Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Jonathan Liebesman (Battle Los Angeles, Wrath of the Titans)
	Actors: Megan Fox (Transformers 1-2, Jennifer's Body, Will Arnett (The Lego Movie), William Fichtner (Contact, Elysium)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 16.10.2014, Mathäser Kino, 3D
Synopsis: When the Foot Clan and his leader Shredder increase they control over New York, four mutant vigilantes try to restore order, while journalist April O'Neil (Fox) is looking for a scoop.
Review: I really thought the movie was directed by Michael Bay, but so shortly after Transformers 4? He is actually only producer, but this TMNT heavily bears his mark and the style is very close to the one of the franchise with robots: basic story, advanced technology, cool good guys fighting for justice, evil bad guys, teenager humour, bloodless violence. And the worst of it all for me: fights shot in close-up (I already complained a lot about it in the Transformers movies, especially the third), so that they are rather confused and you cannot appreciate at all the effort put in the special effects and the choreography of those scenes. But it there even a choreography? To remind myself of what that is, I actually watched Kickboxer with Van Damme right after TMNT. The movie is a succession of action scenes like you would expect, but at least it doesn't drag the story to 2h30 like Transformers 4 did. On a positive note, it is nice to meet those characters of my childhood on a big screen, the heroes' Teenage aspect is quite well rendered, and I was in love with April O'Neil as a kid (that well-filled yellow overall...). Megan Fox is not quite up to the task, even if she is shot most of the time from waist height. I like the design of the turtles and of Schredder's armor, and learned something about photographing a face with a long rat's nose (you can't get everything in focus). The story has been modified to get O'Neil closer to the Turtles, but this is not a bad idea I found. In conclusion, an easy brainwash entertainment with plenty of explosions and Ninja Action.
Rating: 4 /10