Film review: TMNT

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the sewers...

TMNT picks up the story after the original three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action films. Shredder is dead and the Turtles have split up as a crime fighting team and are now living separate lives. Leonardo has gone to Central America to train and build his leadership skills, Donatello is now a self-employed tech support phone operator, Michelangelo dresses up as a giant turtle (you read that right) and gets hired for birthday parties, and Raphael secretly fights crime at night as the mysterious Nightwatcher.

The overall plot follows industrialist Max Winters (voiced by Patrick Stewart), a three thousand-year-old warlord who tried conquering the world until he unwittingly unleashed thirteen monsters upon the world and turned his generals into stone. He hires the Foot Clan to find these monsters to break his and his generals’ immortal curse. It’s not a groundbreaking story by any means, but it does its job.

The emotional core, however, revolves around Leonardo trying to bring back the Turtles as a cohesive team, with, of course, Raphael being the troublemaker. There is a real sense of tension between Leonardo and Raphael throughout the film until they finally let loose and have at each other. Unfortunately, during all the commotion, Michelangelo and Donatello seem to get left behind and don’t get as much screen time.

I was worried that this film would be nothing more than a glorified OVA not fit to be cinema-released. I’m glad I was wrong. The animation and art direction in TMNT is indeed breathtaking. Although the human characters look they’ve been plucked straight from The Incredibles, the Turtles and villains look just as they should. The scene between Leonardo and Raphael in the rain is almost worth the price of admission on its own, as you see the rain splash off and drip down their wet, leathery skin. This attention to detail proves that Kevin Munroe isn’t just another director that claims to be a fan of the series only to destroy it.

This film sticks closer to the source material than the last couple films. It is kid friendly; however, it is not essentially a kid’s movie. It is dark, gritty, and some scenes and characters may be frightening for the younger ones - just as you’d want it to be. In the very first scene a massive battle rages on and you see people getting cut down where they stand.

All the Turtles have been cast just fine, and sound just like what you’d come to expect. Casey Jones, voiced by Chris Evans, features quite a lot in the film and is cast well, as is current head of the Foot Clan, Kairi, voiced by Zhang Ziyi. Unfortunately, having Sarah Michelle Gellar as April was a disappointment. Every time April spoke I couldn’t help wondering why Buffy was in a TMNT film. Laurence Fishburne as the narrator also seemed out of place. It would have made more sense for Splinter to narrate, and Mako, voicing Splinter in what is his last film appearance, has previously done excellent work as a narrator.

At the end of the film, they pretty much tell you that there will be a sequel should the film be a modest hit, and if they keep this level of production up, I simply cannot wait. This was easily one of the most enjoyable films I’ve seen in a long time as it returned to the true TMNT formula and was quite simply fun to watch.