Sneak Peak: TMNT
By
Sean Lynch
Click
here to view the TMNT Teaser Trailer
Here's
one to keep an eye out for: After years in the Pop Culture wilderness
(their last major mainstream venture involved a young fella by the name
of Vanilla Ice - or Robert Van Winkle to those who know him personally)
those creatures from the sewers, borne of toxic-ooze
and with names of historical artists, are
back.
That's right - the heroes in a half
shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
This
latest film version of the popular 1980's comic books (created by Peter
Laird and Kevin Eastman), and the more widely known cultural phenomenon
that was the cartoon series of the 1990s (remember Krang?)
that spawned three feature films,
is a welcome return for a franchise which has struggled to re-invent
itself from what became a very dated '90s franchise.
But somehow it's back, and the buzz is
building as the new movie is set to hit
screens in March of 2007, thanks largely to the Weinstein's putting up
the cash, as this project has been shelved numerous times
since the late
1990's due to lack of investor interest. And the latest incarnation of
Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Raphael is to be the first in a
line of
CG animated films to be released in the next few years.
After many seasons of
going through the development "Green light, Red Light, Green light, Red
light" tumbler, the Turtles are finally ninja-kicking their way back
onto the silver screen.
But what direction is director Kevin Munroe
heading? Will this be the long awaited adaption of the
brilliantly gritty and ultra-violent '80s graphic novel/comic
or a Shrek-ing
of the '90s "cowabunga" phenomenon? Judging by the latest teaser
trailer which has just hit the information super highway, it
seems
fans may be treated to the best of both worlds. Comprising of both a
dark stylised "Sin City-sque"
animation and the traditional
humour which we came to expect from the Pizza loving reptiles during
their reign on the small screen, it could be quite the surprise
package, setting off a new frenzy of toy and videogame
merchandising. In relation to the Sin
City influence, let's not forget the
original comics were actually a parody of the Frank Miller "gritty"
comic book genre which began to emerge in the '80s.
Following on with the already
established characters (it was touted for several years that if this
film got the green light it would be an "origin" story much
like Batman Begins)
the latest film begins after the defeat of their arch nemesis,
The
Shredder, and having overcoming their evil enemy, the Turtles, it
seems, have a lot less to do and as a result have grown apart as a
family.
Struggling to keep them together, their
rat-mutant sensei, Master Splinter,
becomes worried when strange things begin to occur in New York City.
Tech-industrialist Max Winters is amassing an army of ancient monsters
to apparently take over the world, and only one super-ninja
fighting
team can stop them -- Leonardo, Michelangelo,
Donatello and Raphael. With the help of old allies April O'Neil and
Casey Jones, the Turtles are in for the fight of their lives as they
once again must face the mysterious Foot Clan, who have put their own
ninja skills behind Winters' endeavors.
Having seen sneak peeks
of the latest flick, there has been a bit of disagreement amongst the
Web Wombat Entertainment Channel staff in regards to the
choice of animation style. Director
Kevin Munroe's only previous credits are that of videogames - which is
exactly what the new CG Turtles look like; either that or they are
derived from the rubberery CG skin of The Hulk.
Personally, I have
have a soft spot for the old-school realism of the animatronic suits
from the previous films (give me the in-camera effects of Hook
over the blue screen Peter Pan
any day!) but I would imagine the freedom of CG will allow for greater
ability to keep a consistent visual style and create some outrageous
action sequences, hopefully involving the Party Wagon (aka Turtle Van).
Needless to say, as long as
the film has a darker, more violent edge to it than the
cartoons, all
will be pleased.
And the beauty of having a 20 year old, $4
billion
dollar franchise behind a film is that the marketing possibilities are
endless. The early artwork suggests that the iconic imagery of
the TMNT weapons will be a major focus, but the big
question will be this: Is there still an audience out there
for it?
The original TMNT
live action flick was a massive success, and took in over $135 million
at the box office (compared
to it's measly $13 million budget) in 1990, however, by it's third
outing in 1993 the flame was clearly waning, taking just $42 million
(with
a production budget of just over $20 million). Since then, there have
been several attempted revivals - including the 1997 live action
series TMNT: The Next Mutation which
introduced a female
turtle named Venus which lasted just one season, and an updated cartoon
which has been running since 2003 - none of which have sparked the
same sort of hype as the originals.
Nonetheless, the hype
surrounding this film grows with each day, and if executed correctly
we could see the long awaited re-emergence of Turtle Power!
TMNT
shell-spins it's way into cinemas March 30th, 2007.
Visit the TMNT
Official Site
Check out the TMNT Teaser Trailer
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The
CGI quality is set to
be a hit with comic book fans
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This
latest teaser looks to re-invent
the now daggy '90s Turtles memories
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Michaelangelo
looks to be the comic relief
yet again in the latest TMNT movie adaption
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