Teenage Mutant Alien Turtles; Bay’s Newest Reboot Upsets Fans

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Even if you have not seen the television show, seen any of the movies, played any of the video games, played with the action figures or read any of the comic books, you have heard of them.

Four turtles named after Renaissance artists are mutated due to a mysterious ooze. They live in the sewer, fight crime and eat pizza. After gaining popularity in the late 1980s and maintaining popularity today, it is no wonder filmmakers are looking to reboot the series for the big screen. Michael Bay, one of the producers connected to the upcoming 2013 TMNT movie, shocked fans with this statement: “These turtles are from an alien race and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely loveable.”

The fans immediately sprinted to the nearest computer to voice their anger. On Collider.com, commenters said, “Bay better be joking or just trying to stir up attention … because he should stick with the Turtles’ origin story, hence the name Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Not Aliens!” “That is like making Clark Kent a human not kryptonian and he is not super just a reporter” and “He [Bay]’s setting himself up to fail … again.”
The fans have a good reason to be upset. They have grown up with the story of the Turtles since the series began as a comic in 1984. Over the past 28 years, whenever the origin of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael is mentioned, whether it be in comics or various television adaptations, it specifies that the Turtles were regular turtles until covered in an ooze that caused them to mutate. The regular turtle to mutant turtle back-story has been firmly cemented in the heads of fans everywhere. Attempting to shoehorn an alien back-story to the TMNT leaves a sour taste in the mouths of fans everywhere, the same fans you expect to go and see the movie.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are not the only victims of Hollywood’s reboot fetish. 2009’s Friday the 13th, which also had Bay connected as a producer, received poor reviews, including a 25 percent on Rottontomatoes.com, a site that collects reviews from newspapers and websites across the nation and averages them to create an overall review of the film. Three out of every four reviews were negative. Bay has also produced reboots and remakes of other horror film classics such as 2003’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and 2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, which received a 36 percent and 13 percent on Rottontomatoes.com, respectively. Bay’s poor track record when it comes to reboots is another reason for the fans to be concerned.

Despite poor reviews, Bay continues to produce and direct movies. No matter how much people gripe about Bay’s directing style, he pulls big numbers at the box office. Friday the 13th made over $91 million worldwide according to Boxofficemojo.com.

With a budget of $19 million, the film earned over $70 million. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, despite a 20 percent on Rottotomatoes.com and three Golden Raspberry Awards (a yearly award celebrating bad movies), including worst picture of the year 2009, made over $800 million according to Boxofficemojo.com. Bay’s films may get poor reviews and the fans may complain, but people still go to his movies. If you do not want anymore films rebooted by Michael Bay, do not go see his movies. If there is no money to be made, he will back off.

There is such a high demand for movies, Hollywood is burning out (or already has, depending on who you ask). Filmmakers are running out of original ideas. To make money, they turn to movies that have worked in the past and make a sequel or prequel of the movie.

Either that or they remake the film or reboot the entire franchise. Since it worked the first time, why would it not work again?

The problem with some reboots is that the original movie was already good. Any attempt to remake it will result in a pale imitation of the original film. Why see the reboot when you can see the better version of the same film? If you are going to reboot a movie, try going for a film that was not very good to begin with or was not well-known. The original Casino Royale received poor reviews when it was released in 1967. Rottontomatoes.com has it at 31 percent. The 2006 reboot starring Daniel Craig received a glowing 96 percent.

So filmmakers, if you want to reboot a movie, that is fine. You can make a movie of an already existing film or franchise and add a bit of your own flavor to it. Just remember to have the fans in mind. Straying too far from the original source material will not sit well with the fans.

Jake Koniszewski can be reached at john.koniszewski@spartans.ut.edu.