Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the most rebooted franchises of all time. Every few years, a green stick is passed on to the next generation of kids to eat like a big pizza. It began in 1984 with the original dark, violent and gory comic. It was syndicated in the 1987 animated series The Shining and the Goofy and split the teams with the 1990 live-action classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie. This first movie was a defining moment for fans. We got to see them come to life thanks to the amazing work of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. The four brothers quarreled, cursed, and were completely reincarnated with foam rubber. TMNT 1990 It was a religious experience for millennials.
It’s been more than 30 years since the original series and movie started the TMNT phenomenon, and the Turtles have been a fixture in pop culture ever since. The franchise has been retooled and repackaged in every medium for each new crop of kids, complete with an avalanche of merchandise. The Turtles even squared off against Batman. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back from the sewers of New York City once again Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: MayhemAnd New animated feature produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. A trailer has been released for the franchise’s latest installment. This is a video breakdown.
leave loose
The trailer begins with Paramount’s classic mountain green logo, a view of the New York City skyline, then the Brooklyn Bridge accompanied by the line, “Can I Kick It?” From a tribe called Quest and the sound of car horns. On-screen text speaks of a new generation of heroes as a woman is seen walking her dog down a seemingly safe street while a classic yellow cab drives by.
The shot pans to a close-up of New York City’s sewer manhole, which is basically the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ front and back door and mainstay of every iteration of the heroes. Another classic shot reminiscent of the opening screens of the classic 8 and 16-bit TMNT video games sees the turtles launch themselves from the sewers into the world above. It camouflages in green, red, orange, blue and purple as the four brothers rush from the sewers below into the streets and buildings above. Turtles easily and gracefully hike their way up to the surface.
Swallow!
Raphael appears first, on camera, wielding a sword like a baseball bat and urging someone out of the shot to “Raise it up! Half with his brother’s weapon. Photographer Donatello and Mickey jump when replaying footage.
Raphael smiles devilishly, grins his teeth, and approaches the screen to watch, then proposes to take out another watermelon, this time using a ninja instead of a katana blade. The idea gets the simultaneous “WHOA!” from his two brothers. Then, the shot transitions to a familiar three-fingered green hand holding the killer throwing star and pointing in an aiming motion. Oh why we chose shaped fruit exactly like my head? understandably nervous Michelangelo asks, drawing the short straw to stop the new target. Rafe urges him to stop talking for fear of breaking his concentration when striking the pointed object on its target.
“You’re fine, cold…you’ll die,” Donatello whispers, again clutching the cell phone. A disapproving Leonardo leans against the wall of the building in the background. Raphael lets the fire-flying star fly, shouting a loud “HYAH!” He also whizzes through the air and cleans through the melon above his brother’s head. A beep is heard, followed by a crash and a car alarm. “Well, there’s nothing we can do,” Raf says as the four of them peer out onto the street from the edge of the roof, “Do you guys want pizza?”
A montage of the Turtles flexing their weapons is shown, followed by a quick shot of Mr. Splinter spinning on his walking stick. Then, the four turtles kick in the door and enter a dark room of three goons, in the middle saying, “They look like little partners to me.” The prank follows Rafael as he attacks one of the thugs and a car spins away.
new allies
Two very large feet slammed loudly into the ground revealing a glimpse of punks Rocksteady and Bebop. The turtles are seen riding strands of outdoor lighting, followed by the dancing Raphael who loses control of his signature daggers, one of which bounces off some roofs before latching on to Donatello’s leg. He let out a shriek as Leo announced he was going to get sick, and Don exclaimed, “I’m still on my leg!”
The trailer closes with April O’Neil interviewing the brothers, going over their origin story of crawling through “goo” to fulfill their current status. The two brothers correct it with the term “tah” and its smoother pronunciation.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mayhem It is set to land in theaters later this year on August 4th.
