As a child of the 1980's and '90s, I grew up on the Ninja Turtles. Watched the show religously, read as many of the comics as I could find, and saw all three
movies at least twice in theaters. Yes, even the third one. Though time passed and I moved on to other interests, I always held on to that part of me that thought the Turtles were still cool. And now, some 14 years after their last big screen exploits, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are primed to make a comeback.
In the new
movie, TMNT, it's been a year since the defeat of Shredder (a nod to the first
movie), and since that time, the Turtles have grown apart. Leonardo ( voice of James Arnold Taylor, Drawn Together) is in Mexico learning how to be a better leader and becoming a local urban legend. Michelangelo (voice of Mikey Kelley and Donatello ( voice of Mitchell Whitfield) work various odd jobs to make ends meet, and Raphael (voice of Nolan North, Ultimate Avengers:The
Movie) has become a new armored vigilante, The Nightwatcher to take down New York's criminal element on his own. They're forced to return as a team when monsters linked to billionaire Max Winters (voice of Patrick Stewart) start attacking the city.
I just have to say the animation here at times is quite brilliant. The cartoony look of the people took some getting used to for myself, but the backgrounds feel real, and the animation on the Turtles themselves is great as well, bridging the live action and animated incarnations of the four. Check out the rooftop battle between Leonardo and Raphael to see just how amazing the animation is for this one. And I for one am glad they chose to go this route, as it allows the characters to do so much more than they would in the past. Whereas in the original
movie they could fight maybe at the most 50 Foot Clan ninjas, here the battles can be much more epic, namely in the climactic battle of the
movie. And speaking of the battle, it was good to see, thanks to animation Splinter get involved in the battle as well, and not just standing in one spot and flipping somebody off the roof of a building, but they allow Splinter to kick some ass here (albeit only briefly, but it's a lot more than they could do with him in the original
movies), and be more like the action figure version that I played with as a child.
The script also by Kevin Munroe is also spot on Ninja Turtles, and the perfect way to bring them back into the spotlight, and to attract both fans old and new. In the year's time (in story) the characters have grown up somewhat, as the audience has in the past 14 years in real time. And the
movie acknowledges the change subtly, through characters actions and reactions to things,which was a brilliant
movie by Munroe's part.
To be honest I only have two complaints about this
movie, the one is the lack of time spent on Donatello and Michelangelo, they're barely in the
movie. I know the
movies generally focus on Leonardo and Raphael's sibling rivalry, but it would have been nice to see my favorite childhood Turtle get more screen time, which was Michelangelo, by the way.
And the other fault is the music, while the score by Klaus Badelt (Pirates Of The Carribbean:Curse Of The Black Pearl) is competent enough and gives the
movie an epic feel during the battle scenes, it's again in a comic book
movie, the lack of a recognizable theme that hampers the music. And also throughout the
movie there are a few random scenes with some barely audible mall punk playing, which I can only assume is to help sell the soundtrack, as the music in those scenes adds nothing to the emotion of those scenes or the story.
I've said on this site before how most
movies for kids these days are just terrible, drivel made only to make money while it talks down to kids and their sensibilities. Quick example, watch a kid's
movie from the 1980's, and watch something from today and you'll see the difference. This
movie, thankfully has more in common with the kids
movies of my day, than the stuff of today.
There's less Cowabunga, pizza dude, and more characterization this time out, which is a good thing, as were it to be the same entirely as it was when I was a child the
movie would fail horribly I believe. But it takes that attachment that you had when you were a child to these characters, if you're of my age group, and if you're older or younger you can alternately remember your children and the characters, or you just plain like the characters for being cool. And the film takes that attachment, in whatever form you have of it, and it uses that to bring you into the story.
And the film also delivers on some great action scenes as well, namely the Raphael/Leonardo fight, and the climax in which everybody (Everybody!) gets to fight. You also, in this
movie, get the return of the Foot Clan, though not The Shredder, as the filmmakers wanted to start fresh with this one, and there are nods to the original
movies throughout that just made me smile. The jokes in the
movie fall flat at times, but as a kid's
movie primarily, it's to be expected, unfortunately. But the jokes that do work, work well. And trust me, even the worst joke here isn't anything as bad as they were in the third
movie.
If you grew up with the original show, or even if you didn't, you'll enjoy this
movie. It's filled with humor, action, and it's got a good story to it. As I said when I left the theater, "The Ninja Turtles are back!" and it's good to have them back. So I recommend this
movie to most anyone, especially if you have kids and they've never heard of these characters before, take them to see this
movie, and you'll be entertained.
