Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990/2014-2016)

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PG)

D: Steve Barron

Virgin/Golden Harvest/Limelight (Kim Dawson, Simon Fields & David Chan)

US 1990

93 mins

Adventure/Fantasy

W: Todd W. Langen & Bobby Herbeck [based on characters created by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird]

DP: John Fenner

Ed: William Gordean, Sally Menke & James Symons

Mus: John du Prez

Judith Hoag (April O'Neil), Elias Koteas (Casey Jones), Brian Tochi (voice of Leonardo), Corey Feldman (voice of Donatello), Robbie Rist (voice of Michelangelo), Josh Pais (voice of Raphael)

At the tail end of the 1980's and beginning of the 1990's, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had become a phenomenon thanks to a range of toys and animated TV show. The live action cinematic outing tapped into the fanbase well, but the production values of the film felt more like an MTV promo or a B-movie rather than a summer blockbuster, with cheap looking visual effects looking especially suspect.

Reporter April O'Neill discovers the underground pizza-loving creatures, who are preparing for battle against a Japanese ninja who seeks to destroy them.

It's a film for the fans and nobody else, but even so, it became the highest grossing independent film at the time of it's release and amongst the year's most successful films, resulting in the sales of much more merchandise and even propelling its theme song ("Turtle Power") to the summit of the UK music charts. Still, this doesn't mean it was very good, but good enough for two more sequels to materialise (as well as a bigger budget remake a couple of decades later).

5/10

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (12)

D: Jonathan Liebesman

Paramount/Nickelodeon (Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Bradley Fuller, Galen Walker, Scott Mednick & Ian Bryce)

US 2014

101 mins

Action/Adventure

W: Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec & Evan Daugherty [based on characters created by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird]

DP: Lula Carvalho

Ed: Joel Negron & Glen Scantlebury

Mus: Brian Tyler

Pete Ploszek/Johnny Knoxville (Leonardo), Jeremy Howard (Donatello), Alan Ritchson (Raphael), Noel Fisher (Michelangelo), Megan Fox (April O'Neil), Will Arnett (Vern Fenwick), William Fichtner (Eric Sacks), Whoopi Goldberg (Bernadette Thompson)

Serving in the capacity of producer, Michael Bay short-changes another fanbase to give Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the same treatment that he imbibed upon the Transformers movies.

Incompetent reporter April O'Neill (a hugely miscast Megan Fox) discovers that the turtles she had as pets when she was a young girl are alive and well and living in the sewers, where they have mutated into pizza-eating ninjas. When the City is threatened by a criminal kingpin, the creatures come out of hiding to defeat him.

One-dimensional and formulaic with its story, the characters and their dialogue, the entertainment only comes with mindless action scene after mindless action scene. It's difficult to pinpoint who the film appealed to, with the majority of the franchise's fanbase shunning the film when they heard of Michael Bay's involvement, yet it still made a small fortune during its cinematic release. Critic-proof, it may very well be, but that doesn't stop it being a few steps ahead of awful.

4/10

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS(12)

D: Dave Green

Paramount/Nickelodeon/Platinum Dunes (Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, Scott Mednick & Galen Walker)

US 2016

112 mins

Action/Adventure

W: Josh Appelbaum & Andre Nemec [based on characters created by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird]

DP: Lula Carvalho

Ed: Jim May & Bob Ducsay

Mus: Steve Jablonsky

Pete Ploszek (Leonardo), Jeremy Howard (Donatello), Alan Ritchson (Raphael), Noel Fisher (Michelangelo), Megan Fox (April O'Neill), Stephen Arnell (Casey Jones), Will Arnett (Vern Fenwick), Brian Tee (Oroku Saki / The Shredder), Tyler Perry (Dr. Baxter Stockman), Laura Linney (Police Chief Rebecca Vincent)

My expectations were this were pretty low considering how little I enjoyed the previous movie, but even so, this is a poor sequel.

Tacky acting, slipshod dialogue and hokey visual effects and the Michael Bay formula of brainless action scene after brainless action scene wrap themselves around a lazy story, which does introduce the more familiar villains of Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady into the fold, but not in a way which will appease fans of the original cartoon series.

It is what it is, and will most likely be enjoyed by youngsters, but is best avoided by everyone else.

4/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows