Now this is what I call a fan film. Not only does it make good use of its resources, but it manages to re-invent the lore it pays tribute to all the while pleasing the fan base behind it. “Fight the Foot” is a proposed prologue to the new universe of the Ninja Turtles, a film made by the Reserve that is supposed to be a gritty re-working of the Turtle lore while also being respectful to the legacy.
Set before April even meets the Ninja Turtles, we set down on the crime ridden city where intrepid reporter April is on the trail of the new crime boss Shredder. This madman is reportedly recruiting gang members and training them in to his own personal foot soldiers. Armed with a laptop and her intel, she is hot on his tail, but is about to meet her destiny. When a group of masked men appear at her door intent on smashing her information and beating her to death, from the darkness arises a mysterious hero with a red sash across his eyes who appears seemingly out of nowhere to battle and take down all of these armed thugs single handedly.
The actress who plays April is fantastic offering up the same empathic portrayal we saw in Judith Hoag in the original Ninja Turtles movie. All the while the direction is superb with the proper setting and atmosphere for a gritty new Ninja Turtles universe. Meanwhile the make up and body suit for iconic superhero Raphael is absolutely incredible. I was astonished at how well the director and make up crew are able to create a new Raph who is part turtle and part humanoid, all the while being perfectly mobile and believable as a turtle who can whoop any cowardly thug in to submission if he so chooses.
The director makes great use of editing and shadows not revealing too much of Raph’s body leaving just enough imagination for the audience to guess how he would look in full light, while also revealing some core aspect of his body armor that give us an idea of the gritty new reworking of the character. “Fight the Foot” is only one small chapter in a larger more epic narrative, and the crew behind this short film do a bang up job of giving Turtles fans something to chew on while we wait for the upcoming reboot. With much more money and much more resources, I would love to see what the crew behind “Fight the Foot” can do with an unofficial prologue to the Ninja Turtles world as I think they can offer some interesting surprises and unique twists. This is why I love fan films.