Mike does a deep dive on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles released in 1990 and why he thinks it’s one of the best movies of all-time. He talks about what the movie meant to him as a kid vs. now as an adult, his theories on the movie and its adult themes and things you may not know about the movie. In the Movie Review, Mike talks about the new animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. How it honors the original, the authentic voice acting and how Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse served as the blueprint for this film. about the historical drama Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular emperor. The movie focuses on the general and emperor’s rise to power in the late 1700s and early 1800s and his relationship with Empress Joséphine Bonaparte played by Vanessa Kirby. Mike learned something about Napoleon's height that blew his mind!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back to movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I
am your host Movie Mike. Today I want to share
with you why Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from nineteen ninety
is one of my favorite movies of all time. It
is a top ten film for me, and that is
in honor of the new animated Ninja Turtles movie coming
out this weekend. We'll get into a spoiler free review
of Mutant Mayhem and in the trailer park we'll talk
about Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and something really crazy and
(00:24):
interesting I learned about Napoleon's height.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Basically, we've been lied to our entire lives.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Thank you movie crew for being a part of the podcast,
for listening every single week, for telling a friend, and
now let's talk movies.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
In a world where everyone and their mother has a podcast,
one man stands to infiltrate the ears of listeners like
never before in a movie podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
A man with so much movie knowledge. He's basically like.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
A walking IMTB with glasses. From the Nashville Podcast Network,
this is Movie Mike's Movie Podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I wanted to do a deep dive into one of
my favorite movies of all time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
from nineteen ninety is a top ten film for me,
and I think in my movie reviewing career, I've been
maybe not afraid to say that, but I feel like
movie critics have such a high regard for their top
(01:20):
ten films, and I feel like some critics and reviewers
want to have a top ten that showcase their taste
and their film browless of being superior than others. But
when I sit down and think about my top ten
movies of all time and throw all that stuff out
the window, I think about the movies that have influenced
me and movies that have stuck with me since I
(01:41):
was a kid through my adult life, especially ones that
have reincardinated themselves in several different ways through reboots and
through television shows. I think about those that are the
building blocks of what make me do this podcast every
single week. And for me, the original teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles movie from nineteen ninety is a film for me.
So I'm not afraid to say that, and today I
(02:02):
want to share with you why it is a top
ten film for me, and I've given you hints at
some of my other top ten movies, like Willy Wonka
I've been talking about recently with the trailer, so I
want to look at all of the aspects surrounding the
nineteen ninety film, how this movie was based on a
comic book in the eighties turned TV show. But before
I get into all that, I want to share with
(02:24):
you how I was first introduced to the teenage mutant
Ninja Turtles, and it all stems from my older brother,
who was born in the eighties and who was such
a big fan of that original cartoon and is really
the reason that I love the Turtles as much as
I do. Because I was born in nineteen ninety one,
this first movie came out before I was born, but
I just remember seeing it so much because he was
(02:46):
such a big fan of it, and through me wanting
to be just like my older brother and into all
the things that he was. Ninja Turtles was one of
those first few fandoms that I was completely a part of,
even though it was just maybe a little bit before
my time, with the cartoon coming out in the eighties
and these movies being out when I was a baby,
but all through my childhood I remember watching these VHS
(03:07):
tapes with him and bonding so much that over the
years it has been a form of how we stay
connected as brothers, with the two thousand and seven animated
movie being one of the movies I remember going to
see in theaters with him and being really excited about it,
and even with the live action movies coming out in
the twenty tens, it has been a way that we've
always bonded and connected with each other. So I think
(03:29):
for a lot of kids, there is a deep personal
connection with this franchise unlike anything else really out there,
and even more so than Marvel movies and superhero movies.
There is just something that instantly connects us with our
childhood when it comes to the teenage mutant Ninja Turtles.
And that's why I love now that there is another
reincarnation in the twenty twenties that is going to be
(03:50):
that for some kid. And I'll get into more of
that later, but let's go back to just years before
this movie came out. The first incarnation of the Ninja
Turtles was in a comic book. You had two r
a is Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who were really
just trying to do a parody of superhero comics, which
you had X Men, which was huge at the time,
all of the Marvel comics, and one of them literally
(04:11):
just drew a sketch of a turtle wearing a ninja
mask and having a weapon, and they just thought it
was funny the idea of a ninja being as slow
as a turtle.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
But then when they looked at this drawing, they thought, maybe.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
There's something here, and they changed the design of it
a little bit to look less like a slow turtle,
gave a more human like features, and then realized there
actually may be something here. So again, they were pulling
from that inspiration of X Men and a character being mutants,
but just thought the idea of giving those characteristics to
an animal would be funny, And the first issue of
(04:45):
the Ninja Turtles was released in nineteen eighty four. They
started a company called Mirage Studios, and it ended up
being surprisingly a pretty big success, so much so that
they were able to license these characters to a toy
company called Playmate's Toys. And this is where the money
starts to come in, because they created a line of
turtle action figures. But in order to sell action figures
(05:08):
back in the eighties, what was everybody doing? What was
ThunderCats doing, what was he Man doing? Barbie Gi Joe?
They were creating cartoons, so they had this deal with
the toy company that you had to make a cartoon
to go along with it, because the cartoon really serves
as the commercial for kids to buy the toy. So
what had to change was the tone of the comic,
(05:30):
the tone of the Ninja Turtles because in that first issue,
the entire story was very dark, which will come into
play later when we talk about the movie. Because the
subject matter and the tone of the comic book was
a lot grittier and darker and more vengeful. So in
order to make it appeal to kids, their look was
(05:50):
changed in the cartoon to make them a little softer,
more appealing to kids.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
They also had to distinguish.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
The characters a little bit more because in the comic look,
they really just all looked like Rafael. They all had
the red mask, and you couldn't really tell one turtle
from the other. When you're trying to sell toys, you
have to distinguish them, so they gave them each different
colored mask. You have the orange as Michelangelo, the red
as Rafael, the blue as Leonardo, and the purple as
(06:18):
Donna Tello, and then to further distinguish all of our characters,
they also had on their belts the letter of their
first name.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
So the cartoon went on to be a huge.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Success, but more importantly, they were able to make a
lot of money because the Turtles toys sold one point
one billion dollars between nineteen eighty eight and nineteen ninety two,
making them the third best selling toys of all time
when it comes to action figures. So the animated series
premiered in nineteen eighty seven. It ended up running for
(06:51):
almost a decade. So at the successful animated show with
a successful toy line, now came the time to make
a movie. I feel like this is where things get
interesting because the movie was a lot more closely centered
on the comic than it was the animated series, which
at that time, when the animated series came out, a
(07:11):
lot of fans of the comic were upset with it
because they thought, oh, they really lost the edge of
the comic books. So when they started making this movie,
which at the time it was an independent movie, it
wasn't funded by a major studio, they decided to have
this darker, grittier tone that was showcased more in the
comic books, because I feel there were only certain movies,
(07:31):
maybe ten total, that I love every single aspect of
the film, and I don't even look at it as
a movie when I sit down and watch them. It
just feels like I am watching a part of myself,
a part of my life that I don't focus on
the directing style, I don't focus on the cinematography. I
just think of them really as life experiences. And TMNT
(07:56):
from nineteen ninety is.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
A movie like that. For me.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Everything from the New Line Cinema logo in this movie
I just have embedded into my head. I hear this sound,
I see this logo, and I immediately associated with this
first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, and there are very
few movies that do that. And then after that logo,
(08:20):
well you get that opening scene, but what really sets
it off is that theme song.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Let's go Yeah, and there you just have me.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
You just grip me with that song and it doesn't
let go through the rest of the movie. So what
this first movie served as was the introduction to the
teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
And in this movie you.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Find our four friends who are living underground in the
shadows of the sewer and are protecting New York City
from a gang of criminal ninjas.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
I love that storyline, but that's really what this story is.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
They are just trying to make the world above them
a better place by taking out all these bad guys.
But they can't be seen because they have a dad
named Splinter, who is a rat who rescued them as
kids after stumbling upon to this ooze, and they turned
into these creatures.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Who love pizza and love kickin butt.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
And it all starts from the opening scene of this
movie where you really get the tone of this entire film.
April O'Neil is attacked by a group of thugs and
then the Turtles come in to rescue her, with Raf
leaving behind his weapon and being totally upset about it.
And then you get into finding out about their life
of doing things like this that are noble and heroic
(09:50):
but not being able to get any of the credit
because they cannot be seen. They work in the shadows,
they work in the dark at night, and then they
go back into the sewer and just kind of hang
out and be teenagers. And then you get to know
all of the Ninja Turtles, with Leonardo being the leader,
Dona Tello being the nerdier one, Michelangelo being the goofball,
(10:11):
kind of the young one who gets away with everything
and is just the comic relief in the entire movie,
and then Raphael being the moody teenager with really something
to prove that has this chip on his shoulder and
kind of sets himself apart from all the other Ninja
Turtles because he just kind of goes off on his own.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
It is very emo.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I think as a kid growing up, I really saw
myself and Michelangelo, and that is actually why my family
gave me the nickname. Growing up as Mikey. Everybody knew
me as Mikey, and it was because of my love
of The Ninja Turtles and my love of the character.
He had so many iconic lines in this movie, like
this one.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Eats the dudes got thirty seconds. He had the charm
like in this line.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
She called me Mikey.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
But looking back.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
At this movie as in adult, I really just think
I am more of a Raphael who he is the
moody teenager in this movie, and I think that is
what lots of kids watching this they were able to
identify with a different character, and who are you most like?
Are you more like Leonardo Michelangelo Donatello or a Rafayel.
Now as an adult, I think I am much more
(11:19):
of a Rafayelle, who I actually think is a lot
more sophisticated than a teenager. In this movie, he just
has this rage for no reason. It showcased in his
first battle with Casey Jones freaka.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Frank Frank, like that come back, I'm not finished for you,
that vocal performance, all of that. It just gets me.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Of like, like I just feel that now more as
an adult, of when I feel like an outsider, when
I feel like people don't get me, I feel very
much like Rafayel. And sorry if I got a little
bit excited and talked over that clip. I just really
felt that Rafayel performance there. And there's just so much
emotion showcase in this movie, and it's greatly reflected through Raphael,
(12:05):
who is going through this mental journey of just finding
this place and trying to get Splinter back after he
was taken by the Foot Clan and having the thing
you love the most and care about being taken away
from you. So you hear it first in his encounters
with Casey Jones, but then later once he finds out
that Splinter has been taken. So when I look back
(12:35):
on this movie, it is surprising to me how big
of a hit it became because it was so different
than the cartoons. You hear it here, you hear all
the emotions, You see the action in this movie, which
is for a kids movie.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Pretty violent.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
They actually use their weapons in this movie, and I
think that's why whenever the sequel came out Secret of
the that they got away from the use of their
weapons and instead they were using other things like sausages
or other objects to inflict pain on other people because
kids were starting to emulate the Ninja Turtles and whacking
(13:13):
their brothers and sisters with a stick or even worse,
trying to find a sword to stam somebody with. So
there was such a big tone shift between the first
one and the second one, and never again in a
teenage mutant Ninja Turtles, whether it be a TV show
or a movie, was this same energy captured. I don't
think you could ever really do a movie like this again,
(13:36):
unless like a big director like Christopher Nolan gave it
the Dark Knight treatment, which would be amazing, because I
think there is a darker Ninja Turtle story to tell,
even more so.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Than this one.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
But aside from just the character of Rafael, I just
identify a lot with the Ninja Turtles, of having to
live in the shadows and being rejected by society, and
even their fascination with pizza, which I did rewatch the
movie in preparation for this episode, and after all the
times I've watched this movie, it finally just clicked with me.
(14:07):
The reason they love pizza is because at the time,
in the eighties and nineties, it was the only food
that you could really get delivered, and they can't go
out in public and be seen, so they would get
pizza delivered because you never had to see the person.
So that's the reason they love pizza, at least in
this movie, at least the conclusion I've come to. The
(14:27):
other reason I love this movie is a lot of
my vernacular, a lot of the way I speak has
been influenced by this movie, and there's just very small scenes,
in small moments that I continue to use these phrases
as an adult. There is a scene at the beginning
of the movie where Raphaela is gonna go watch a movie,
and he tells everybody he's going out.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
To watch a movie. Is that okay with you?
Speaker 1 (14:48):
And Leonardo gives a very casual yeah, And I find
myself saying that so much now in my adult life.
And along the same lines of the use of vernacular,
this movie just is a really good snapshot of what
late eighties and early nineties culture is like.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
And I think that is what a great teenage.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Mutant Ninja Turtles movie does, is embody the culture of
teenagers at that time, because whatever is popular with teenagers
is really the driving force of what is popular in
America and the best representation of what is happening in
America at that time. And I think above all else
that is what this film really spoke to. The teenage
(15:29):
rebellion and relatability of feeling like nobody is taking you seriously.
That is what the Ninja Turtles embody. But I think
above all else of why this is one of my
favorite movies of all time and also just my favorite
depiction of the Ninja Turtles is because of its use
of practical effects and puppetry. The original TMNT heads and
(15:53):
costumes were developed by Jim Henson's company, who you would
know as creating the Muppets and was so influence on
so many films of creating real things that in this case,
the actual actors underneath could wear. And for me, that
is something we have really gotten away from through the
use of CGI, which I'm not totally against. I love
(16:14):
the fact now that you can create anything through the
use of CGI and make it be believable to us
if done correctly, if the right time and money is
spent on it. I'm not against CGI, but there is
something so special when there is an actual tangible subject
that can be touched, but most importantly that can be
interacted with. So even going back to movies like Jurassic Park,
(16:37):
where they actually created these animatonic dinosaurs that the actors
could see and react to, that makes a big difference
on how much of an authentic performance that actor can give.
But in this situation with the Ninja Turtles, you have
these heads that are controlled through electronics. There essentially these
puppet heads that not only can the other actors like
(17:00):
April O'Neil or Casey Jones in this movie interact with,
but there is actually a human inside underneath doing all
the moves, So you have the human doing the martial
arts moves and then you have the puppeteer doing all
the movements with the face. It is just something that
doesn't get done anymore, but there is such a charm
to it. There's also issues with it. If you go
(17:22):
back and watch this movie, there are a lot of
mistakes that are made. In one of the opening sequences
where Dona Tello is skateboarding, you can actually see the
human hands in a shot that made the final movie
because well.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
That's just what got left in there.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
There are other scenes that just seem a little bit
awkward of when the turtles go into hug and you
have a hand over a face. You know it's not perfect,
but I feel like it's so much more authentic and
also shows you that this movie was able to be
made on a pretty low budget of thirteen point five
million dollars, but it went on to open at the
box office with twenty five million dollars in its opening
(18:02):
weekend and went on to have a worldwide gross of
two hundred and two million dollars and was the highest
grossing independent movie up until The Blair Witch Project came
out in nineteen ninety nine. And then what cements this
movie in my top ten is that final scene on
the roof when the Ninja Turtles are taking on Shredder.
(18:25):
It is one of the most impactful moments in cinematic history.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
It really is such.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
An emotional scene, and the entire movie is just kind
of building up to that of the Ninja Turtles finally
taking on their arch nemesis Shredder, and the emotion poured
out of these characters as they are fighting for their
life and trying to take down Shredder is just emotions
flying all over the place, which leads to them finally
defeating Shredder. After he goes to attack Splinter, Splinter throws
(18:57):
him off the roof. He lands in the back of
a garbage truck. And then our good friend Casey Jones
kills a guy this movie has a death again, speaking
to the dark tone of this movie, he straight up
gets taken out. So those are all the reasons why
this is a top ten film for me and why
I was so excited to see Mutant Mayhem in theaters.
(19:21):
And I feel like now as an adult in my thirties,
I am able to speak more freely about the nerdy
things I love and even just ten twenty years ago,
if I were to speak like this, I would be
seen as a total weirdo because I remember there being
a TV show in two thousand and four hosted by
Fred Willard called Totally Obsessed, and they focused on a
(19:42):
Ninja Turtle fan who goes by the name of Michelle Ivy,
who was actually still around on Instagram at Calabunga Corner,
but the entire profile on her was really made in
a way to poke fun at her, like, look, how
into Ninja Turtle she is. She is a big nerd
and we and I remember seeing that and thinking, why
(20:02):
are they poking fun at her? She's just passionate about
something that has meant so much to her as a kid,
But now that she's an adult, maybe to others that
seems a little bit weird, but I never saw that
as weird. She's not hurting anybody. She owns a lot
of the original heads from the third movie that was made,
dresses up like a Ninja Turtle, but even uses it
(20:24):
for good because she goes to kids' birthday parties or
goes to visit kids in the hospital.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
So I just thought it was weird.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
The tone of this entire profile piece, which I'm going
to play for you a little bit now, and looking
back on it, I just feel happy that times have changed.
But this was a piece done in two thousand and
four where they were poking fun at her and how
much money she spends on all the memorabilia. Because Michelle
works at a factory from minimum wage, she takes out
bank loans to feed her Ninja Turtle obsession. This had
(20:53):
cost me two thousand dollars. The one thing I like
now is that she has her own job, she's making
her own money, and she can waste her own money
on this stuff. Pardon my French.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I paid eighteen hundred dollars for Leonardo. Michelle's going high risk.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
She's willing to put herself in the debt in order
to say ah ahead, hope Leonardo.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
I have been downright told by several people just drop
the Turtles. So I would like to say justice for
Michelle Ivy. I'm glad that you're still showcasing your love
for the Ninja Turtles through your Instagram Cawabunga corner and
the fact that now all of us old schoold Ninja
Turtles fans have something else to be excited about. I
am no longer ashamed of it. I am no longer
(21:40):
afraid to say that this movie from nineteen ninety is
a top ten film for me. So thank you for
coming to my Turtle Ted talk. Gonna come back and
talk about the new one, Mutant Mayhem after this. Let's
get into it now. A spoiler free movie review of
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem. I went into this
(22:02):
movie wanting to feel like a kid again. As we've
been talking about all episode long, the Teenage mut Ninja
Turtles are very near and dear to my heart, much
like a lot of other thirty thirty five forty year
olds right now. And the great thing about the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles is about every decade we get a
new introduction. So since their debut in the eighties and
(22:24):
the nineties, twenty twenty tens, and now twenty twenties, depending
on your age, you have a different opinion on what
the best teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle series is of all time.
I am a product of the nineties, so really, to me,
it's those nineties movies that really captured the essence of
what made the Turtles great. And the reason I was
(22:45):
excited about that going into this movie is because it's
produced by Seth Rogan, who, much like me, is also
a fan of that iteration of the teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
And I was excited about that because I knew with
him as a producer on this movie, he was going
to want to capture that same energy that made those
movies great and bring that into this whole new story.
(23:07):
And what I was pleasantly surprised by in this movie
is that sometimes when a movie comes out like this,
it just feels like a cash grab. To me. You're
banking on the fact that all the people that grew
up with this franchise in the eighties and nineties are
now adults with adult money, and they're gonna go spend
money to watch this movie to relive their childhood. But
(23:27):
now those adults also have kids of their own, So
what better moment of having this family bonding experience of
you taking your now kids to go see something that
you were a fan of when you were a kid.
So I feel like sometimes movie studios and franchises like
this just bank on that, and what they end up
coming out with really is a cash grab. There's nothing
(23:48):
added in. They just rehash old storylines and make it
a movie that is just essentially what we knew as
kids and don't really give us anything new. And I
am happy to say that that is not the case
with Mutant Mayhem. Quite the opposite, that this is a
Ninja Turtle story that I haven't seen told in the
comic books and the TV shows or in the movies.
(24:09):
It's a whole new, more emotional look on the lives
of the Ninja Turtles and what they face. So in
this movie, you have all of our iconic characters back,
you have Splinter voice by Jackie Chan, and then you
have all of the Ninja Turtles, Michael Angelo, Leonardo Raphael,
and Donna Tello, all voiced by actual teenagers, which I
think adds a great level of authenticity to their performances.
(24:33):
And I heard Seth Rogan talking about how he wanted
to capture that energy in this movie, and I think
was greatly reflected out of all of their performances. Is
he has been a part of animated movies where you
recorded everything completely different and you didn't see your co
stars until you went to that movie's premiere. He said,
the entire thing felt a little bit disconnected because you're
(24:54):
not getting to interact with those people until the very end,
so you don't really get this type performance that really
has a lot of emotion into it. It wasn't until
he worked on a movie later in his career where
he actually sat down with the other actors that he
felt like, oh, you can actually connect with other people.
So he took that idea and applied it to this
movie and had all of the kids in a room
(25:16):
together to interact. And what you get and what you
hear in the movie is very authentic performances of just
teenagers hanging out being teenagers. And I've never really seen
that fully encaptured in a movie, whether it be live
action or whether it be animated, of just capturing that
young innocence energy, and it's very much a snapshot into
(25:36):
what teens are like right now. With the use of
words like busting' or riz, all of those things are
used and really effortlessly in their performances. So you don't
have like adult actors trying to sound like teenagers. You
have actual kids delivering the lines, which as just another
layer of authenticity. So you have the teenage part now
and you get to the mutant part, which doesn't really
(25:57):
stray away from the origin story. We know about the
teenage mutant ninja turtles. They come into contact with Ooz.
In this case, it is the product of a scientist
who is trying to create all these animals. To create
this mutant animal family. You have a Fly who later
becomes the villain in the movie as super Fly. You
also have the classic OG villains Bebop and rock Steady,
(26:19):
and then all these other new characters that are a
lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
But his place gets rated.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
The Ooz goes down into the sewer and there you
find are four characters who come into contact with the ooze,
and that is where Splinter finds them and tries to
rescue them, in turn turning into a mutant himself. One
of my favorite sequences in this movie is all the
Ninja turtles as kids, and they are so adorably cute
that I would want to see a spin off of
(26:46):
this movie of just their adventures as kids. So maybe
down the line they want to do baby mutant Ninja Turtles.
I think that would be a home run hit because
they are so adorable to look at and so funny
but I feel like what really brings this entire story
together is the animation style. So we have the teenage,
we have the mutant, the Ninja Turtle part comes out
(27:08):
in its animation style, which I think now owes a
lot of credit to Spider Man into and across the
Spider Verse of showing that animated movies can be a
lot more sophisticated, not only in the style of the animation,
but also in the.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Storytelling, which you see a lot in this movie.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
So in a way, I feel like that movie paved
the way for this movie to be made. Essentially, it
was the blueprint of this movie. Because we did get
a TMNT animated theatrical release in two thousand and seven,
which was a lot more kid friendly. It was still fun,
but in no way does it compare to what they
did in this movie. And it's a very unique animation style.
I don't really think it ripped off the Spider Verse
(27:48):
animation style, which to me that just feels like a
comic book come to life. What they did in this movie.
It almost feels like a kid's book that you would
read maybe in like third or fourth grade that had
this very like unique, colorful, almost watercolor based illustrations. It
was almost like that Come to Life had this very
fun and warm, inviting tone that I think this movie
(28:10):
will greatly speak to kids, but also me as an
adult and a fan of animation now just gives me
something very unique to look at. All of the character
designs were very nicely updated, kind of along the same
lines of the look we got in the late two
thousands and early twenty tens of The Ninja Turtles, So
I would say if they were trying to recreate any
(28:31):
era of the Ninja Turtles, it would be that era,
not so much the original eighties cartoon. So you have
the animation style, and then you have the soundtrack and
the score in this movie, which a lot of the
soundtrack is nineties hip hop, which is perfectly used in
this movie. To hear wound tang in an animated movie
like this also just really wore my heart and I
find it surprising how well this entire soundtrack worked in
(28:53):
this movie. Maybe it's because ice Cube is the voice
of Superfly. You also have my favorite artist post alone
as ray fill a ray filet, So maybe the nineties
hip hop aspect was just the easy plug and play.
But Aside from the nineties hip hop, you also have
this menacing score synthpop rock that is very charging throughout
the entire movie. Now that did remind me a lot
(29:15):
of into the Spider Verse of having this kind of dark,
unsettling tone that something bad was going to happen. So
this entire score just really helped drive home the tone
in this movie, which I feel like is one of
the most emotional stories told in a Ninja Turtles movie. Really,
the main message of this movie is them wanting to
feel like humans do and be accepted by humans. When
(29:37):
you have their dad Splinter telling them how awful humans are,
and they are trying to prove him wrong by going
out and experiencing the real world for the first time
after a lifetime of living down in the sewer. So
this is really their true origin story of becoming heroes.
And one of my favorite scenes is the first time
they get into a real fight, which brings one of
(29:59):
my favorite things of superheroes discovering their powers. It's them
finally getting to use all of their iconic weapons against
this new enemy for the very first time. So it
is a very mature and more developed Ninja Turtle story.
Proving it doesn't just have to be that cheesy eighties
cartoon or the silliness of the nineties, or the more
(30:19):
playfulness and family friendly iterations that we've had in the
two thousands and twenty tens. Now showing that these characters
have a little bit more depth can be taken a
little bit more seriously, at least to the adults to
see this movie, but also being warm, fun and inviting
to all the kids, because surprisingly this movie does have
I don't want to say bad language, but a little
(30:40):
bit more suggestive than.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
I was expecting.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
There are times that I feel like ice Cube had
to kind of pull the reins in a little bit
where he easily could have dropped some s maybe even
some F bombs in this movie. He probably did while
recording his lines, and they're like, hey, you gotta tone
it back. This is a Nickelodeon film, but as far
as the violence, it is far less violent than the
original TMNT movie. So I feel like this movie was
(31:03):
very much a love letter and an ode to all
those classic og fans of the franchise. Even from the
opening scene where all of the Ninja Turtles are on
this roof in New York, City where it's essentially the
cover of that first ever Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic
book that was kind of like, hey, we see all
you original fans, and then quickly just opens up to
(31:23):
here is what we're actually going to do and introduce
these Turtles to a whole new generation, and I think
they completely nailed it. I can't wait to see what
they do next. I can't wait to see what all
other villains they incorporate in this franchise, which again I
won't spoil anything, but they.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Have a whole new take on the way the.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Ninja Turtles interact with the villains, which was really what
made this movie for me. So for Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles Mutant Mayhem, I give it four out of five
heroes and a half shell turtle power.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
It's time to head down to movie.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Mike Traylar Paul.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
I love it when directors can make history sexy. I
love a sexy historical drama. I think it's probably because
after watching Oppenheimer, now I'm craving it a little bit
to think that there's stories out there to be told
inside history that we really don't know a whole lot about.
But if given the right director, you can make us
(32:23):
so passionate about history and.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Make us want to learn more. I am all about it.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
So now we have a new movie coming out later
this year on November twenty second, called Napoleon. It stars
the one and only Academy Award winning Joaquin Phoenix, one
of my favorite actors right now. Really, I would say
in the last ten years, I have loved every single
Joaquin Phoenix movie. If he is in a movie, I
(32:49):
know it's going to be something special, whether it be Joker,
whether it be Her, whether it be Napoleon. And I
am all interested in watching this movie now.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
It is from.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Director Ridley's Got, who is an English filmmaker to some
known as Sir Ridley's Scott, but he is known for
movies like Alien, The Original, Blade Runner, Felma and Louise, Gladiator, Hannibal, Blackhawk,
Down the Marsh, and the list goes on and on.
He really has quite the range, I mean, science fiction, crime, historically.
(33:20):
There are so many things inside of his portfolio, and
now he's taking on the story of the French Emperor Napoleon.
Before I get into my full thoughts about this movie,
here's just a little bit of the trailer.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
What is your name, Napoleon. That's the course of my
life just changed.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Napoleon, I'm destined for greatness. I thought that was in
powerful only seeing as the sword, I suggest you take
the throne as king, holding on.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
Sorry, vote. So what this movie is about, it is
the rise and fall of Napoleon.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Napoleon was born in France on August fifteenth, seventeen sixty
nine and died on May fifth, eighteen twenty one, so
this is a time period I really don't know a
whole lot about. The story focuses greatly on the general
and emperor's rise to power during that time span, and
most importantly, his relationship with Empress Josephine Bonaparte played by
(34:27):
Vanessa Kirby. I'm probably slaughtering a lot of those names,
but I'm also trying to be a little overly fancy
on all of these names.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
The thing I found most.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Surprising about this movie, and what I learned in my
research about Napoleon, is that we always hear about the
Napoleon complex of him being this short guy with a
big ego and wanting to have all this power and
was seen as being ruthless, and the reason he was
so ruthless is because he was short and trying to
compensate for something. And in my research I found that Napoleon,
(34:59):
really it wasn't as short as we all thought to be,
because it is often reported that he was five foot two,
at least according to history. However, this was pre metric
system in the French inch, so actually Napoleon.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Was not five foot two at all. By today's standards.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
He would have been five foot six. And the reason
I stumbled upon this is because I wondered about what
Quing Phoenix is height and whether he was portraying this
character correctly, because in the trailer he just looks like
a normal human, which what Quing Phoenix is five foot eight.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
So when lining that up.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Historically he is five foot eight, only two inches taller
than Napoleon would have been, it makes me feel like
I've been lied to my entire life. And I thought
that there had to be a reason for this, and
there is is because there was a British political cartoonist
who lived and worked from the years seventeen fifty six
to eighteen fifty and his caricatures that he drew of
(35:59):
Napoleon were so highly influential on Napoleon's life and everybody's
depiction of him because they saw him in these cartoons
that this cartoonist portrayed him as this small, angry man
who was throwing this childlike tantrum, and this is just
how everybody started to see him. And the idea behind
(36:19):
these political cartoons was to depict him in a way
that really made him seem inferior because being five foot
six at that time, he was really the same size
of all of his peers. The man this was like
social media before social media was around. The political cartoons
back in the day were brutal that they could completely
(36:41):
change the perception of you, just based upon the image
that everybody gets in their head by what they are
shown in the media. Crazy to me, that blew my mind.
But going back to what this movie is going to
be about, I think Joaquin Phoenix is the perfect person
to play Napoleon, and I love it when an actor
of his caliber portrays a character that we really don't
(37:03):
have anything to compare it to. We're not going to
go back and compare it to clips of Napoleon because
they don't exist. But he is an actor who goes
so far into his character study goes a little bit
method at times, not as crazy as maybe a Daniel
da Lewis, but really is able to give their interpretation
of what they think a person like this living in
(37:24):
this time would have been. Like, So I am so
excited for him to do this, but also the fact
that it's coming from director Riley Scott, who has worked
with Joaquin Phoenix before in Gladiator and in his movies,
he is just able to have this kind of visceral
tone that's very theatrical, especially when it comes to big
action sequences and big fight scenes, which this trailer gives
(37:45):
you a bit of a taste from that. And it
also has the Apple TV Plus model backing it, which
tells you it's going to be very visually stunning. So
this movie is coming out in theaters on November twenty second,
and then will be released on Apple TV Plus at
a later date. I also just love it when movies
are made about people and they show you the good
but also the worst sides of their character to fully
(38:07):
flesh out the story. That is oftentimes why I don't
really like biopics that come out when a person is
still alive or maybe just passed away not too long ago,
because I feel like you're really not gonna get the
full story there. You have a lot of influence from
either the person themselves or their families. And with the
historical drama like this, I feel like we're gonna get
(38:28):
the very, very bad side of Napoleon in this because
just by the looks of the trailer, he does not
look like a good guy. He's at that for was
this week's edition of Movie by tram Or Park and
that's gonna do it for another episode here of the podcast.
But before I go, I gotta give my listeners shout out.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
Over the week, you can get a.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Listener shout out by commenting on one of my reels
or tiktoks, hitting me up on Twitter or threads or Facebook.
You can find that all in the episode notes. But
this week I am going over to the comments of
my Oppenheimer review, and this week's listeners shout out is
the one and only Jeremy Martin, who commented on that
(39:07):
video and said, love the podcast, dude. I'm wondering what
are your go to snacks and drinks for movies? Also,
is there a chain of theaters you prefer versus one
you will never visit again. Thank you Jeremy for the question,
because in that video Kelsey and I are getting settled
going to watch Oppenheimer. Kelsey has her popcorn and in
this video she has their diet pepsi, which those are
(39:29):
her go to movie snacks. For me, it's a little
bit different if you don't know, I am vegan, so
really there are very limited options, if any, for me
at the movie theater. So oftentimes I bring my own snacks,
which I usually tell them I have dietary restrictions, which
isn't a line. I'm not just trying to sneak in food,
but there's really nothing there that I can eat that
(39:50):
is vegan.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
So what I usually bring.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Is one of my favorite snacks from Trader Joe's called
Shruse balls. They are like these vegan energy balls that
are very delicious, in particular the peanut butter and jelly flavor.
That is a great movie snack. And when it comes
to drinks, sometimes I'll just get a bottle of water.
I know, very sexy here. I get my bottle of
water with my fruise balls, or sometimes I will bring
(40:12):
in a can of High Brew, which is my favorite
cold brew coffee, especially in a longer movie when I
really want to focus in and pay attention. So for Oppenheimer,
I had my own can of Highbrew, which I will
always pick out the right moment of the film to
crack it open. If there's an explosion or a big
talking scene, I'll wait for that and be like and
(40:32):
open up my high Bruce.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
So thank you Jeremy for that question. I go to
movie snacks are cruise balls and coffee.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
I'm a wild guy. Everybody.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Thank you for listening to this week's episode. I hope
you enjoyed that. Thank you for.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Letting me talk all about my love of the Ninja Shurtles.
Share this episode with a TMNT fan in your life,
and until next time, go out and watch good movies
and I will talk to you later
Hello, and welcome back to movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I
am your host Movie Mike. Today I want to share
with you why Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from nineteen ninety
is one of my favorite movies of all time. It
is a top ten film for me, and that is
in honor of the new animated Ninja Turtles movie coming
out this weekend. We'll get into a spoiler free review
of Mutant Mayhem and in the trailer park we'll talk
about Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and something really crazy and
(00:24):
interesting I learned about Napoleon's height.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Basically, we've been lied to our entire lives.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Thank you movie crew for being a part of the podcast,
for listening every single week, for telling a friend, and
now let's talk movies.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
In a world where everyone and their mother has a podcast,
one man stands to infiltrate the ears of listeners like
never before in a movie podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
A man with so much movie knowledge. He's basically like.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
A walking IMTB with glasses. From the Nashville Podcast Network,
this is Movie Mike's Movie Podcast.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
I wanted to do a deep dive into one of
my favorite movies of all time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
from nineteen ninety is a top ten film for me,
and I think in my movie reviewing career, I've been
maybe not afraid to say that, but I feel like
movie critics have such a high regard for their top
(01:20):
ten films, and I feel like some critics and reviewers
want to have a top ten that showcase their taste
and their film browless of being superior than others. But
when I sit down and think about my top ten
movies of all time and throw all that stuff out
the window, I think about the movies that have influenced
me and movies that have stuck with me since I
(01:41):
was a kid through my adult life, especially ones that
have reincardinated themselves in several different ways through reboots and
through television shows. I think about those that are the
building blocks of what make me do this podcast every
single week. And for me, the original teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles movie from nineteen ninety is a film for me.
So I'm not afraid to say that, and today I
(02:02):
want to share with you why it is a top
ten film for me, and I've given you hints at
some of my other top ten movies, like Willy Wonka
I've been talking about recently with the trailer, so I
want to look at all of the aspects surrounding the
nineteen ninety film, how this movie was based on a
comic book in the eighties turned TV show. But before
I get into all that, I want to share with
(02:24):
you how I was first introduced to the teenage mutant
Ninja Turtles, and it all stems from my older brother,
who was born in the eighties and who was such
a big fan of that original cartoon and is really
the reason that I love the Turtles as much as
I do. Because I was born in nineteen ninety one,
this first movie came out before I was born, but
I just remember seeing it so much because he was
(02:46):
such a big fan of it, and through me wanting
to be just like my older brother and into all
the things that he was. Ninja Turtles was one of
those first few fandoms that I was completely a part of,
even though it was just maybe a little bit before
my time, with the cartoon coming out in the eighties
and these movies being out when I was a baby,
but all through my childhood I remember watching these VHS
(03:07):
tapes with him and bonding so much that over the
years it has been a form of how we stay
connected as brothers, with the two thousand and seven animated
movie being one of the movies I remember going to
see in theaters with him and being really excited about it,
and even with the live action movies coming out in
the twenty tens, it has been a way that we've
always bonded and connected with each other. So I think
(03:29):
for a lot of kids, there is a deep personal
connection with this franchise unlike anything else really out there,
and even more so than Marvel movies and superhero movies.
There is just something that instantly connects us with our
childhood when it comes to the teenage mutant Ninja Turtles.
And that's why I love now that there is another
reincarnation in the twenty twenties that is going to be
(03:50):
that for some kid. And I'll get into more of
that later, but let's go back to just years before
this movie came out. The first incarnation of the Ninja
Turtles was in a comic book. You had two r
a is Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who were really
just trying to do a parody of superhero comics, which
you had X Men, which was huge at the time,
all of the Marvel comics, and one of them literally
(04:11):
just drew a sketch of a turtle wearing a ninja
mask and having a weapon, and they just thought it
was funny the idea of a ninja being as slow
as a turtle.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
But then when they looked at this drawing, they thought, maybe.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
There's something here, and they changed the design of it
a little bit to look less like a slow turtle,
gave a more human like features, and then realized there
actually may be something here. So again, they were pulling
from that inspiration of X Men and a character being mutants,
but just thought the idea of giving those characteristics to
an animal would be funny, And the first issue of
(04:45):
the Ninja Turtles was released in nineteen eighty four. They
started a company called Mirage Studios, and it ended up
being surprisingly a pretty big success, so much so that
they were able to license these characters to a toy
company called Playmate's Toys. And this is where the money
starts to come in, because they created a line of
turtle action figures. But in order to sell action figures
(05:08):
back in the eighties, what was everybody doing? What was
ThunderCats doing, what was he Man doing? Barbie Gi Joe?
They were creating cartoons, so they had this deal with
the toy company that you had to make a cartoon
to go along with it, because the cartoon really serves
as the commercial for kids to buy the toy. So
what had to change was the tone of the comic,
(05:30):
the tone of the Ninja Turtles because in that first issue,
the entire story was very dark, which will come into
play later when we talk about the movie. Because the
subject matter and the tone of the comic book was
a lot grittier and darker and more vengeful. So in
order to make it appeal to kids, their look was
(05:50):
changed in the cartoon to make them a little softer,
more appealing to kids.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
They also had to distinguish.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
The characters a little bit more because in the comic look,
they really just all looked like Rafael. They all had
the red mask, and you couldn't really tell one turtle
from the other. When you're trying to sell toys, you
have to distinguish them, so they gave them each different
colored mask. You have the orange as Michelangelo, the red
as Rafael, the blue as Leonardo, and the purple as
(06:18):
Donna Tello, and then to further distinguish all of our characters,
they also had on their belts the letter of their
first name.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
So the cartoon went on to be a huge.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Success, but more importantly, they were able to make a
lot of money because the Turtles toys sold one point
one billion dollars between nineteen eighty eight and nineteen ninety two,
making them the third best selling toys of all time
when it comes to action figures. So the animated series
premiered in nineteen eighty seven. It ended up running for
(06:51):
almost a decade. So at the successful animated show with
a successful toy line, now came the time to make
a movie. I feel like this is where things get
interesting because the movie was a lot more closely centered
on the comic than it was the animated series, which
at that time, when the animated series came out, a
(07:11):
lot of fans of the comic were upset with it
because they thought, oh, they really lost the edge of
the comic books. So when they started making this movie,
which at the time it was an independent movie, it
wasn't funded by a major studio, they decided to have
this darker, grittier tone that was showcased more in the
comic books, because I feel there were only certain movies,
(07:31):
maybe ten total, that I love every single aspect of
the film, and I don't even look at it as
a movie when I sit down and watch them. It
just feels like I am watching a part of myself,
a part of my life that I don't focus on
the directing style, I don't focus on the cinematography. I
just think of them really as life experiences. And TMNT
(07:56):
from nineteen ninety is.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
A movie like that. For me.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Everything from the New Line Cinema logo in this movie
I just have embedded into my head. I hear this sound,
I see this logo, and I immediately associated with this
first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, and there are very
few movies that do that. And then after that logo,
(08:20):
well you get that opening scene, but what really sets
it off is that theme song.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Let's go Yeah, and there you just have me.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
You just grip me with that song and it doesn't
let go through the rest of the movie. So what
this first movie served as was the introduction to the
teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
And in this movie you.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Find our four friends who are living underground in the
shadows of the sewer and are protecting New York City
from a gang of criminal ninjas.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
I love that storyline, but that's really what this story is.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
They are just trying to make the world above them
a better place by taking out all these bad guys.
But they can't be seen because they have a dad
named Splinter, who is a rat who rescued them as
kids after stumbling upon to this ooze, and they turned
into these creatures.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Who love pizza and love kickin butt.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
And it all starts from the opening scene of this
movie where you really get the tone of this entire film.
April O'Neil is attacked by a group of thugs and
then the Turtles come in to rescue her, with Raf
leaving behind his weapon and being totally upset about it.
And then you get into finding out about their life
of doing things like this that are noble and heroic
(09:50):
but not being able to get any of the credit
because they cannot be seen. They work in the shadows,
they work in the dark at night, and then they
go back into the sewer and just kind of hang
out and be teenagers. And then you get to know
all of the Ninja Turtles, with Leonardo being the leader,
Dona Tello being the nerdier one, Michelangelo being the goofball,
(10:11):
kind of the young one who gets away with everything
and is just the comic relief in the entire movie,
and then Raphael being the moody teenager with really something
to prove that has this chip on his shoulder and
kind of sets himself apart from all the other Ninja
Turtles because he just kind of goes off on his own.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
It is very emo.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
I think as a kid growing up, I really saw
myself and Michelangelo, and that is actually why my family
gave me the nickname. Growing up as Mikey. Everybody knew
me as Mikey, and it was because of my love
of The Ninja Turtles and my love of the character.
He had so many iconic lines in this movie, like
this one.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Eats the dudes got thirty seconds. He had the charm
like in this line.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
She called me Mikey.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
But looking back.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
At this movie as in adult, I really just think
I am more of a Raphael who he is the
moody teenager in this movie, and I think that is
what lots of kids watching this they were able to
identify with a different character, and who are you most like?
Are you more like Leonardo Michelangelo Donatello or a Rafayel.
Now as an adult, I think I am much more
(11:19):
of a Rafayelle, who I actually think is a lot
more sophisticated than a teenager. In this movie, he just
has this rage for no reason. It showcased in his
first battle with Casey Jones freaka.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Frank Frank, like that come back, I'm not finished for you,
that vocal performance, all of that. It just gets me.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Of like, like I just feel that now more as
an adult, of when I feel like an outsider, when
I feel like people don't get me, I feel very
much like Rafayel. And sorry if I got a little
bit excited and talked over that clip. I just really
felt that Rafayel performance there. And there's just so much
emotion showcase in this movie, and it's greatly reflected through Raphael,
(12:05):
who is going through this mental journey of just finding
this place and trying to get Splinter back after he
was taken by the Foot Clan and having the thing
you love the most and care about being taken away
from you. So you hear it first in his encounters
with Casey Jones, but then later once he finds out
that Splinter has been taken. So when I look back
(12:35):
on this movie, it is surprising to me how big
of a hit it became because it was so different
than the cartoons. You hear it here, you hear all
the emotions, You see the action in this movie, which
is for a kids movie.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Pretty violent.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
They actually use their weapons in this movie, and I
think that's why whenever the sequel came out Secret of
the that they got away from the use of their
weapons and instead they were using other things like sausages
or other objects to inflict pain on other people because
kids were starting to emulate the Ninja Turtles and whacking
(13:13):
their brothers and sisters with a stick or even worse,
trying to find a sword to stam somebody with. So
there was such a big tone shift between the first
one and the second one, and never again in a
teenage mutant Ninja Turtles, whether it be a TV show
or a movie, was this same energy captured. I don't
think you could ever really do a movie like this again,
(13:36):
unless like a big director like Christopher Nolan gave it
the Dark Knight treatment, which would be amazing, because I
think there is a darker Ninja Turtle story to tell,
even more so.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Than this one.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
But aside from just the character of Rafael, I just
identify a lot with the Ninja Turtles, of having to
live in the shadows and being rejected by society, and
even their fascination with pizza, which I did rewatch the
movie in preparation for this episode, and after all the
times I've watched this movie, it finally just clicked with me.
(14:07):
The reason they love pizza is because at the time,
in the eighties and nineties, it was the only food
that you could really get delivered, and they can't go
out in public and be seen, so they would get
pizza delivered because you never had to see the person.
So that's the reason they love pizza, at least in
this movie, at least the conclusion I've come to. The
(14:27):
other reason I love this movie is a lot of
my vernacular, a lot of the way I speak has
been influenced by this movie, and there's just very small scenes,
in small moments that I continue to use these phrases
as an adult. There is a scene at the beginning
of the movie where Raphaela is gonna go watch a movie,
and he tells everybody he's going out.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
To watch a movie. Is that okay with you?
Speaker 1 (14:48):
And Leonardo gives a very casual yeah, And I find
myself saying that so much now in my adult life.
And along the same lines of the use of vernacular,
this movie just is a really good snapshot of what
late eighties and early nineties culture is like.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
And I think that is what a great teenage.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Mutant Ninja Turtles movie does, is embody the culture of
teenagers at that time, because whatever is popular with teenagers
is really the driving force of what is popular in
America and the best representation of what is happening in
America at that time. And I think above all else
that is what this film really spoke to. The teenage
(15:29):
rebellion and relatability of feeling like nobody is taking you seriously.
That is what the Ninja Turtles embody. But I think
above all else of why this is one of my
favorite movies of all time and also just my favorite
depiction of the Ninja Turtles is because of its use
of practical effects and puppetry. The original TMNT heads and
(15:53):
costumes were developed by Jim Henson's company, who you would
know as creating the Muppets and was so influence on
so many films of creating real things that in this case,
the actual actors underneath could wear. And for me, that
is something we have really gotten away from through the
use of CGI, which I'm not totally against. I love
(16:14):
the fact now that you can create anything through the
use of CGI and make it be believable to us
if done correctly, if the right time and money is
spent on it. I'm not against CGI, but there is
something so special when there is an actual tangible subject
that can be touched, but most importantly that can be
interacted with. So even going back to movies like Jurassic Park,
(16:37):
where they actually created these animatonic dinosaurs that the actors
could see and react to, that makes a big difference
on how much of an authentic performance that actor can give.
But in this situation with the Ninja Turtles, you have
these heads that are controlled through electronics. There essentially these
puppet heads that not only can the other actors like
(17:00):
April O'Neil or Casey Jones in this movie interact with,
but there is actually a human inside underneath doing all
the moves, So you have the human doing the martial
arts moves and then you have the puppeteer doing all
the movements with the face. It is just something that
doesn't get done anymore, but there is such a charm
to it. There's also issues with it. If you go
(17:22):
back and watch this movie, there are a lot of
mistakes that are made. In one of the opening sequences
where Dona Tello is skateboarding, you can actually see the
human hands in a shot that made the final movie
because well.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
That's just what got left in there.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
There are other scenes that just seem a little bit
awkward of when the turtles go into hug and you
have a hand over a face. You know it's not perfect,
but I feel like it's so much more authentic and
also shows you that this movie was able to be
made on a pretty low budget of thirteen point five
million dollars, but it went on to open at the
box office with twenty five million dollars in its opening
(18:02):
weekend and went on to have a worldwide gross of
two hundred and two million dollars and was the highest
grossing independent movie up until The Blair Witch Project came
out in nineteen ninety nine. And then what cements this
movie in my top ten is that final scene on
the roof when the Ninja Turtles are taking on Shredder.
(18:25):
It is one of the most impactful moments in cinematic history.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
It really is such.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
An emotional scene, and the entire movie is just kind
of building up to that of the Ninja Turtles finally
taking on their arch nemesis Shredder, and the emotion poured
out of these characters as they are fighting for their
life and trying to take down Shredder is just emotions
flying all over the place, which leads to them finally
defeating Shredder. After he goes to attack Splinter, Splinter throws
(18:57):
him off the roof. He lands in the back of
a garbage truck. And then our good friend Casey Jones
kills a guy this movie has a death again, speaking
to the dark tone of this movie, he straight up
gets taken out. So those are all the reasons why
this is a top ten film for me and why
I was so excited to see Mutant Mayhem in theaters.
(19:21):
And I feel like now as an adult in my thirties,
I am able to speak more freely about the nerdy
things I love and even just ten twenty years ago,
if I were to speak like this, I would be
seen as a total weirdo because I remember there being
a TV show in two thousand and four hosted by
Fred Willard called Totally Obsessed, and they focused on a
(19:42):
Ninja Turtle fan who goes by the name of Michelle Ivy,
who was actually still around on Instagram at Calabunga Corner,
but the entire profile on her was really made in
a way to poke fun at her, like, look, how
into Ninja Turtle she is. She is a big nerd
and we and I remember seeing that and thinking, why
(20:02):
are they poking fun at her? She's just passionate about
something that has meant so much to her as a kid,
But now that she's an adult, maybe to others that
seems a little bit weird, but I never saw that
as weird. She's not hurting anybody. She owns a lot
of the original heads from the third movie that was made,
dresses up like a Ninja Turtle, but even uses it
(20:24):
for good because she goes to kids' birthday parties or
goes to visit kids in the hospital.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
So I just thought it was weird.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
The tone of this entire profile piece, which I'm going
to play for you a little bit now, and looking
back on it, I just feel happy that times have changed.
But this was a piece done in two thousand and
four where they were poking fun at her and how
much money she spends on all the memorabilia. Because Michelle
works at a factory from minimum wage, she takes out
bank loans to feed her Ninja Turtle obsession. This had
(20:53):
cost me two thousand dollars. The one thing I like
now is that she has her own job, she's making
her own money, and she can waste her own money
on this stuff. Pardon my French.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I paid eighteen hundred dollars for Leonardo. Michelle's going high risk.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
She's willing to put herself in the debt in order
to say ah ahead, hope Leonardo.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
I have been downright told by several people just drop
the Turtles. So I would like to say justice for
Michelle Ivy. I'm glad that you're still showcasing your love
for the Ninja Turtles through your Instagram Cawabunga corner and
the fact that now all of us old schoold Ninja
Turtles fans have something else to be excited about. I
am no longer ashamed of it. I am no longer
(21:40):
afraid to say that this movie from nineteen ninety is
a top ten film for me. So thank you for
coming to my Turtle Ted talk. Gonna come back and
talk about the new one, Mutant Mayhem after this. Let's
get into it now. A spoiler free movie review of
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem. I went into this
(22:02):
movie wanting to feel like a kid again. As we've
been talking about all episode long, the Teenage mut Ninja
Turtles are very near and dear to my heart, much
like a lot of other thirty thirty five forty year
olds right now. And the great thing about the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles is about every decade we get a
new introduction. So since their debut in the eighties and
(22:24):
the nineties, twenty twenty tens, and now twenty twenties, depending
on your age, you have a different opinion on what
the best teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle series is of all time.
I am a product of the nineties, so really, to me,
it's those nineties movies that really captured the essence of
what made the Turtles great. And the reason I was
(22:45):
excited about that going into this movie is because it's
produced by Seth Rogan, who, much like me, is also
a fan of that iteration of the teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
And I was excited about that because I knew with
him as a producer on this movie, he was going
to want to capture that same energy that made those
movies great and bring that into this whole new story.
(23:07):
And what I was pleasantly surprised by in this movie
is that sometimes when a movie comes out like this,
it just feels like a cash grab. To me. You're
banking on the fact that all the people that grew
up with this franchise in the eighties and nineties are
now adults with adult money, and they're gonna go spend
money to watch this movie to relive their childhood. But
(23:27):
now those adults also have kids of their own, So
what better moment of having this family bonding experience of
you taking your now kids to go see something that
you were a fan of when you were a kid.
So I feel like sometimes movie studios and franchises like
this just bank on that, and what they end up
coming out with really is a cash grab. There's nothing
(23:48):
added in. They just rehash old storylines and make it
a movie that is just essentially what we knew as
kids and don't really give us anything new. And I
am happy to say that that is not the case
with Mutant Mayhem. Quite the opposite, that this is a
Ninja Turtle story that I haven't seen told in the
comic books and the TV shows or in the movies.
(24:09):
It's a whole new, more emotional look on the lives
of the Ninja Turtles and what they face. So in
this movie, you have all of our iconic characters back,
you have Splinter voice by Jackie Chan, and then you
have all of the Ninja Turtles, Michael Angelo, Leonardo Raphael,
and Donna Tello, all voiced by actual teenagers, which I
think adds a great level of authenticity to their performances.
(24:33):
And I heard Seth Rogan talking about how he wanted
to capture that energy in this movie, and I think
was greatly reflected out of all of their performances. Is
he has been a part of animated movies where you
recorded everything completely different and you didn't see your co
stars until you went to that movie's premiere. He said,
the entire thing felt a little bit disconnected because you're
(24:54):
not getting to interact with those people until the very end,
so you don't really get this type performance that really
has a lot of emotion into it. It wasn't until
he worked on a movie later in his career where
he actually sat down with the other actors that he
felt like, oh, you can actually connect with other people.
So he took that idea and applied it to this
movie and had all of the kids in a room
(25:16):
together to interact. And what you get and what you
hear in the movie is very authentic performances of just
teenagers hanging out being teenagers. And I've never really seen
that fully encaptured in a movie, whether it be live
action or whether it be animated, of just capturing that
young innocence energy, and it's very much a snapshot into
(25:36):
what teens are like right now. With the use of
words like busting' or riz, all of those things are
used and really effortlessly in their performances. So you don't
have like adult actors trying to sound like teenagers. You
have actual kids delivering the lines, which as just another
layer of authenticity. So you have the teenage part now
and you get to the mutant part, which doesn't really
(25:57):
stray away from the origin story. We know about the
teenage mutant ninja turtles. They come into contact with Ooz.
In this case, it is the product of a scientist
who is trying to create all these animals. To create
this mutant animal family. You have a Fly who later
becomes the villain in the movie as super Fly. You
also have the classic OG villains Bebop and rock Steady,
(26:19):
and then all these other new characters that are a
lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
But his place gets rated.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
The Ooz goes down into the sewer and there you
find are four characters who come into contact with the ooze,
and that is where Splinter finds them and tries to
rescue them, in turn turning into a mutant himself. One
of my favorite sequences in this movie is all the
Ninja turtles as kids, and they are so adorably cute
that I would want to see a spin off of
(26:46):
this movie of just their adventures as kids. So maybe
down the line they want to do baby mutant Ninja Turtles.
I think that would be a home run hit because
they are so adorable to look at and so funny
but I feel like what really brings this entire story
together is the animation style. So we have the teenage,
we have the mutant, the Ninja Turtle part comes out
(27:08):
in its animation style, which I think now owes a
lot of credit to Spider Man into and across the
Spider Verse of showing that animated movies can be a
lot more sophisticated, not only in the style of the animation,
but also in the.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Storytelling, which you see a lot in this movie.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
So in a way, I feel like that movie paved
the way for this movie to be made. Essentially, it
was the blueprint of this movie. Because we did get
a TMNT animated theatrical release in two thousand and seven,
which was a lot more kid friendly. It was still fun,
but in no way does it compare to what they
did in this movie. And it's a very unique animation style.
I don't really think it ripped off the Spider Verse
(27:48):
animation style, which to me that just feels like a
comic book come to life. What they did in this movie.
It almost feels like a kid's book that you would
read maybe in like third or fourth grade that had
this very like unique, colorful, almost watercolor based illustrations. It
was almost like that Come to Life had this very
fun and warm, inviting tone that I think this movie
(28:10):
will greatly speak to kids, but also me as an
adult and a fan of animation now just gives me
something very unique to look at. All of the character
designs were very nicely updated, kind of along the same
lines of the look we got in the late two
thousands and early twenty tens of The Ninja Turtles, So
I would say if they were trying to recreate any
(28:31):
era of the Ninja Turtles, it would be that era,
not so much the original eighties cartoon. So you have
the animation style, and then you have the soundtrack and
the score in this movie, which a lot of the
soundtrack is nineties hip hop, which is perfectly used in
this movie. To hear wound tang in an animated movie
like this also just really wore my heart and I
find it surprising how well this entire soundtrack worked in
(28:53):
this movie. Maybe it's because ice Cube is the voice
of Superfly. You also have my favorite artist post alone
as ray fill a ray filet, So maybe the nineties
hip hop aspect was just the easy plug and play.
But Aside from the nineties hip hop, you also have
this menacing score synthpop rock that is very charging throughout
the entire movie. Now that did remind me a lot
(29:15):
of into the Spider Verse of having this kind of dark,
unsettling tone that something bad was going to happen. So
this entire score just really helped drive home the tone
in this movie, which I feel like is one of
the most emotional stories told in a Ninja Turtles movie. Really,
the main message of this movie is them wanting to
feel like humans do and be accepted by humans. When
(29:37):
you have their dad Splinter telling them how awful humans are,
and they are trying to prove him wrong by going
out and experiencing the real world for the first time
after a lifetime of living down in the sewer. So
this is really their true origin story of becoming heroes.
And one of my favorite scenes is the first time
they get into a real fight, which brings one of
(29:59):
my favorite things of superheroes discovering their powers. It's them
finally getting to use all of their iconic weapons against
this new enemy for the very first time. So it
is a very mature and more developed Ninja Turtle story.
Proving it doesn't just have to be that cheesy eighties
cartoon or the silliness of the nineties, or the more
(30:19):
playfulness and family friendly iterations that we've had in the
two thousands and twenty tens. Now showing that these characters
have a little bit more depth can be taken a
little bit more seriously, at least to the adults to
see this movie, but also being warm, fun and inviting
to all the kids, because surprisingly this movie does have
I don't want to say bad language, but a little
(30:40):
bit more suggestive than.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
I was expecting.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
There are times that I feel like ice Cube had
to kind of pull the reins in a little bit
where he easily could have dropped some s maybe even
some F bombs in this movie. He probably did while
recording his lines, and they're like, hey, you gotta tone
it back. This is a Nickelodeon film, but as far
as the violence, it is far less violent than the
original TMNT movie. So I feel like this movie was
(31:03):
very much a love letter and an ode to all
those classic og fans of the franchise. Even from the
opening scene where all of the Ninja Turtles are on
this roof in New York, City where it's essentially the
cover of that first ever Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic
book that was kind of like, hey, we see all
you original fans, and then quickly just opens up to
(31:23):
here is what we're actually going to do and introduce
these Turtles to a whole new generation, and I think
they completely nailed it. I can't wait to see what
they do next. I can't wait to see what all
other villains they incorporate in this franchise, which again I
won't spoil anything, but they.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Have a whole new take on the way the.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Ninja Turtles interact with the villains, which was really what
made this movie for me. So for Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles Mutant Mayhem, I give it four out of five
heroes and a half shell turtle power.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
It's time to head down to movie.
Speaker 3 (31:57):
Mike Traylar Paul.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
I love it when directors can make history sexy. I
love a sexy historical drama. I think it's probably because
after watching Oppenheimer, now I'm craving it a little bit
to think that there's stories out there to be told
inside history that we really don't know a whole lot about.
But if given the right director, you can make us
(32:23):
so passionate about history and.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
Make us want to learn more. I am all about it.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
So now we have a new movie coming out later
this year on November twenty second, called Napoleon. It stars
the one and only Academy Award winning Joaquin Phoenix, one
of my favorite actors right now. Really, I would say
in the last ten years, I have loved every single
Joaquin Phoenix movie. If he is in a movie, I
(32:49):
know it's going to be something special, whether it be Joker,
whether it be Her, whether it be Napoleon. And I
am all interested in watching this movie now.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
It is from.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Director Ridley's Got, who is an English filmmaker to some
known as Sir Ridley's Scott, but he is known for
movies like Alien, The Original, Blade Runner, Felma and Louise, Gladiator, Hannibal, Blackhawk,
Down the Marsh, and the list goes on and on.
He really has quite the range, I mean, science fiction, crime, historically.
(33:20):
There are so many things inside of his portfolio, and
now he's taking on the story of the French Emperor Napoleon.
Before I get into my full thoughts about this movie,
here's just a little bit of the trailer.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
What is your name, Napoleon. That's the course of my
life just changed.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
Napoleon, I'm destined for greatness. I thought that was in
powerful only seeing as the sword, I suggest you take
the throne as king, holding on.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
Sorry, vote. So what this movie is about, it is
the rise and fall of Napoleon.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Napoleon was born in France on August fifteenth, seventeen sixty
nine and died on May fifth, eighteen twenty one, so
this is a time period I really don't know a
whole lot about. The story focuses greatly on the general
and emperor's rise to power during that time span, and
most importantly, his relationship with Empress Josephine Bonaparte played by
(34:27):
Vanessa Kirby. I'm probably slaughtering a lot of those names,
but I'm also trying to be a little overly fancy
on all of these names.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
The thing I found most.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Surprising about this movie, and what I learned in my
research about Napoleon, is that we always hear about the
Napoleon complex of him being this short guy with a
big ego and wanting to have all this power and
was seen as being ruthless, and the reason he was
so ruthless is because he was short and trying to
compensate for something. And in my research I found that Napoleon,
(34:59):
really it wasn't as short as we all thought to be,
because it is often reported that he was five foot two,
at least according to history. However, this was pre metric
system in the French inch, so actually Napoleon.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Was not five foot two at all. By today's standards.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
He would have been five foot six. And the reason
I stumbled upon this is because I wondered about what
Quing Phoenix is height and whether he was portraying this
character correctly, because in the trailer he just looks like
a normal human, which what Quing Phoenix is five foot eight.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
So when lining that up.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Historically he is five foot eight, only two inches taller
than Napoleon would have been, it makes me feel like
I've been lied to my entire life. And I thought
that there had to be a reason for this, and
there is is because there was a British political cartoonist
who lived and worked from the years seventeen fifty six
to eighteen fifty and his caricatures that he drew of
(35:59):
Napoleon were so highly influential on Napoleon's life and everybody's
depiction of him because they saw him in these cartoons
that this cartoonist portrayed him as this small, angry man
who was throwing this childlike tantrum, and this is just
how everybody started to see him. And the idea behind
(36:19):
these political cartoons was to depict him in a way
that really made him seem inferior because being five foot
six at that time, he was really the same size
of all of his peers. The man this was like
social media before social media was around. The political cartoons
back in the day were brutal that they could completely
(36:41):
change the perception of you, just based upon the image
that everybody gets in their head by what they are
shown in the media. Crazy to me, that blew my mind.
But going back to what this movie is going to
be about, I think Joaquin Phoenix is the perfect person
to play Napoleon, and I love it when an actor
of his caliber portrays a character that we really don't
(37:03):
have anything to compare it to. We're not going to
go back and compare it to clips of Napoleon because
they don't exist. But he is an actor who goes
so far into his character study goes a little bit
method at times, not as crazy as maybe a Daniel
da Lewis, but really is able to give their interpretation
of what they think a person like this living in
(37:24):
this time would have been. Like, So I am so
excited for him to do this, but also the fact
that it's coming from director Riley Scott, who has worked
with Joaquin Phoenix before in Gladiator and in his movies,
he is just able to have this kind of visceral
tone that's very theatrical, especially when it comes to big
action sequences and big fight scenes, which this trailer gives
(37:45):
you a bit of a taste from that. And it
also has the Apple TV Plus model backing it, which
tells you it's going to be very visually stunning. So
this movie is coming out in theaters on November twenty second,
and then will be released on Apple TV Plus at
a later date. I also just love it when movies
are made about people and they show you the good
but also the worst sides of their character to fully
(38:07):
flesh out the story. That is oftentimes why I don't
really like biopics that come out when a person is
still alive or maybe just passed away not too long ago,
because I feel like you're really not gonna get the
full story there. You have a lot of influence from
either the person themselves or their families. And with the
historical drama like this, I feel like we're gonna get
(38:28):
the very, very bad side of Napoleon in this because
just by the looks of the trailer, he does not
look like a good guy. He's at that for was
this week's edition of Movie by tram Or Park and
that's gonna do it for another episode here of the podcast.
But before I go, I gotta give my listeners shout out.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
Over the week, you can get a.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Listener shout out by commenting on one of my reels
or tiktoks, hitting me up on Twitter or threads or Facebook.
You can find that all in the episode notes. But
this week I am going over to the comments of
my Oppenheimer review, and this week's listeners shout out is
the one and only Jeremy Martin, who commented on that
(39:07):
video and said, love the podcast, dude. I'm wondering what
are your go to snacks and drinks for movies? Also,
is there a chain of theaters you prefer versus one
you will never visit again. Thank you Jeremy for the question,
because in that video Kelsey and I are getting settled
going to watch Oppenheimer. Kelsey has her popcorn and in
this video she has their diet pepsi, which those are
(39:29):
her go to movie snacks. For me, it's a little
bit different if you don't know, I am vegan, so
really there are very limited options, if any, for me
at the movie theater. So oftentimes I bring my own snacks,
which I usually tell them I have dietary restrictions, which
isn't a line. I'm not just trying to sneak in food,
but there's really nothing there that I can eat that
(39:50):
is vegan.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
So what I usually bring.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Is one of my favorite snacks from Trader Joe's called
Shruse balls. They are like these vegan energy balls that
are very delicious, in particular the peanut butter and jelly flavor.
That is a great movie snack. And when it comes
to drinks, sometimes I'll just get a bottle of water.
I know, very sexy here. I get my bottle of
water with my fruise balls, or sometimes I will bring
(40:12):
in a can of High Brew, which is my favorite
cold brew coffee, especially in a longer movie when I
really want to focus in and pay attention. So for Oppenheimer,
I had my own can of Highbrew, which I will
always pick out the right moment of the film to
crack it open. If there's an explosion or a big
talking scene, I'll wait for that and be like and
(40:32):
open up my high Bruce.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
So thank you Jeremy for that question. I go to
movie snacks are cruise balls and coffee.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
I'm a wild guy. Everybody.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Thank you for listening to this week's episode. I hope
you enjoyed that. Thank you for.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Letting me talk all about my love of the Ninja Shurtles.
Share this episode with a TMNT fan in your life,
and until next time, go out and watch good movies
and I will talk to you later
Host
Mike D
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