The first trailer for Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) live-action reboot movie has slashed onto the Internet and finally revealed what the modern incarnation of the pizza-obsessed heroes in a half-shell look like following the trailer’s premiere at CinemaCon on Tuesday.
Of course, when Michael Bay is a producer on a high-profile project his name is going to get top-billing considering the success of his film catalog, especially the Transformers films. Ultimately Paramount is targeting the same demographic that pours in hundreds of million of dollars to watch Transformers, so director Jonathan Liebesman will have to do with playing second fiddle.
Each of the turtles: Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo, was filmed with actors via mo-cap using the same technology that brought Caeser and his apes to life in Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. As they make their debut in this first teaser trailer, it’s clear this new generation of turtles are far larger than previous iterations, though still look pretty much exactly like you’d imagine a CGI-rendered walking ninja turtle to look like.
The TMNT trailer includes a voiceover by William Fichtner, who plays the villainous Shredder in the film. We don’t get to see Fichtner in the mask, though there is a shot of him staring at the mask and it looks as delightfully evil as it should.
We don’t get to see Splinter, the anthropomorphic rat that mentors the turtles and teaches them the ways of the ninja. Rest assured he’s in the film and is voiced by Danny Woodburn.
Also headlining the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cast are Megan Fox as April O’Neil, without the signature red locks, and Will Arnett as Vernon Fenwick. The turtles are played by Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard and Pete Ploszek.
There’s turtles. There’s a light-hearted comedic tone. There’s Shredder and the Foot soldiers he commands. There’s also a connection between April’s dad and the creation of the turtles, something that die hard fans of the comic book and franchise will no doubt take exception to.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opens in theaters everywhere on August 8.
