'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Teaser Reveals Surprise Twist

[Yugioh21]

The secret of the ooze has changed, at least as far as the Michael Bay-produced "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is concerned.

Footage from the new "Ninja Turtles" movie premiered at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Monday, debuting the brand-new designs for Leonardo and the gang, and dropping some massive plot bombshells as well. The full teaser trailer is expected online later this week, but reactions to the footage have already hit the web thanks to CinemaCon attendees. Read on for details:

The Story

According to reports, the "Turtles" teaser features a voice-over from Shredder actor William Fichtner, revealing that the new film is an origin story of sorts.

"He talks about how the city has become overrun with 'crime, violence and fear,' and how a once great city has been destroyed," writes CinemaBlend's Eric Eisenberg. "We see shots of a tower on top of a skyscraper come crashing down and hooligans wearing masks firing off guns. Shredder talks about justice being restored and the need for heroes."

Apparently, there's a major change to the "Turtles" origin story as well: Shredder and April O'Neil's father are the men responsible for creating the Turtles. Exactly how that plays out remains to be seen, but it's an extreme twist on the "TMNT" mythology as we know it.

The Tone

There seems to be some disagreement over how humor is handled in the new "Turtles" footage. Latino Review's report states that "the action and humor had the same feel as the 1990's film," while IGN feels the footage "was far straighter and more serious than expected."

"The Turtles make a few wisecracks but those quips are kind of lost amidst the action," writes IGN's Jim Vejvoda. "The Turtles are definitely presented here as the extraordinary beings who enter into April's 'real' world rather than the trailer following them with April popping up as a secondary human character."

The Look

The biggest question surrounding the new take on "Turtles" involves the characters' new design. Reactions from CinemaCon attendees run the gamut from extremely negative to on-the-fence.

"The CG turtles don't look that bad," writes Superhero Hype's Edward Douglas, "essentially like the ones from the earlier movies, but we really only saw them very briefly and how they look in action might be what sells the movie or is a deal breaker."

Collider, meanwhile, offered this much about the Turtles' design:

To Be Continued

It's hard to get a proper read on how the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" footage played from afar. Some attendees wrote scathing reviews of the teaser, while others adopted more of a "wait-and-see" attitude. With the teaser coming online later this week, fans can judge the footage for themselves in a matter of mere days. Our one suggestion: when you watch the teaser, make sure you have pizza handy. Everything is better with pizza, even "Turtles."

source:mtv