My wife likes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Not me. No siree. If the Turtles hadn’t been kind of a pop culture thing when we were dating, I never would’ve watched the show. Or seen the movie. Or played their video game. Or knew that they had a surreal musical stage show (“Coming Out of Their Shells Tour,” circa 1990). Had it not been for my wife’s fascination with these mask-wearing, weapon-wielding oversize reptiles, I would not even know the Turtles’ names—much less that my favorite TMNT character was Donatello.
Not that I have a favorite.
Given her history, my wife now seems oddly disinterested in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remake. But maybe it has something to do with the movie’s release tomorrow seeming so remarkably low-key, despite the popularity of movie ninjas, mutants and teens in general (turtles have always been a harder shell—I mean, sell). Most of the movie’s buzz, frankly, has been bad.
Fans have criticized how the turtles look. (They’ve especially picked on their noses.) They’ve criticized Paramount Picture’s casting. Paramount hasn’t helped its own cause much: Recently, it tweeted out the movie’s Australian release date, along with a picture of the Turtles falling from an exploding skyscraper. “Check out the official poster for #TMNT in cinemas September 11!” Yeah, maybe a bit of a misstep there.
Perhaps the movie is full of greatness and fun and good family-friendly morals. We’ll know more when we can all read Bob Hoose’s review later today. But part of me wonders, was the world really calling out for another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie? Has the world, like my wife, sorta moved on?
Of course the planet has plenty of iconic entertainment brands that never seem to show their age. Superheroes like Batman and Superman have shown their ability to be remade every generation or so. James Bond continues to ply his craft with decade-defying savoir faire. The Planet of the Apes franchise—not something I’d think would have a long shelf life—continues to prove me wrong. But not all brands are so durable.
The Lone Ranger, an icon from the early days of radio and TV and still a familiar figure to me in the ’70s, bombed when Disney tried to bring it to the big screen last year. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did OK at the box office this spring, but certainly underwhelmed from what previous installments had done. And then you’ve got polarizing properties like Transformers, which everyone claims to hate but still plopped down more money to see it than many Middle Eastern countries make from a year’s worth of oil exports.
It makes me wonder: What’s the secret to managing a successful brand? Is it timing? The care shown to the brand’s legacy and the sensitivity shown to its fans? When iconic brands fail at reboot, is it because the brand wasn’t all that iconic to begin with?
These are all questions I have going into this weekend. I’ll be interested to see whether the movie succeeds or fails, and then speculate as to why. And whether my wife will ever make me watch this remake when it comes out on video.
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