Casey Jones Hits Your Screen With A 35-minute Fan Film

The second issue of IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits shelves today, and it is in this issue we are introduced to one Mr. Casey Jones. I imagine most folks know Casey Jones from his appearance in the first TMNT movie as the sweat-pants wearing claustrophobic sports-based vigilante. He’s like the Punisher of the TMNT world, just armed with a hockey stick instead of a gun. He’s a character I enjoy in theory, but I still find myself related more to the terrapin mutants than their human compatriot.

However, some amateur filmmakers decided Mr. Jones deserved some time in the limelight so they went ahead and made a 35-minute short film simply called Casey Jones. It’s an ambitious project and I would say for the most part it succeeds in giving an origin story of sorts for the character. The thing that strikes me about the movie is that Casey isn’t all that heroic. It’s never quite clear why he’s doing the right thing other than the fact that he likes to hit people and hitting nice people wouldn’t be nice. As the movie progresses and Casey becomes more entrenched in the vigilante lifestyle he even does some things like might make Dexter flinch. So while he’s sort of doing the right thing, he’s a very difficult person to cheer for.

There are the expected cameos, and even a few unexpected ones, but it should come as no shock that at least one turtle makes an appearance. The thing that really impressed me was that even in the suit, it’s clear the actor has some moves. It’s clear that ninja trumps hockey player by a very wide margin.

But like any film of this type, there are a few problems. (This is not exclusive to amateurs, even Dark Knight can be taken to task by shoddy editing and continuity.) I would say the main issue for me, which may seem like a nitpick, is that there’s a disconnect between Casey Jones hitting someone and their reaction. I don’t know how to make movies, but it just doesn’t seem like Casey Jones is hitting hard enough to create certain results, but I’d be very interested to hear what the iFanbase thinks in the comments.

My only other big complaint is actually quite small. The website for the film is impressively designed, but functionally lacking. The movie can only be watched on their site, so I can’t embed it here (but I did add the trailer), and the screen real estate gives the actual movie about 25% of your browser to the 75% background. This ratio is maintained when the browser is re-sized, so you basically need your browser on full screen and you still might find yourself squinting. Not good, but something easily remedied.

Overall it was a fun piece worth a part of your day. You can tell the team that made it put in the effort, and it comes through with a film that looks much better than the plethora of fake trailers for superhero movies available on youtube. The end credits even show off some concept art or story boards which I’d be willing to pay to read as a comic. So if you finish TMNT #2 today, or just need something to watch on your lunch break, give Casey Jones a shot.

And just by way of comparison, here’s a clip from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie with Casey Jones meeting, and  then fighting, Raphael. Enjoy!