Seth Rogen's TMNT

[thwhtGuardian]

First turtles was a one told joke spoofing dark and gritty comics like daredevil. Foot is a mad mag name chance of the hand from marvel. It was all this dark lines and action coming from goofy giant turtles in masks with ninja stuff. That was the joke. It was so silly at the time it came out. Turtles always had a joke to them. That's how they started. People are so used to the turtles today they forgot how goofy it was when they first came out.

They've been goof all along. There's nothing wrong with the tone here.

[Gaastra]

April in the new spots looks to having a younger face than the early art and she talks younger. Bet she is a student not a teacher as many thought.

Also, film is getting great critic reviews and 97 rt score! Nephew wants to go so looks like we are going to see it. Heard it has a post scene also.

[Orbus]

I guess it could be as simple as Shredder and the Foot tries to take over the New York underworld and the Turtles try to stop him, Gang War style.

Apparently...

spoilers:

A mid credits scene has Cynthia Utrom revealed as Krang hiring the Shredder to capture the turtles

end of spoilers

Even before knowing that I really did not want to see Shredder in this movie series. The reason he's the most popular villain of the franchise is because of having some kind of a personal feud with Splinter. Just having him and the Foot as random villains It's possible they could try and retroactively add it in to the sequel but I think this is unlikely if it's true that they are cutting out all Japanese cultural elements to help better market the movie in China. TMNT does have other villains were that

They've been goof all along. There's nothing wrong with the tone here.

The initial concept started out as a goof but I think the parody aspect of TMNT is way overstated. Laird has said that there were elements of parody in the early issues but never saw it as a parody and Eastman sums it up that "it kinda was a parody and kinda not". The important thing is it didn't stay that way. Return To New York and City at War were 100% supposed to be taken seriously as were stories like The River, Soul's Winter and they even had a NY Times Best Seller with a fairly dark styled story (that admittedly cribbed a lot from The Dark Knight Returns) The Last Ronin. You don't have to treat the whole thing is a throwaway joke and arguably the franchise suffers when you lean too much into that approach. Secret of the Ooze was released only a year after the 1990 movie and when Turtlemania was still in full swing yet had a much lower box office than the first, Out of the Shadows was the first TMNT movie to flop completely. the 80s animated series is widely have regarded to jump the shark in it's fourth season when storylines got too wacky even for that show. You can even argue that this movie for the hype it's getting from critics and the mass marketing is tracking to open to numbers not too far away for the the previous TMNT CGI movie in 2007 (which didn't have anywhere near the industry push that this has had). That might suggest some general apathy towards the brand right now but this approach hasn't exactly turned it around.

[Frontier]

Apparently...

spoilers:

A mid credits scene has Cynthia Utrom revealed as Krang hiring the Shredder to capture the turtles

end of spoilers

Even before knowing that I really did not want to see Shredder in this movie series. The reason he's the most popular villain of the franchise is because of having some kind of a personal feud with Splinter. Just having him and the Foot as random villains It's possible they could try and retroactively add it in to the sequel but I think this is unlikely if it's true that they are cutting out all Japanese cultural elements to help better market the movie in China. TMNT does have other villains were that

I really wonder how you would handle Shredder and the Foot if they're trying to make it more marketable to China.

Like it's hard to imagine the property without them, they're the most iconic villains, but I don't see a natural way of re-working them without the Japanese influence.

spoilers:

Kind of funny we got another female Krang though.

end of spoilers

[Vakanai]

spoilers:

Kind of funny we got another female Krang though.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

When else did this happen? TMNT Rise or the CGI cartoon?

end of spoilers

[j9ac9k]

I really wonder how you would handle Shredder and the Foot if they're trying to make it more marketable to China.

Like it's hard to imagine the property without them, they're the most iconic villains, but I don't see a natural way of re-working them without the Japanese influence.

You could just make them a more modern gang with modern aesthetics and a generic "martial arts" fighting style/weapons without leaning into Japanese culture. (if one wanted to appease the Chinese government I guess)

Also, I don't know how it works - would they be happy if the Foot were Japanese, but for their version, the Turtles can call them "Japanese scum!" all the time or something - would they be into that??

[Frontier]

spoilers:

When else did this happen? TMNT Rise or the CGI cartoon?

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Kraang Prime in 2K12 was female. There was also a female Krang in Rise but she wasn't the "main" Krang per se.

end of spoilers

You could just make them a more modern gang with modern aesthetics and a generic "martial arts" fighting style/weapons without leaning into Japanese culture. (if one wanted to appease the Chinese government I guess)

Also, I don't know how it works - would they be happy if the Foot were Japanese, but for their version, the Turtles can call them "Japanese scum!" all the time or something - would they be into that??

It would just feel weird to take out the ninja aspect. Would they also never utter Shredder's real (and Japanese) name? I guess Karai probably wouldn't show up.

[Vakanai]

You could just make them a more modern gang with modern aesthetics and a generic "martial arts" fighting style/weapons without leaning into Japanese culture. (if one wanted to appease the Chinese government I guess)

Also, I don't know how it works - would they be happy if the Foot were Japanese, but for their version, the Turtles can call them "Japanese scum!" all the time or something - would they be into that??

Oh modern China would be waaaay into that. And this isn't sarcasm, or hyperbole, the Chinese Communist Party would be pleased and tickled pink and most of their populace would be too because they've all been raised on propaganda.

They'd also be super into it if the Turtles were anti-capitalism and anti-America. Again, not some kind of joke, China wears it's brainwashed hate pretty clearly on its sleeve these days.

spoilers:

Kraang Prime in 2K12 was female. There was also a female Krang in Rise but she wasn't the "main" Krang per se.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

Weird, I never picked up she was supposed to be female - just assumed it was usual weird alien voice stuff and Kraang was still male. Mind you I missed so many episodes during that series that each episode was kinda out of the blue and out of context for me.

end of spoilers

It would just feel weird to take out the ninja aspect. Would they also never utter Shredder's real (and Japanese) name? I guess Karai probably wouldn't show up.

I like that Shredder's real name is Saki, it's like having a villain named Whiskey or Beer.

[Captain Craig]

Where are the folks with their feedback on Mutant Mayhem now that it has been out?

[Angilasman]

While China and Japan have a friction between them... this idea that they're resistant to anything culturally Japanese being released there is mistaken. Japanese stuff is hugely popular in China. Anime films are huge hits in mainland China. They love Ultraman (as a matter if fact, there may be a Chinese Ultraman film in development). The cross-cultural transmission is mutual: Chinese martial arts storytelling is a huge influence on Japanese literature/manga/games/etc.

[BeastieRunner]

While China and Japan have a friction between them... this idea that they're resistant to anything culturally Japanese being released there is mistaken. Japanese stuff is hugely popular in China. Anime films are huge hits in mainland China. They love Ultraman (as a matter if fact, there may be a Chinese Ultraman film in development). The cross-cultural transmission is mutual: Chinese martial arts storytelling is a huge influence on Japanese literature/manga/games/etc.

Well those of us that have been to Japan or China, or take 15 minutes to learn about their cultures understand this.

The production teams don't, sadly.

And we saw the film in 3D IMAX.

I would put it up with the first live action movie, if not slightly ahead because they took good risks with the story and animation.

Leo is probably one of the best versions of himself here and more than just the leader.

Mondo was a scene stealer.

Hope we get more and they let the cast age up along with the turtles but since it's animated ... They're going to recast IMHO.

[Gaastra]

Anime boom hit china this year with studio Ghibli films getting theatre releases, slam dunk a hit, suzame was a hit in china, they just released a detective conan movie in theatres from the early 2000s there! Anime is doing well in china right now. For a bit they were doing better than american films there. Found a kids book from china--with detective conan in it. (why is an older china kids book in a toy store in the states for $3 anyways?)

China has no problem with anime right now.