If you ask me, Hollywood is feeling awfully nostalgic these days. Last week, it was announced that the Garbage Pail Kids, the filthy little toddlers that single-handedly rendered the Cabbage Patch Kids obsolete in the post-modern world, and this week is has been announced that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are getting a face-lift.
Set for a Christmas Day 2013 release, Michael Bay will take a shot at the turtle franchise but down a completely novel avenue. According to a report, Bay hinted that the filmmakers would be removing the “mutant” aspect of the turtles’ back-story in place of an “alien race” one. Wait, but doesn’t that negate the whole title of the comic book series?
Well, hold on. Bay neither confirmed nor denied that it would indeed be the basis of the new film, but he did elaborate on the fact that kids would believe “that these turtles actually exist.”
Bay stated: “When you see this movie, kids are going to believe, one day, that these turtles actually do exist when we are done with this movie. These turtles are from an alien race, and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny, and completely lovable.”
Someone should inform Bay that kids aren’t as naive as he’d like them to be, especially in 2012. As much as I’d love to think that Ratatouille is a real rat that has the ability to cook me up some divine French cuisine, I’m not buying it and neither is your 10-year-old cousin. That aside, this is great news even if Bay has his over-indulgent little hands in the project. The last two animated Turtles films did well both financially and critically; and with a fresh take, albeit a strange one, it’s clear that there’s still life to be breathed into this amphibian franchise
h, Michael Bay. Already the bane of most fanboys for his explosively ridiculous (literally) Transformers film series, the blockbuster producer has now teased some upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tweaks that will likely merit even more scorn from sci-fi fans. Namely, they won't actually be mutants anymore. Huh?
Bay is directing the new live-action Ninja Turtles film (not to be confused with the weirdly cute new TV series) and spilled a bit about the project at a recent Nickelodeon event. It's safe to say that at least one choice comment about his take on the revered tale of mutated sewer turtles with an odd affection for pizza will likely not sit well with fans.
"When you see this movie, kids will believe one day that these turtles do exist, when we're done with this movie," he said. "These turtles are from an alien race, and they're going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely lovable."
As any Turtle traditionalist knows, the namesake ninjas started out as common turtles that were exposed to radioactive goo and suddenly grew up man-sized. Making them aliens? Seems like a weird and unnecessary move.
That "tough, edgy, funny" bit is also worrying. Anyone else remember the "hip," jive-talking Autobots Skids and Mudflap? Let's not Jar-Jar-up the Ninja Turtles, Mr. Bay. Please.
Sound off: What do you think? Is Bay just putting a spin on an old franchise, or is this just a train wreck waiting to happen?
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