Damning Faint Praises Leads to Success for Latest "Ninja Turtles" Movie

The Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made a $65 million debut this weekend, thanks in part to the critics.

It would be a easier to find a hard working senator than it would be to find a positive review for the latest Ninja Turtles movie, but this hasn't stopped moviegoers from flocking to this movie. In fact, the movie's success can be attributed to one key phrase that seemed to be repeated in many of the early reviews:

"It's not as bad as Michael Bay's Transformers."

That is not to say that all reviews are redundant.  I was quite impressed with a few of them:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/08/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-what-the-shell/375777/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/08/07/review-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-is-a-cowabummer/

But it comes down to why people went to see this movie.  To rekindle some old nostalgia? Sure. To indoctrinate a newer generation? You betcha.  Due to lowering literacy standards, no one reads reviews any more? Possibly. There's nothing good on Saturday nights? Okay. Because it's better than that piece of $#!+ Transformers franchise? Nail-on-the-head correct.

And I'm not preaching from the mound either. I plan on seeing Ninja Turtles sooner rather than later. In part because I grew up during the original craze, but mostly because it's not going be as bad as Transformers.



I hope.

Humility

There will always be someone bigger than you.

Persistance

Even when things look hopeless, you need to keep going.

Spotlight

I never thought I'd see the day that IDW will make a Spotlight: Prowl comic book. But in April 2010, there will be one hitting the streets.

I hope they don't sell out. (They won't.)

Prowl Not in New Movie

Not the newest of news, but Prowl will not be in the new Transformers movie. Instead, the Decepticons have an "evil Prowl": Barracade. He transforms into a black Ford Mustang police car, to lure people into a false sense of security. This probably also means Prowl will not be in future sequels, because producers think that audience members couldn't tell the two apart.

Buckaroo Banzai Comic Book

I read on Comics Continuum the other day that Moonstone Books, a small press company, has obtained the rights of Buckaroo Banzai for a new comic series. It will be written by Banzai creator Earl Mac Rauch and drawn by Stephen Thompson. For the uninitiated, feel free to pick up the novel adaptation written by Rauch.

In other news, there's been rumors buzzing about the Internet that Dreamwave Comics, who currently hold the Transformers licence, are going out of business. There's no official word either way from Dreamwave itself, but it doesn't sound promising. I personally hope that this is just a bad rumor, since Dreamwave showed that you don't have to be DC or Marvel to be successful in comics.

It didn't hurt that they were making comics based on a famous '80s cartoon series. Anyway, Marvel had bankrupt problems a few years ago, and they're still around...