TMNT

August 27, 2007

Rated: PG Runtime: 90 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Leonardo leads,
Donatello does machines,
Raphael is cool but crude,
Michelangelo is a party dude.

TMNT The above is a pretty good guideline for distinguishing Renaissance painters, but of course, it’s actually the lyrics to the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated cartoon theme.

Long ago, a friend of mine loaned me her collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic books by Mirage Comics in the mid-to-late 1980s. The originals were pretty violent and bloody, not for kids.

Later, it spawned the animated series (1987), three theatrical live-action movies, and a short-lived live-action series (1997), filmed in Vancouver by the same people who made the Power Rangers (oddly enough, my friend who loaned me the comics worked on that TV series; she was a costume designer and ended up having to fix a lot of shells).

And now we have the new CGI theatrical movie, TMNT.

This is all computer-generated. It looks like Japanese computer-Anime, though the work was done in Hong Kong. It’s done pretty well; New York City has a dark atmosphere like Gotham City in this.

There are recognizable voices in it: Mako (Conan’s wizard, Remo Williams’ trainer) as Splinter (in his last role before his death), Sarah Michelle Gellar is April. Kevin Smith, Laurence Fishburne, and Patrick Stewart all make appearances.

The movie is rated PG, so it’s got a little more of an edge than the previous TV and movie incarnations. It’s a little more like the original comic books.

There’s some funny bits; Master Splinter is an ardent fan of GILMORE GIRLS.

April is a hot Anime-style babe in tight clothing.

The plot, if it matters, involves some ancient living statues banding together with the evil The Foot clan, to try to bring 13 mystical monsters together which will open up a portal to another dimension, dooming the Earth. Something like that.

I started wondering why the Ninja Turtles wear masks; are there enough teenage mutant non-ninja turtles around that they hope to keep their identities secret? But of course, I realized that the different color masks are what allows us to tell them apart.

I would caution that this isn’t for all ages; if your kid is below age 10 or so you might want to reconsider, because this is a fairly violent movie. Of course, if your kid is already ordering HOSTEL and SAW III from Netflix, ignore this advice.

If you’re a fan of any of the previous incarnations of the turtles, you’ll probably enjoy this.

If those were too much kid stuff for you, you may still like this, because it’s a bit edgier.

Posted by Mack Guffin | Filed Under 3 Stars, Action, Chris Evans, Comedy, DVD, Laurence Fishburne, Mako, PG, Patrick Stewart, Sarah Michelle Gellar