New footage review for Jonathan Liebesman’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Collider recently got a chance to preview a few scenes from TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, and while their footage is light on spoilers, they have plenty to say about the tone of the film.

TMNT producer Andrew Form introduced the footage, and said “The movie comes out three weeks from Thursday. We’re still working like crazy right now to get it done." He then went on to provide some background on the first portion of footage, an eight-minute chunk that will appear towards the start of the film.

It’s 2014, it’s New York City, there’s a lot of crime in the city and Shredder, the leader of the Foot Clan, they are responsible for all the crime. The movie opens, Megan Fox who plays April O’Neil, she is investigating a crime that has happened at the docks at the Brooklyn Navy Yards, and you think she’s this, you know, journalist and then you see the trail who is her cameraman and he yells at her and says, ‘April, we’ve gotta go.  We’ve gotta get to work!’ And then you cut and you realize that April O’Neil is a lifestyle reporter who wants to be a journalist.

She is covering a gala that we shot – you guys are all from New York so we can say our locations, at Cipriani’s – and Eric Sachs who’s played by William Fichtner is giving this big speech, and Eric Sachs and April O’Neil’s father worked together 15 years ago. This is the scene right after the speech Eric Sachs has given that really inspires April to really try and work harder at her reporting because she just doesn’t want to do the lifestyle stuff. She really wants to be a journalist.

The second scene that was shown was the subway fight from the trailer, and Collider says what stood out the most was the humor and the details on the turtles. They also had high praise for Noel Fisher's Michelangelo.

Noel Fisher, in particular, is priceless as Michelangelo. The way he moves, his facial expressions and the intonation of his dialogue makes his material remarkably natural and truly laugh-out-loud worthy.

Some people thought the "show chase scene" (that's what Andrew Form is calling it) from the trailer looked a little silly and it was hard to figure out exactly what was going on, but Collider says it makes more sense when watching the whole scene.

There is a lot going on in this sequence, but it’s actually really easy to keep track of everyone because the turtles are so strong on an individual level. In addition to different posture, shell sizes and accessories, the turtles also have very different attitudes and those attitudes are impressively well woven into all the combat. And the same goes for the humor here as well. The laughs aren’t relegated to quieter, talk-driven moments.  This is a full-blown race down a mountain yet the turtles are constantly dishing out zingers, and that’s a big part of the reason the material is fun to watch.

So maybe TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES won't be nearly as bad as many expect it to be, but I'm still not completely sold on Jonathan Liebesman's new movie. I am a little bit more optimistic about the project after reading Collider's footage review, however I can't shake the feeling the film is going to disappoint a lot of Turtle fans.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES will be in theaters on August 8, 2014.