Trailer:
“I love being a turtle!”
After skipping the direct to VHS Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sequel films, I’m back to the franchise with TMNT, a CGI continuation of the series that makes the big error of NOT being a reboot.
Now let me first state that with the recent wave of reboots and remakes in Hollywood, I’m rarely enthusiastic to hear something is going to be robooted. However, in this case TMNT could have benefited from it. As it is TMNT is not for the uninitiated to the series. Anyone who has never seen a Ninja Turtles movie, show, or comic would not know who these characters are, where they came from, or what is going on. But for fans of the TV series in particular, TMNT is a film loyal to that material and a fun ride.
The film opens with the team broken up. Leonardo is in some sort of jungle somewhere completing his training to become a master. The opening is really the main point where stuff doesn’t make much sense. WHO is teaching Leonardo in the jungle? Because it seems to me like he is just wandering around doing the exact same things he did in the city. Also even if Leonardo leaves, what is stopping the other turtles from doing their job? The only who carries on crime fighting is Raphael as the masked vigilante named Nightwatcher. I’m also not sure why everyone is so against Raphael’s alter ego when they and Casey go out and do the exact same thing all the time.
Anyways the team is all broken up and when Leonardo finally gets convinced to return (again not shown how or why), everyone is bitter towards him and their teamwork is a mess. To make matters worse monsters and giant rock people start appearing in the city, all due to a man by the name of Winter who accidentally opened a portal to another dimension hundreds of years ago.
The turtles must put their differences aside and learn to work as brothers again to close the rift and send the monsters back where they came from.
One major downsides of the film is the animation. Even for the time it was made, it pales in comparison to Dreamworks, Ardman, and Pixar’s mainstream work. The design for the turtles look really good and their motions fluid and believable. Yet, this film suffers from what I like to call “Shrek Syndrome”, where the designs of animals and locations look good but the human animation and character designs look like crap. They don’t move believably and all appear generic.
However, despite the limitations of the animation a lot of the fight scenes are still fun to watch and entertaining. One of my major complaints with the original live action film was that the fight scenes were boring and unconvincing. The turtles themselves where cumbersome due to the large rubber costumes. With CGI they are free to move like real super ninjas.
Another huge improvement over the live action is in the general characterization of the turtles. In the 1990 version they all pretty much acted the same with annoying teenage surfer dialogue. Here they shine with more individual personalities. Unfortunately the film really concentrates mostly on Leonardo and Rafael. Poor Donatello and Michelangelo are left shoved to the corner.
Casey and April are also a welcomed addition as they are a big part of the lore. Casey is a great character who this time around actual gets to beat people down with his bat. April really doesn’t have much to do and the film tries to fix it in the worst possible way. The climax has her also as a ninja fighting aside the turtles. I am most familiar with the 2003 TV version of these characters but as far as I can remember April was never a kung fu chick. It was never hinted at in the beginning of the film and feels thrown in to give her something to do for the climax.
The villains are pretty good and Winters character takes a nice mid-movie turn that gives him a little more depth than just trying to CONQUER THE WORLD! Like the majority of these kids animated films do.
Unfortunately in the end TMNT looks and feels like it is more an extended TV show pilot than it does a movie. The animation is inconsistent in quality and the plot kind of childish at times and convoluted at others. But what is important here is the movie upholds the Ninja Turtles tone and sense of fun. The comradery and action scenes make it more than worth a look, but those who might crave a more mature and well thought out story will find it lacking.
FINAL RATING: 6/10- (60%)
Previously DAY 66- Spider-Man 3
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