Turtle Power!
Written: Mar 31 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It's the Turtles!
Cons: Very, very disjointed
The Bottom Line: The newer cartoon is still the best version, I think. I liked TMNT, but I'm just a fan.
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| BaronSamedi3's Full Review: TMNT |
Let’s be clear about this: The recent reincarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is NOT the same as the Turtles you and I grew up watching. Not in the movies or on the tube. It’s very fitting, however, because the Turtles who conquered the world in the 80’s were only loosely based on the original comic book. The Turtles are a rather goofy concept to begin with, and that may explain why the TV show was so slapstick. In that first cartoon, the Turtles fought against the evil Shredder and his Foot Clan using ninja skills, funny one-liners, and tons of pizza. Few remember the original comic was quite dark. The recent resurrection of TMNT brought the darkness and edge back. I love both versions, but the newer one has an edge and that’s the one I prefer.
The new TMNT movie is a CGI animated feature made strictly for those who are already fans. It’s independent of both TV shows and doesn’t even bother to explain the origins of the Turtles. It begins after the Turtles’ defeat of Shredder, and so Shredder is mentioned only once in passing. When we join in on all the fun, there’s a serious rift in the Turtles’ family structure. Leonardo has been in Central America for over a year training himself to be a better leader, and the others are persuing their own interests: Donatello as a tech support guy, Michaelangelo as “Cowabunga Carl,” a children’s party guy, and Raphael, unbeknownst to everyone, is the mysterious new vigilante patrolling the rooftops at night. Casey Jones and April are living together. April is also an archeologist now - as opposed to a reporter or a scientist – in the vein of Lara Croft. She has the moves of Lara Croft too, or perhaps Buffy Summers – she’s voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar.
It’s not that I mind being catered to like this, but the structure of the movie is a complete mess. The main plot of TMNT is about a wizard who once made himself immortal at the cost of turning all his favorite generals to stone and releasing 13 monsters out into the world. In the current century, we find him trying to track down the monsters and break the curse. What’s the problem here? For a good long time, there’s no explanation given. When we finally do get the explanation, it turns out to not be such a problem after all. The main plot turns into a cop-out which ranks down there with the lowest episodes of The Simpsons, cheating on the ending. The real climax of the movie isn’t the actual climax, but a rooftop battle between Leonardo and Raphael.
The movie spends far more time sorting out the rift between the four Turtles than on the main plot. Raphael, forever the rebel, is walking around acting like the tough guy and believing he should be the leader. He doesn’t realize that he’s far too temperamental and hotheaded. I liked that Raphael’s original personality was restored in the later versions of TMNT because his original TV personality made him look merely sarcastic. He always came off as more of a compliment to party boy Michaelangelo than as any kind of individual of his own. The live-action movies explored this side of Raphael a little more, but he still got lost in the shuffle. With the reincarnation of the Turtles, Raphael finally got the treatment he deserved. His rebellious side is not only in full force here, but an essential part of the movie.
Unfortunately, showing Raphael’s real nature came at a cost: Namely, Michaelangelo and Donatello are pushed back to supporting roles. Their characters aren’t fleshed out very much at all, and it’s almost as if the movie could have been made without them. Casey Jones gets more screen time than either of them. I liked that Casey seemed to have his big egotistical head screwed on right – at least to a point – but that simply shouldn’t be. I’m not very fond of what they did to April, either. April was always the damsel, and the Turtles met her when she needed rescuing. In TMNT, she fends for herself in the climax with a katana she got in Japan.
Aside from all that, TMNT looks very graceful and streamlined. The Turtles are often shown flying Spider-Man style across the rooftops. The action is far removed from the slapstick of the Turtles’ late 80’s heydays and very intense. The rooftop fight between Leonardo and Raphael looks stunning. It’s not as balletic as the constant slaughter of, say, The Matrix or 300, but it’s still very good.
TMNT spends less time trying to be funny than any of its counterparts. The Turtles still spew lots of great one-liners, and even Splinter has a fun moment during the climax in which he quips he hasn’t felt so young in years. But the filmmakers make it very clear they were in it to tell a story and not just show us how much they loved the earlier versions of the Turtles. As I’ve mentioned before, however, the story element is very weak because the movie tries to go in too many different directions at once with it. I rarely ever say this, but TMNT should have been at least a half hour longer. That would have been enough time to flesh things out more.
I liked TMNT. I’d love to pick up the dvd when it comes out. I thought it was great to see some of my childhood heroes back in action. (Now I know why my father loved the Rocky and Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle movies so much.) I’m going to place a recommended stamp on it. However, please note that I’m a person who was nicknamed “Ninja Turtle” in high school. I’m predisposed to like it because I’m part of the target audience. So take my word for it at your own risk.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
BaronSamedi3
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 in Games |
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Location: Chicago
Reviews written: 318
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Doing work on my blog: http://phoenixinquirer.wordpress.com/
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