought I'd open the question to the floor. How did Splinter survive in the end of the movie?

As I'm sure you all remember by the time the turtles, April and Vern arrive at Sacks' tower conveniently through a tunnel that leads straight from the mountains to the base of the tower and Leonardo tells April to get the mutagen to Splinter as it will save his life. I've said on here before how it seemed like this came completely out of nowhere. The movie makes a big deal about the mutagen being developed as a cure for a very specific disease not as cure for injuries and there's a whole bunch of other issues involved to buy the mutagen working this way but let's put those aside for now.

I guess the real question should be; how did the turtles get the mutagen to heal Splinter?

As far as I could see there was one canister of mutagen and that was wrestled from April by Shredder and it was attached somehow to his waist and he still has it when he falls off the spire to the ground. After he lands we see what looks like the mutagen on Shredder's hand in an unsubtle hint that he'll survive and be okay for the sequel but the canister is next to him and looks completely shattered and empty.

So how did the turtles procure the mutagen to save their master? Even if they waded through the crowd without being seen there was no mutagen left. So how did he survive?

[IndigoErth]

If the movie wanted to add any smarts, they could have suggested the Turtles, once armed with more knowledge, went home and gave him a blood transfusion from themselves. (While still keeping with their plot hole nature by disregarding whether or not turtle blood is compatible. Plus still having his own mutagen. And the Turtles already suffering great blood loss that day - ok, transfusion from Raph.)

I love how April completely did not take it to Splinter.

Yeah, that's just one of those things they seem to just disregard. Didn't even show it in their possession at home.

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

it really is a shame how much is needed to ignore in this movie for it to ''work"

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by The Boston Ninja Turtle

it really is a shame how much is needed to ignore in those movie for it to work

Literally all of it?

The "good" literally starts and stops with "The Turtles are in it, kinda."

[Bry]

To answer the question in five words?

It's a really stupid movie.

[pennydreadful]

They gave him a shot of adrenaline and then he was fine.

[Warboss74]

The movie likes to make it a big point that the cannister that April had on the roof is the last cannister of mutagen despite seeing a shot of two canisters filling up in the lab. I have no idea how they would have gotten back up to the lab after falling to the street in time to get it unless one wants to assume Vern had it. There shouldn't be that much open to have to try and piece back together.

[TrickOrTreater]

Really bad script convenience.

[Ville Leskinen]

Suspension of disbelief?


Times 1000...

[Shark_Blade]

The fact they all returned safely gave Splinter strength to recover. That's why many people visit the sick.

[newhire13]

Originally Posted by Warboss74

The movie likes to make it a big point that the cannister that April had on the roof is the last cannister of mutagen despite seeing a shot of two canisters filling up in the lab. I have no idea how they would have gotten back up to the lab after falling to the street in time to get it unless one wants to assume Vern had it. There shouldn't be that much open to have to try and piece back together.

Well I'm pretty sure she just told him that it was the last cannister to get his attention. And it's a safe bet that Vernon got it since he knows what it is.

[Galactus]

Some people may think I'm just trying to "hate" on the movie by starting this thread but it actually was a genuine question.

This isn't a nitpick or a subjective opinion it's a real and pretty big oversight and the biggest sign of how badly the movie was written and/or put together that I genuinely wondered how no one spotted it or they allowed to go out thinking no one would spot it. I had to ask if I was missing something.

If the movie wanted to add any smarts, they could have suggested the Turtles, once armed with more knowledge, went home and gave him a blood transfusion from themselves. (While still keeping with their plot hole nature by disregarding whether or not turtle blood is compatible. Plus still having his own mutagen. And the Turtles already suffering great blood loss that day - ok, transfusion from Raph.)

The first time I watched the movie I was convinced I'd missed something and Splinter had healed by some other means if not naturally however Donatello does say something along the lines of "the mutagen has entered his system" despite there being no IV or syringe or anything to suggest the turtles had done anything to suggest they'd given him mutagen let alone any medical assistance.

The movie likes to make it a big point that the cannister that April had on the roof is the last cannister of mutagen despite seeing a shot of two canisters filling up in the lab. I have no idea how they would have gotten back up to the lab after falling to the street in time to get it unless one wants to assume Vern had it. There shouldn't be that much open to have to try and piece back together.

Ah now see I've never noticed that two filled up and yes it does make a point to show that April has the last mutagen canister. I suppose you could say (as someone else suggested) she was lying and that Vernon has the other but I think if that was their intention they would have shown it or at least put in a line to explain that.

I've always felt this "save the city" plot was stupid and completely unnecessary. The should have wanted the mutagen for a simpler reason than this cure for a disease (cliched as it is creating super soldiers would've a better motivation) and simply having the turtles fight Shredder for the sole reason of getting the mutagen back to save Splinter's life would have been much better.

[IndigoErth]

Would at least make a lot more sense if they did grab a second canister and we were able to see a quick shot of it being handed off to the Turtles. It's like they cut out half the writing.

I think what bugs me the most though, beyond it somehow being a magic cure all, is that in the lab... it appeared to still be a work in progress. They still seemed to be preforming trials and tests. So now you find out that there are four living mutated Turtles and suddenly decide the mutagen as a cure for disease is perfected? Wut?

I dunno, call me crazy but that mutation business seems like a major side effect that should be of some concern.

[Xav]

A wizard did it.

[pennydreadful]

Splinter is a wizard. His soul was hidden in several Horcruxes and he can never be truly killed until each of the Horcruxes has been destroyed.

[Bry]

Originally Posted by Galactus

The first time I watched the movie I was convinced I'd missed something and Splinter had healed by some other means if not naturally however Donatello does say something along the lines of "the mutagen has entered his system" despite there being no IV or syringe or anything to suggest the turtles had done anything to suggest they'd given him mutagen let alone any medical assistance.

Considering how cobbled together this movie was from whatever they intended to make when they filmed it and what they hastily changed with reshoots and editing, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if there was some other explanation for that scene that got cut out entirely. "Ehh, just dub over a line about mutagen and that'll be good enough" is exactly how much care went into the story on this one.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Bry

"Ehh, just dub over a line about mutagen and that'll be good enough" is exactly how much care went into the story on this one.

You know how movies always film under fake titles so onlookers don't flood the set? I think this movie's fake shooting title was, "We'll Fix It In Post".

[newhire13]

Originally Posted by Galactus

Some people may think I'm just trying to "hate" on the movie by starting this thread but it actually was a genuine question.

This isn't a nitpick or a subjective opinion it's a real and pretty big oversight and the biggest sign of how badly the movie was written and/or put together that I genuinely wondered how no one spotted it or they allowed to go out thinking no one would spot it. I had to ask if I was missing something.



The first time I watched the movie I was convinced I'd missed something and Splinter had healed by some other means if not naturally however Donatello does say something along the lines of "the mutagen has entered his system" despite there being no IV or syringe or anything to suggest the turtles had done anything to suggest they'd given him mutagen let alone any medical assistance.



Ah now see I've never noticed that two filled up and yes it does make a point to show that April has the last mutagen canister. I suppose you could say (as someone else suggested) she was lying and that Vernon has the other but I think if that was their intention they would have shown it or at least put in a line to explain that.

I've always felt this "save the city" plot was stupid and completely unnecessary. The should have wanted the mutagen for a simpler reason than this cure for a disease (cliched as it is creating super soldiers would've a better motivation) and simply having the turtles fight Shredder for the sole reason of getting the mutagen back to save Splinter's life would have been much better.

Idk I think that's pretty obvious why. If she tells him there's two then there goes her upper hand. He shrugs, continues his assault and they all die. She tells him there's 1 left and then threatens to drop it off a roof, that'll definitely draw his attention.

What sucks is that with everything that's come out about the making of this it seems like they went back and overcomplicated the mutagen aspect during reshoots. If I'm not mistaken the mutagen was mutagen, plain and simple, and the turtles were experiments in making super soldiers. That even explains why they were randomly using turtles to begin with (test it on Splinter, the lab rat , and then use it on your main subjects). They'd probablybe better off if they had just stuck to their original plan.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by Leo656

You know how movies always film under fake titles so onlookers don't flood the set? I think this movie's fake shooting title was, "We'll Fix It In Post".

Or... "Not what it Looks Like," i.e. nah... this isn't really a Turtles movie, and we'll prove it to you later.

[chrisdude]

April's dad destroyed the lab when he figured out Sack's plan. Apparently, at that time, and Sack's already knew how to extract and process the "cure" from the test subjects' blood. The "mutagen" is what they put into the test subjects (The TCRI canister young April thinks is from outer space). Sacks extracted that from the turtles' blood and took the the Sacks building to process the "antidote." That's what the turtles took home to Splinter. How'd they get it? Who knows?

And you've gotta take into account that the Shredder on the rooftop and Eric Sacks in the lab were probably still the same person when they shot those scenes. In the finished film, Sacks takes a briefcase of the green ooze, extracted from the turtles' blood, from the lab at his mansion to the lab in New York. When he gets to the machine in New York, it flows into the machine red, like blood. And what comes out? Green ooze that looks exactly like what he started with up in the mountains. Because of this, I believe that at least most of that sequence in the lab with Sacks, April and Vernon was originally intended to take place in Sack's mansion, during the breakout, and Vernon being shot is from reshoots.

Considering the Shredder/Sacks situation, I'd bet that the ending is the densest pile of reshoots and patchwork in the film...