​FILMS

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Action/Adventure/Comedy): 57 out of 100: At times, this reboot of the 1990 movie of the same name seemed like a close relation to the Transformers series. Slow motion sequences, mildly boring exposition, CGI galore, ugly looking characters, some decent action scenes and generic music score. When you see that Michael Bay, the director of the Transformers movies is one of the producers, you know that he has his fingerprints all over the film.

Set in New York, the latest Ninja Turtles movie makes full use of its scenic locations with several shots of touristy places. However, you just wish that the characters were more interesting as there's no point filming in a wonderful area when there's little depth to the characterisations. The turtles' personalities all seemed the same with only Donatello acting and behaving a little differently to the others.

I was surprised to see children under the age of 5 at my screening. It's definitely not for younger children as there are several scenes where characters jump out of nowhere and although there's no blood, the violent scenes might make them scared. They would find the plot boring, anyway. The plot isn't particularly interesting for adults as well due to extended periods of dialogue which lack spark.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" has made enough money at the box office to warrant a sequel but here's hoping that it is a more exciting film than this one.

Starring Megan Fox and Will Arnett
(101 minutes)
Parental advice: Violence
Additional scene during or after credits: Two ninja turtles hide in a Victoria's Secret billboard during the credits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwXFsrp6WBs (Movie trailer)

(Reviewed on Saturday 6th September, 2014)