This
coming summer has many blockbuster titles arriving on the silver
screen. One such blockbuster sees the return of everyone's favorite
pizza-loving, butt-kicking adolescent amphibians. That's right, the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are coming to theaters this summer in a
Michael Bay directed reboot to the film franchise.
It
has been a little over twenty years since audiences have seen
Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael in a live-action
adaption. Thanks to changes in film technology there won't be any
cheesy rubber suits, this time the turtles will be receiving the CGI
treatment. Real actors in motion capture suits will portray the
turtles actions, but other actors will be voicing the turtles. So
far, only Jackass star
Johnny Knoxville has been confirmed as a voice actor, lending his
voice to the turtle's leader Leonardo. Monk
star Tony Shalhoub has been cast as the voice of the turtle's rat
mentor Splinter.
Megan
Fox has been cast the female lead April O'Neil. This is the first
time since Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen
that Fox and Bay have worked together after a public falling out.
William Fichtner from Bay's Armageddon
has been cast as the turtles arch-nemesis the Shredder.
The
first teaser trailer for the film dropped on March 27. I caught up
with two of my friends to get their reactions to the trailer.
My
friend Tyson has some skepticism for the film, but a small glimmer of
eager anticipation hides underneath the skeptical exterior. “I
don't really like how they look. It almost makes me miss the old
suits” said Tyson. He likened Michelangelo's appearance to Shrek
when Michelangelo took off his mask at the end of the trailer. Tyson
went on to say, “I'll probably catch it when it comes on TV or
maybe even bootleg it, but I won't pay to go see it.”
My
other friend Matt did not hold back at expressing his displeasure
with the film. “This looks stupid. I swear, summer movies don't
break the format enough and this is no exception”, said Matt. He
was not impressed with the trailer and went on to express his feeling
that the new movie is going to be just like every other summer
blockbuster. Matt said the only way to get him to go see it involved
someone else buying his ticket and the promise of whiskey in his near
future. Matt also said, “At least Michael Bay knows how to cast a
babe, and you don't get any better than Megan Fox”.
With
this mixed to negative reaction to the trailer, audiences will have
to wait until August 8th
to see if the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film will be a true summer
blockbuster, or just another failed reboot.
