Welcome to Hollywood, boys..

 It's safe to say that the Turtles have officially made it to the big time. Okay, so the Ninja Turtles have been popular for the past 30 years, but this is the first time we can officially say that they’ve had one of those tent pole, big budget blockbusters centered around them, and it’s nice to see that kind of respect given to everyone’s favorite heroes in a half shell.

That being said, Hollywood flicks come with their own set of rules, so it’s not like you can expect them to give the fans everything that they want. When it comes to a movie like this, the studio’s main goal is to attract and please as many viewers as possible, which means that they are going to go with whatever sells well to major audiences. In other words, chances are you’re not going to get everything you wanted out of this movie.

This isn’t like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies you grew up watching as a kid – those were made on a considerably lower budget.  In fact, the budget for this film was almost $100 million more than any other Ninja Turtles movie that has ever been made before. Paramount Studios spent more money on this movie than Golden Harvest spent on all of the previous four TMNT movies combined. Keep that in mind as you wonder why they didn’t give you exactly what you wanted, and hopefully it will be easier to understand the decisions they made.

The thing is, even though some fans will undoubtedly be disappointed, we here at TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles.com think that this is actually a really good movie.

Yes, it is your prototypical summer blockbuster, filled with a lot of action and humor to keep everyone having fun, but Paramount, Michael Bay, and Director Jonathan Liebesman actually did a great job with the turtles in this movie. Although a lot Turtles fans were unhappy with how the turtles looked at first, when you actually get to see them in action on the big screen, these new Turtles just work.

The origin story is altered, as has been discussed quite a bit on various Turtles forums across the internet, but it wasn’t that badly altered, and in fact, has most of its roots in tact from many of the TMNT stories we have come to know and love over the years.

There are nods to the 2003 series, the new IDW comic, the original Laird/Eastman comics, the 90’s movies and the 1987 animated series placed (perhaps sparingly) throughout. These characters definitely don’t feel the same as the Ninja Turtles that many of us grew up with, but they retain enough of the core elements here that it is difficult to be disappointed here.

There will always be shellheads unhappy with some changes to the Laird/Eastman Turtles universe, and with that being said — are the changes made here in the 2014 really that atrocious?  As Turtles fans, we've all seen this before, and furthermore, as Turtles fans shouldn't we be instead celebriting the fact that the Turtles are back up on the screen?  Bringing the Turtles back to theaters in 2014 is going to do nothing but introduce to them to the next generation, who like us are coming to them in a key moment in their adolescence.  This will no doubt continue the Turtles legacy.

With some of the critics that have attacked the film:

What doesn’t work for the film is the lack of attention paid to developing the main characters. In the original 1990s film, we were treated to some genuinely memorable moments in those movies that the turtles shared amongst each other and with other characters. Unfortunately, the same really cannot be said for this latest iteration of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In fact, just as we are starting to learn about them and their characters start to develop, the movie jumps right into some action before anyone can even say “Cowabunga!”   Yet, we are also living in a comic book world too, and in this age of sequels and reboots, perhaps this is nothing but the first chapter in an on-going new franchise, well, they have announced their plans for a sequel already know, haven't they?

Maybe the 2014 Ninja Turtles movie is supposed to be for people not familiar with the Ninja Turtles universe.    Maybe it's supposed to act as an introduction to the boys?  The movie is set to debut at #1 at the box office for its first weekend in theaters, raking in an estimated $65 million dollars after all.   Doesn't that say something about how much we needed the Turtles tor return to the big screen?

The studios were pleased enough with the numbers that it looks like they will be going forward with their plans for a sequel, which means that we can expect even more turtley awesome action on the big screen soon. It’s a good thing, too, because we really want to see some more characters and their development in these movies.  Fans came out in droves to see the new movie and most of the people that we've spoken to have really loved it. Maybe this isn’t the perfect Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, but it’s a lot of fun and it definitely brings us some pretty awesome TMNT action. What did you guys think? Let us know in the comments below or sound off in our forums!