TMNT Film Reboot...The War Continues

Hello again, my friends.

Well, according to a recent article on cinemablend.com it would seem that Michael Bay is still bound and determined to do things HIS way without any regard for just how badly he'll be frakking up the lore that we all love, or without any regard for just how this will anger all the loyal fans who loved the four wise-cracking, pizza-eating heroes even during the times in which the franchise went through a series of slumps (as all franchises do from time to time...it's inevitable). All of that aside though, I feel the need to say that it is Kevin Eastman and not Peter Laird who is collaborating with Bay and thereby being supportive of the changes being made. Again...it's Eastman and not Laird.

How do I know that? Because I follow Kevin Eastman on Facebook, and he confirmed both his support of the project and his collaborating with Bay.

Now then, let us move onto the main topic at hand, shall we?

Now, before you dismiss this post as simply another anti-Michael Bay rant, don't write me off just yet. Don't get me wrong, I still have a great deal of hatred for this project and what it is doing to my favorite heroes, and I will get to it in a little bit, but before I get to that, I would like to address the topic that seems to be the focal point of the article's rant--the fact that the name of the film is Ninja Turtles, and that the turtles will undoubtedly be made more 'mature' than their cartoon selves.

Far be it from me to defend Bay in any way shape or form, but I do feel the need to point out that the turtles from the cartoons are not the turtles from the original comic books upon which the cartoon was based. In the original comic books, things were dark and gritty. There was violence, bloodshed and death. To a degree, this carried on into the original film. In the 1980's cartoon, things were changed and censored in order to appeal to younger eyes. The turtles were goofier, Shredder was reduced to that of a bumbling idiot instead of a highly trained ninja master, and the Foot were turned into robots so they didn't actually 'die' when destroyed. Then, there was the fact that April was the quintessential damsel in distress--needing to be rescued in every episode. Simply put, the cartoon that we grew up watching is a Disney-fied version of how the turtles' world actually was during its original creation--a fact often alluded to during the course of the film Turtles Forever. If Bay is intending to direct the turtles down a more 'mature' road, then fans should be happy that he is taking the turtles back to their original roots. Of course, the fact that Bay is turning the turtles into aliens instead of mutants makes that point rather moot.

Now then, onto the subject of the name change.

While I can more than understand the anger behind this particular instance because it seems all the more prevalent that Bay is continuing to shove into our faces that he is going to continue doing what HE wants to do and thereby doesn't give a rat's arse as to what the fans think, I am still ale to take a step back on this particular issue and see it as something else. When taken out of the very painful context in which we loyal and loving fans have found ourselves since news of the impending debacle made itself known, the shortening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to simply Ninja Turtles isn't all that bad of a thing. It's simply a way of shortening the title to save some time. Think about it...how many times have fans of How I Met Your Mother shortened it to HIMYM when both writing as well as speaking about it? The same can be said for Battlestar Galactica being shortened to BSG or Biker Mice from Mars being shortened to BMFM or simply to Biker Mice n both written and spoken conversation. Getting back to the subject of the turtles, how many times have we fans simply called them Ninja Turtles in passing conversation?

However, as I said earlier...because of the context in which the title has been changed, we fans have been thoroughly rubbed the wrong way, offense is indeed being taken by this change and further adding to the raising of our hackles. Not only has Bay removed 'mutant' from the title, but he's now gone and removed 'teenage' as well--further perpetrating the fact that he doesn't care how many fans he pisses off in the process, he's going to do whatever the frak he wants to do and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Although, I supposed we fans should be happy that Bay didn't go with the title of Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles which would then make the abbreviation TANT....which just looks all kinds of wrong.

Now then, onto the rant portion.

Michael Bay can't seem to understand why fans everywhere are raging against the changes he's making to the much beloved lore. He's been quoted as saying...

“Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of [Teenage Mutant] Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world.”

Really, Michael? You're including everything that made us become fans in the first place while building a richer world?

REALLY?!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't changing a key portion of the turtles' origin story qualify as NOT including everything that made us fans?! Clearly, Michael Bay is in dire need of a dictionary.

More to come later...

Nerd up!