When I first heard about the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, I was immediately excited. I was a fan of the movies when I was a kid and I liked the old cartoon. My kids love the new TMNT cartoon on Nickelodeon and so I couldn’t wait to bring the family to see the movie.
When I found out that the movie was rated PG-13, I became concerned that the film would try and lure in older viewers (like me) with added unnecessary violence and bad language. After seeing the movie, I can report that my fears were only partially relieved. There were a couple of bad words (d**n and a**) and the violence, well, some of it was intense. It is a ninja movie, so there is a lot of fighting. And in this Ninja movies, the Footclan bring their guns to a knife fight.
Movies have long tried to take the blow out of violent movies by hiding the faces of the victims. Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Avengers are perfect examples. TMNT does this as well by covering the faces of the Footclan, so you cannot see their expressions as their fate falls upon them – they are a bit more anonymous. There is also a torture scene that might be intense for younger viewers. If the filmmakers would have kept the 2 bad words out and toned downed some of the intensity of the violence, the movie would have earned a PG rating.
I did like the movie though. Like many comic book movies, watching movies like TMNT takes me back to a time when I didn’t have to take things and movies so seriously. My family was able to sit back and enjoy the movie. We laughed out loud at times and were caught up in the action sequences. Michael Bay’s stamp is definitely on this film and you’ll see traces of Transformers-like fight scenes.
My 10 year old son liked the movie, and while my 8 year old daughter liked the scenes with April and the Turtles, she was a little frightened by Shredder and the Footclan. Older kids will probably enjoy this movie, while adults’ inner children will have a great time too.
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Cowabunga dude!
I saw that they are introducing obscene words into kids movies now
I want to see it too.