TMNT Movie Review

Okay, so I saw the TMNT movie. It was much higher than my expectations going into it, and here’s why:

The animation itself, was able to pull off that cartoon feeling very well. Nostalgia from the era of the Turtles cartoons is always good, especially when done well. On top of that, the textures were done well enough that some screens had me thinking of the original live action movies as well. A+ on animation and character design.

The turtles themselves are back, and the characters were held true to form. Raph is still my favorite and even more so after this movie. April, while I never really cared much for her, has a decent role in this movie. Plus, they brought Casey Jones back, which will always give any turtle movie a boost. The only downside was that Donatello and Michaelangelo took a back seat to Raph and Leo, which is not necessarily a bad thing, just something that happens as a result of having two main characters quarrel. The bad guy(s) are pretty believable, although I felt their actual motivation was a bit lacking.

The story, albeit a bit sci-fi and lacking Shredder, was well done. Better plot than the sequel live action film and leaps and bounds beyond the third samurai-trip-through-time-garabage of the third. It felt a little slow to begin, but this movie did have to set up the characters themselves after such a long hiatus.

My biggest gripe about the movie was a lack of actual fighting. While animated and choreographed very well, the fight scenes are very quick. Of course, that’s how a ninja fight should be. So, less of a gripe, and more of me wanting to see more ninja action.

Comedy was very much alive in this new reincarnation. It takes place after all three of the previous movies and fits pretty well among them. Michaelangelo came off funnier to me in this one, but I have a feeling that’s due to this movie being newer and having fresher jokes than in the 90s. Even Splinter had me chuckling in half of his scenes.

So, to sum it all up, if you were a fan of the series/comic/original movies, do not miss this movie. It does everything a new TMNT should have done, and a little more. Some how, after every other movie, I always hated Leonardo just a bit more. He never really had that leader quality that you can see in most main characters. However, at the end of this movie, I really felt more like the turtles were brothers, rather than a group of ninjas raised by a rat. And similar to the Star Wars prequels, there is a bit of fan service as well. We get not one gift, but two. Splinter fights. And Raph and Leonardo fight. That’s all I’m going to say.

Grade: A- for Turtle fans, B- to C for the new guys.