In a surprising turn of events, Paramount has confirmed that they were produce a live-action R-rated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! This is actually an adaptation of the comic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Last Ronin, with the synopsis of the story being, “Who is the Last Ronin? In a future, battle-ravaged New York City, a lone surviving Turtle embarks on a seemingly hopeless mission seeking justice for the family he lost.”
The new live-action film is still developing so a cast and director have yet to be announced, but Tyler Burton Smith has been confirmed to pen the script for the upcoming feature. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been a property that’s aimed at kids. At least when it comes to television and movies. The sudden shift in the long-running franchise does seem jarring and though it’s being adapted from a well-received comic, there’s still some concern about the new TMNT film.
The TMNT Live-Action Films Have Failed To Work
Some properties just aren’t meant to be in live-action. There’s been earnest efforts in past incarnations of the TMNT films, with the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie in 1990 having a fond place in everyone’s heart. There’s no denying that the live-action films haven’t particularly done the characters and world justice. The aesthetic and look of the turtles themselves has also been a contributing factor on why the live action films just haven’t worked.
The turtles always looked like men in costumes. The 90’s films looked too fake and the Michael Bay produced films had the turtles as way too big. It’s also that the style didn’t really capture the essence of a TMNT comic. Sure, they got the basic look correct, but what made last year’s TMNT work is that they wisely opted to go the animation route. That allowed for the city and characters to feel vibrant and lively; plus, the turtles never feel out of place because they feel right at home in animation.
Can Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Last Ronin work? Yes! It just won’t be as lively as the comics because there’s only so much you do in live-action. It would cooler if they opted to do an anime version instead of live-action. I haven’t read the comics, but the premise sounds really cool and doing a comic style adaptation (that’s opposite of what 2023’s TMNT did) would bring the best of the material.
The Concern With Going Live-Action
The Turtles have always bordered on being R-rated. These are ninjas who slice and dice there opponents and some of the stories have been rather dark. Again, I’m not familiar with The Last Ronin comic, but I love the general concept about it. The concern here lies with the writer using the R-rated aspects to add more cursing, blood, or other adult things that they can get away with.
Do I expect this to be an action and explosive fest like the Michael Bay produced films? No and writer Tyler Burton Smith is a good choice to adapt the adult comic, but that can all be changed if the director decides to make some changes of his own. The focus should always be on the story itself. Logan did an excellent transition into a R-rated film. That movie doesn’t rely on excessive gore and violence to get it’s message across. As long as this adaptation doesn’t put the emphasize of action and violence then it could turn out to be something special.
Will These Characters Actually Feel Like Teenagers?
It’s safe to assume that the turtles this time around feel like the same characters as the one in the animated 2023 feature. It sounds crazy, but the recent TMNT’s was so great because they captured the teenage part so well. Originally, these characters were made as a parody of the superhero genre. That’s a big why the teenage aspect works because of the level of immaturity that comes with that age.
This is perhaps a small nitpick as this film is geared towards adults. However, the satire edge show never be lost in the upcoming TMNT film. With the R-rating, there’s new ground that they can cover in the superhero realm because the boundaries are allowed to be pushed. It would also be great to never forget the teenage aspect as well. The characters don’t have to be reminiscent of ones in the series or recent film, but it’s an important element that’s defined these characters for over 30 years. An adult TMNT film does have some strong potential, let’s hope that it can be the first great live-action adaptation.
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