Do you remember the 90s? Well they're officially back ("That's a fact, Jack!")
A bit of news coming in today courtesy of Mania.com, a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is being planned and this time around it's going to be all live-action!
Who has two thumbs and is excited about this news? THIS GUY!
While I attribute the X-Men for piquing my interest in comic books, these four sewer surfers are the first superheroes I ever had an interest in. As a kid, I even joined dance class solely because they needed an extra boy to do a number off of the soundtrack to the live TMNT concert (I got to be Michelangelo, so bonus!) You get the point, I love these guys.
However, I will agree with the masses that the last movie venture into this franchise left much to be desired. Sure there were some great moments and the rain-soaked rooftop fight between Leo and Raph was absolutely brilliant, but something was missing (::cough:: ..Shredder... ::cough::) While the CGI-animated film looked okay, it was nothing compared to the puppet suits in the first movie, made by the legendary Jim Henson's Workshop.
However, much to my delight, this new live-action movie is apparently going back to the film franchise's roots and using puppetry and practical effects to portray the Turtles. Producer Scott Mednick, who has been working with the Jim Henson Workshop for the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are has gone on record to say that the Turtles will be real and "not Gollumed."
May I just say, it's about damn time?
Computers can do great things and with the best technology you can almost believe that something is really there, but it never really can replace the look of a real-life object. Consider Jurassic Park for an example. The scenes with the T-Rex, which used practical effects and animatronics, are still as bone-chilling today as they were back in 1994. The CGI galloping herd of Gallomimuses, however, looks downright laughable in comparison. In the end, technology such as this can help a movie lose its timelessness.
When the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film came out way back in the year of 1990, the Turtles were able to move, fight and emote without the use of computers. To this day, while watching that film, you can really believe in giant talking turtles because there is one standing right in front of you, being filmed in the same room as everyone around them.
I just hope this movie, and the aforementioned Where the Wild Things Are ushers in a return to the practical magic of moviemaking, when the razzle-dazzle was filmed on the set, not added in with a computer in post.
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