Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: 5 Things That Must Happen
How to fix a stumbling franchise...
After a seven year hiatus, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came back to theatres in 2014, picking up mostly negative reactions, but making a significant box office haul. Inevitably, just as day follows night, sequels follow money, though Out Of The Shadows didn't exactly fare much better than the first attempt.
To be honest, when the mishandling of the TMNT occurred, it didn't come as a huge shock. They were, after all, produced by Platinum Dunes, the company responsible for remakes of Friday the 13th and Nightmare of Elm St. And everyone remembers how GREAT they were...
With fans feeling underwhelmed by the first two instalments, but some goodwill for the franchise still just about ticking over, any third movie has a lot to do. The next movie needs to undergo some huge changes to get this franchise on the right track.
With a long and rich history, the potential for a great Ninja Turtles movie is there. Here's 5 ways to make it happen even now.
5. Give The Villains Something To Do
So far, the villains have been evil for evil's sake without much in the way of motivation. Yes, it is a "family film," but that doesn't negate a need to understand the villains purpose. In the first movie, William Fichtner's character Eric Sachs, wanted to create an antidote for a poison he helped create in order to become "stupid rich."
The guy with a mansion on top of a mountain apparently wasn't rich enough. Originally, his character was meant to be Shredder, but after some painfully obvious reshoots, this was altered for the final product. The Shredder that we got instead was one that plans to take over New York. It's not explained why or how he wants to do this; he's really just there to give the Turtles something to do in the finale.
In the second movie, "Out of the Shadows," Shredder teams up with Krang to take over the world. Again, there isn't really any kind of explanation. He agrees to team with with this evil alien overlord after having a quick conversation. Something as complicated as world domination probably deserves more than two minutes of consideration.
Krang gives Shredder objectives you would find in a video game, go find some pieces to make a portal, and Shredder's off to try and move the plot forward. The audience doesn't understand why Shredder and Krang trust each other or why they want something as grandiose as taking over the world.
The reasons behind these problems is primarily a lack of screen time. The antagonists pop in long enough to have a few CGI fights, and then disappear again. If the audience doesn't have time understand what the villains are trying to accomplish, they can't be invested in the heroes ultimate triumph.
You could argue that the generic "take over the world" plot is a throwback to 80's cartoons, but modern audiences deserve better than that.