The jury’s still out on whether Battle: Los Angeles director Jonathan Liebesman and Transformers helmer Michael Bay (a producer here) were the right team to revitalize Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but Paramount’s extensive marketing campaign for the film has certainly done its best to familiarize audiences with Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello. We haven’t seen so much of the film’s villain, the Shredder (William Fichtner), but that’s changing today thanks to TMNT Fansite, who recently tweeted this image of the Shredder in full armor:
Shredder in HD quality in the upcoming #TMNTMovie. That’s some high tech armor. #TMNT #NinjaTurtles pic.twitter.com/YgozlX8Eff
— TMNT (@TMNT_Fansite) June 17, 2014
I’m not exactly sure what to make of the image, since it’s very shadowy and really just calls attention to the fact that this Shredder has a lot of blades. So, I’ll reserve judgment on the character until a better look emerges. At least it looks like Liebesman and Bay are attempting to honor the character’s original backstory with a samurai-inspired costume, despite the actor not being Japanese (a move that irked some series purists).
The cast for this flick includes Pete Ploszek, Noel Fisher, Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard and Danny Woodburn playing the Turtles and their master Splinter in motion-capture; Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub voicing Leonardo and Splinter; and Megan Fox and Will Arnett starring as reporter April O’Neil and her cameraman Vern Fenwick.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opens August 8th.
The city needs heroes. Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April and her wise-cracking cameraman Vern Fenwick to save the city and unravel Shredder’s diabolical plan.