The Problem With TMNT

By now, a lot of people are probably familiar with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Originating in 1984, the franchise tells the story of four humanoid turtles who fight crime thanks to their human characteristics and martial arts knowledge. Since then, many iterations and cartoons have been produced revolving around the 'heroes-in-a-half-shell', and so it seemed almost inevitable that Hollywood would at some point decide to bring them back into public attention. I don't think however, that anybody could have predicted this. 

The latest rendition of this popular brand is set to be produced by Michael Bay, the same Michael Bay responsible for the average-at-best Transformers movies. He is in no way the worst director around, but the decision to place Michael Bay at the helm of this beloved franchise was met with dubiousness at the very least. Then, after months upon months of worrying information being released about the movie, a trailer was finally released...and people's worries seemed to be fuelled even more. 

Now, before I talk about the negatives of this (which are plentiful), I'd like to say that it doesn't look like the worst movie ever made. In fact, with a little altering of some of the CGI and possibly the removal of Megan Fox, TMNT could be a decent film. I don't have a problem with Megan Fox personally, but it's inarguable that she lacks very much talent when it concerns making movies. The real problem though, is the fact that this film is even being made. Why is it that Hollywood deems it necessary to re-boot and re-make every single nostalgic piece of media? The answer is of course: money. 

I don't even have an issue with the origin-story of the turtles not remaining consistent. I used to watch cartoons based upon them, but never to the degree of some. This is why I don't personally have a huge problem with the plot of the film, but more the principle of it. It's a perfect example of large corporations resuscitating old brands just to squeeze a few more ounces of profit out of them, and it's becoming a little bit too repetitive. This is why the huge backlash following the trailer shouldn't come as a surprise; if something isn't broke, don't fix it. 

Obviously I don't expect my opinion to change anything, and I know this just seems like a rant, but it just saddens me that this film will probably make a ludicrous amount of money which will no doubt go directly towards a sequel. I don't want the movie to fail because it might be bad, or even because Michael Bay is involved; I just doubt I will watch it because it would mean showing that re-booting franchises is an OK thing to do, which is often not the case.