Michael Bay reboot aside, this is the Ninja Turtles movie I want to see. Filmmaker and Turtles fan Benjamin Eck’s TMNT: Banished hopes to take a serious, dark look at the characters, and if this short teaser is any indication, we’re on board.
Unfortunately, this is just a trailer—for now. Eck hopes to raise money to do a finished film down the line, which could be difficult with the Bay movie happening, but we hope he pulls it off. In an email, he described the plot of the movie to us:
The film will follow Raph after his uncontrollable violence labels him a threat to his family. Master Splinter has no choice but to banish his own son. So, accompanied by Casey Jones he takes refuge in Los Angeles. It’s when his itch for violence sends him out to the streets that he uncovers a high level of organized crime. Getting to the root of it will surely win his place back in his family, but he will quickly discover that he’s not New York City’s only secret hiding on the West Coast.
That sounds like a Turtles movie we want to see.
Eck’s version wouldn’t exactly be a “gritty reboot” as we’ve come to know them, since his portrayal of the Turtles would be closer to their origins anyway. He says his take on the Turtles would be, “one where their highly dangerous weapons are showcased doing the damage they’re so capable of. The Turtles were trained assassins and that’s how I intend to portray them.”
The other thing we really love about this is Eck wants to do the movie with practical effects, meaning no CGI turtles, and hopefully no weird too-human-looking noses.
(via Benjamin Eck)
- See all of Michael Bay’s turtles in the latest trailer
- Watch four humans act out a TMNT-style fight scene
- Michael Bay’s turtles look better without those stupid noses
