In August of 2014, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies partnered with Transformers director Michael Bay to bring us a new interpretation of the heroes in a half-shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Starring Megan Fox in the role of news reporter April O’Neil, the movie was something of a critical disappointment for fans and newcomers alike. I personally thought the movie wasn’t much, and ultimately never watched it again.
But even without watching the movie again, I still have a personal problem with Paramount’s depiction of the Shredder. Initially, there were plans for the actor William Fichtner’s character, Eric Sacks, to be the Shredder before changes were made during re-shoots as a result of backlash over a Caucasian man playing a Japanese man. And while I do understand the backlash—in fact, I disliked the idea of “whitewashing” the character myself—I was more willing to forgive them for the decision so long as they got one thing right about the character: his personal connection to the heroes, as well as his own selfish actions aiding in their eventual origins.
In the film proper, we learn that Sacks is responsible not just for the death of April's father and the destruction of his lab, but also for the mere existence of Master Splinter and the titular Turtles. Nearly every incarnation of the Shredder has been responsible for the existence of our beloved heroes as a result of their own actions, be it killing Splinter’s owner Hamato Yoshi (as in the 1990 film) or driving Yoshi away to New York where he would transform into Splinter (as in the 1987 and 2012 animated series). And thankfully, it seemed that Paramount kept that intact with the new character, right?
Unfortunately, no.
Due to the backlash over having a “white Shredder” in the film, the aforementioned re-shoots happened in order to appease those who were offended. The major problem was that these re-shoots were done at the last minute. As a result, the final film gives us two different villains that no one cared about. The Shredder himself, for instance, is Japanese again like the fans wanted...but because this decision was made so late into production, there is no personality or actual character under the armor. And the personal connection between him and the Turtles is no longer there, leaving the few instances where it is alluded to rather confusing to the average moviegoer.
Then you have Eric Sacks. And while he still has the personal connection with the heroes, he still has the Shredder mantle taken away from him by Paramount executives. As a result, what we are left with is just another businessman baddie like in Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction, and Marvel’s Iron Man trilogy. Neither character is really memorable except for playing a huge part in why the first film failed to hold any mainstream interest, leading to its sequel Out of the Shadows failing at the box office; although, the catering to fans of the ‘80s cartoon probably made it worse.
Overall, the Shredder ended up the way he did because of a knee-jerk negative reaction from hardcore fans and a last-minute decision to try and make up for it that ended up bringing down the movie. And while I understand the decisions made, I still think it did a disservice to both the fans and the franchise’s legacy. And while many have moved on from this, I still can’t help but wonder about what could have been. But maybe I’m just thinking about it too much sometimes. In any case, the Ninja Turtles will always have a place in my heart no matter what...even if they don’t grab my attention like they used to.