(2013-06-14 08:17:19)

Fun for fans and non-fans alike

I'll admit that in the early 90's I was a massive Turtles fan. From blankets to this weird mirror to the abundance of toys and even a homemade costume for Halloween, I was quite the diehard. Of course now I grew out of it but still, I just had to check out the film. That's tricky since do you like the film because you were a fan, like the film because it's good or hate it. Well it does have its issues, the film is quite good whether or not you were a nut in the heyday.Taking place after the defeat of Shredder, the 4 have parted ways. Leonardo is in Central America training to be a better leader, Michaelangelo entertains kids at birthdays as Cowabunga Carl, Donatello is an IT tech serviceman while Raphael takes on the persona of the Nightwatcher to help the people of New York. Meanwhile, April is now an archaelogist working for a powerful businessman named Max Winters and in a relationship with Casey Jones.However, 3000 years earlier, someone opened a portal and became immortal and unleashed 13 monsters unto the Earth with his generals being turned to stone. Now with the help of his generals as well as the Foot Clan led by Karai, his plans could end up doing heavy damage around the world so it's up to the Turtles to stop him but with the Turtles at odds with each other, how can they save the world when they can't get along?That's basically the story in a nutshell and it might sound complicated but trust me when I say it isn't. In fact, it's probably a bit too simplistic for some people but considering this is a comic book franchise, it doesn't have to be complex. But like a lot of stories, characters can get sidetracked (Michaelangelo and Donatello feel more like supporting characters than part of the group) and some such as Karai don't get much development or screen time at all. But at least it adds more to the other 2 Turtles as well and there's one scene many will feel is a long time coming.As for voices, nobody really sort of steals the show since they're all good in their roles. As for Mako voicing Splinter, I don't really have an issue with his voice although it's more accent-y than I'd like but maybe I just saw the originals too many times but I loved Splinter's more wiser and older voice from the movies like a grandfather whereas here he sounds like an affectionate uncle. Animation though is superb and while some might chuckle at character designs (why are humans so scrawny looking?), the detail and the scope of it kind of makes up for it. As for the humor, it's mainly Mikey that provides it and at times it feels like we're still in the 90's. Burps, puns and surfer lingo were fine then but considering the more darker look of the film, having a California-sounding guy everywhere doing lowbrow humor might detract some.It's a fair bet to say that there's no doubt a special edition to come since deleted scenes have commentary only and featurettes are minimal at best. Either look for a fully decked-out set one day or an extended edition with more darker, character stuff but if you or your kids have been into Turtles either in the 90's or now, than it's a fine watch that doesn't need nostalgia to make one enjoy it.

greatwhitebob

(2013-06-13 22:55:57)

Sub-Par Cash-In or Worthy Sequel?

Going into this film, I was fully expecting to be offended by whatlooked to be a hastily put-together, cheap, sub-par cash-in based on afranchise that's no stranger to sub-par cash-ins. Being a product of the 80's, I grew up with the Teenage Mutant NinjaTurtles. Not "TMNT", but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Consequently,when I heard what was planned for the latest instalment in the Turtlessaga, I wasn't exactly ecstatic. Whenever I read about films (oranything else for that matter) being made - in which, the charactersthat featured so prominently in my formative years form the basis - Ican't help becoming somewhat... protective. I certainly felt this wayabout TMNT. I don't want to see my childhood memories shat on for thesake of some rich people becoming a little bit richer and I know I'mnot the only one who feels that way. But does TMNT warrant the level ofcynicism bestowed upon it? Pretty much, yeah... And that's not tosuggest that the film is a complete disaster. Because it's not. Someaspects of the film are handled surprisingly well. If TMNT was producedas a one-off, made-for-TV Special, then the majority of it's faultswould be forgivable. The problem is, it wasn't. TMNT was made with BoxOffice profits and DVD sales in mind. Therefore, any faults it may have(and it has many) are open to scrutiny. The Plot - Some aspects of the plot were good. Leonardo's self-imposedexile and quest to become a better leader bled into his and Raphael'sstory arc in a satisfying manner. The shifting dynamic of Leo andRaph's relationship was explored with a subtle maturity. Everythingelse about the plot though, felt over the top and rushed and moreimportantly, lacked direction. The lack of Shredder also hurt the filmbadly. TMNT's main villain isn't established until the final third ofthe film, a problem that would have been instantly alleviated by theinclusion of the Turtles evergreen (ha!) foe. The Characters - TMNT had the luxury of being able to draw from a wellof fully-formed characters. Yet, for the most part, it somehow managesto not take advantage of that. As mentioned above, Shredder is nowhereto be seen, April O' Neill has all of a sudden become Lara f*ckingCroft and new characters such as Karai are woefully one-dimensional,given no back-story and little purpose. The Casting Director also has alot to answer for. The Turtles themselves are well cast but theinclusion of bigger names like Patrick Stewart and Sarah MichelleGellar just doesn't work. Splinter too, is horribly mis-cast, voiced bylate Japanese actor Mako in his final role.The Look - The CGI looks good. The animation is fluid, the texturesimpressive, the luxury of incorporating outlandish camera movementsexploited. Despite all this, TMNT still feels visually underwhelming.In large part this is due to the character design. While the Turtlesand Splinter look fine, the human characters just don't look as if theybelong. Patrick Stewart's character, Max Winters for example, wouldn'tlook out of place in Disney Pixar's The Incredibles. The biggestproblem though, is the use of CGI itself. When Teenage Mutant NinjaTurtles was released in 1990, it possessed a look and feel that wasgenuinely unique. The combination of the work carried out by JimHenson's Studios on the animatronic Turtle costumes, and the decisionto shoot the film on-location on the grimy streets of New York Citylent the film a quality that simply can't be recreated by any computerprogram. The Soundtrack - The soundtrack, for the most part is fine. The scoreis always functional and on occasions, very good and the inclusion of"Black Betty" by Ram Jam is a welcome one. Unfortunately the film alsocontains a song by Jet. I f*cking hate Jet... In the end TMNT is exactly what I feared it would be; a sub-par cash-inthat wouldn't be half as offensive if I didn't have such fond memoriesof the characters it attempts to prostitute. 4 out of 10

disdressed12

(2013-05-26 06:21:53)

disappointing,to say the least

this is the first CG animated adventure of the Teenage Mutant NinjaTurtles.i had fairly high hopes for this movie.unfortunately,it didn'tlive up to them.i found the story lacking and uninteresting.plus,itjust moves too slow.i didn't find the action scenes very goodeither.honestly,i just didn't thin the movie was worthy of thecharacters.it's CG animated,so it looks really nice.the voice actorswere good.but the rest of the movie was lacking.i just was not engagedat all.maybe i just expected too much given the history of thecharacters.even though i didn't like the movie too much,i wouldn't callit horrible and there are a lot of worse movies out there,most of whichi have seen.in my opinion,TMNT is a 5/10

tikiroomfan

(2013-05-25 12:40:27)

Brings back memories

My history with this movie has been as much a roller coaster as thefilms plot. When the first teaser came out, I was stunned, could it bethat my favorite childhood icons were making a return in a BatmanBegins style way, by going back to the origins and having a bolder,darker Turtle movie. And then, my hopes were crushed when I saw thefull length trailer. Gone were the dark, shadowy figurings jumping onthe rooftops in the teaser, now we had a full blown cartoon. I waspretty much crushed. It seemed that the release of TMNT would hail asmuch fan fare as any run o the mill CGI movie, which is, hardly any.The TV spots just confirmed my fears that offically the Turtles wereback, but offically back to their old post-comic book "cowabunga" days.But then I read the IMDb reviews, which were fairly positive, so Idecided to check it out. The end release was a mix of both what I hadhoped for and what I kind of dreaded. By far the biggest complaint Ihave about this film is the way it treats the human characters. Itseems the only cool human characters were April and to a lesser extentCasey Jones, though I think Casey lost his edge with this. Most humansare animated very cartoonishly, they remind me of Incredibles rejects,but thankfully the main humans, April and Casey, are pretty cool. As Imentioned before, Casey was a bit of a let down considering thedarkness of the original character, but still, it's cool to see himback in vigilante form, and April is smoking! I don't think I've everbeen attracted to a few pixels like this. (Call me a pervert, when yousee her in her ninja gear near the end, you'll think otherwise) Theplot is just so-so, I would of liked to see a famous villain likeShredder or Ooze, but this works just fine, besides, the mainattraction here isn't the story but the turtles themselves, and theyare well accounted for. I love the personalities in this, though Don,my favorite Turtle, oddly has anything to do, the relationship betweenLeo and Raph is very intense and more then makes up for less screentime for the other two. (Plus, Mikey has always been a little annoyingto begin with) plus Splinter flat out ROCKS!! Although his designreminds me of Chester Cheeta a little to much. The action in this filmis great. There's not a lot of violence, and therefore not a lot offighting, but when they do fight, it's really cool. The best scene inthe film is a fight between Rapheal and Leonardo in the rain. It reallyshows off how beautiful the animation really is. Every rain drop isaccounted for as the two duke it out. In the end, the film really is agreat return to the Turtles I used to love, even a bit darker then theoriginal TV show and live action films in some respects. I really hopethey make a sequel and bump the rating up to a PG-13, with that rating,they could REALLY make something incredible. 7.5/10

(2013-05-19 18:29:50)

Turtle action !!

This movie is their first CG movie and it's ROCKS !! Also there are coming new movie soon, as Karai says their meet old friends soon....

(2013-05-19 05:30:27)

Fast Shipping

This review is from: TMNT (DVD) I ordered the TMNT Movie as a gift for my boyfriend (I like to start my christmas shopping early). It had an amazingly low price and extremely fast shipping. My order was estimated to be shipped between Sept. 13 - 28 and it got here on the 9th. It's fantastic, it looks like I walked into a store and bought it.

Sky_Rider

(2013-05-09 18:05:36)

A LOT of fun!

I watched this at an advanced preview, I thought it was Brill. thevoice acting was really well done (SMG and Chris Evans surpassed myexpectations, they were pretty good). Standout performances werePatrick Stewart (as always), Mako and Zhang Ziyi.It's got quite a few inside jokes (one suggesting that Splinter watchesGilmore Girls religiously cracked me up, as well as Donatello's 'new'job). Apart from the more subtle jokes, the humour was pretty hit andmiss but the jokes weren't a major part of the film.The animation was pretty good, not realistic to a FFAC thing but thestyle of animation used worked well. The fight scenes were surprisinglywell done for a PG (SPOILERS!!!! My favourite fight scenes were theturtles Splinter, April and Casey versus the foot ninjas and RaphealVersus Leonardo).It was a blast to watch, I'd easily recommend it.

powerfull_jedi

(2013-05-09 03:16:48)

The best Ninja Turtles movie ever

Let me set one thing straight: Whatever the score is on RottenTomatoesor Metacritic on this film, I can accept that. I have nothing againstcritics, they are paid to see these movies and give theirhonest(hopefully) opinion on the quality of the movie to make sure ifit's good enough for our well-earned cash, and I certainly won't tellthem how to do their reviews(in videogames, maybe, but not so much inmovies) but sometimes you have to disagree with their views. Havingsaid that, this could be easily one of the best animated movies of2007, one of the best comic book movies, as well as of the best moviesof the year overall(yes I've already seen 300). I had marked TennageMutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze as my favorite Turtlesmovie, it had plenty of cool action and the right dose of humor, plusVanilla Ice's Ninja Rap is still one of my favorite songs, but now Igotta be honest, this movie is really good. Even though it's vaguelyspecified, we assume this movie takes place after the first live-actionturtles movie and acts as if movie 2 and 3 never happened(however,towards the end of the film you will some visual references to all the3 original turtles movies), after the defeat of their longtime enemyShredder, the ninja team has disbanded, with Leonardo, at the requestof Master Splinter, traveling to Central America to perfect hisskills(much like in the comics and the 2003 TV show),one day, at therequest of April, who's now an archaeologist, Leo returns only to findthe team even more out of shape and dysfunctional then ever before,each having their own job. Little do they know that a sinister plot isunfolding involving a major industrialist named Max Winters who hassided with Karai, the leader of the remaining foot clan to hunt downsome mysterious creatures. That's the gist of it. Like I said before,this the best Ninja Turtles movie hands-down, not only is it supringlydeep it also manages to get the right amount of comedy and action(alive-action version of this would be impossible, unless they had some150 million smackers on them), much like the second live-action movie.I won't comment on the voice-acting because I saw the movie withPortuguese dub(animated movies in Portugal are usually dubbed), so Ican't say if Laurence Fishburne, Sarah Michelle Gellar or Chris Evansare good because this movie was dubbed in Portuguese, so I'll have tocheck it out another time in the original dub. Anyway, the best thingabout the movie: the visuals. A while back, I remember looking at thescreenshots saying that the movie looked like a slightly nicer CG scenefrom a video game, but when I actually saw it, wow, and I mean WOW. Thelittle-known Hong Kong based animation studio Imagi deserves for makinga CG movie worthy of the best stuff Pixar and Dreamworks Animation cando. The turtles look awesome and so does New York City and overallspecial effects, one major highlight of the movie is a fight scene on arooftop with Raph and Leo battle it out in the rain which is bothimpressive and dramatic. The storyline is also fairly good, just goodenough for 90 minutes with great character interaction, I mean thearguments between Leo and Raph are perhaps the most serious andheartfelt in any Turtles movie. The soundtracks is also justright(sadly no Vanilla Ice). It's not by all means a perfect movie,because there are some issues that I disliked: 1. Casey Jones, the"Wayne Gretzsky on steroids" with an attitude is now a slacking jokerwho resembles a character from American Pie. 2. Despite having someshining moments, Michaelangelo(he has nightmares about the birthdayparties he hosts) and Donatello(life as a tech support guy) were prettymuch "just for show". 3. It's amazing how this army of 13 monsters(someof them massive and hard to miss) have kept a low profile for 3000years until only recently and just happened to be hanging around NewYork City. Jsu minor complaints, really. Also, even though it's a PG,it's fairly dark and violent, parents need to take caution. Here'shoping for another Turtles movie, because this movie needs betterbox-office results(a little more marketing would have helped).

Christopher Russell

(2013-05-08 14:53:30)

A wonderful nostalgia

I went into this feature not quite knowing what to expect. I grew upwith the turtles and was a huge fan of the comic book, the cartoonseries (the original, of course), and the movies (only the first two).Growing up with the first two movies, I was really hoping that this onewould be live-action. I will have to say though, that I was not at alldisappointed in this feature.At the beginning of the movie, I was slightly disappointed in who therivals were. It seemed very far fetched, even for a Ninja Turtlesmovie. However, about half-way through the movie, I found myselfforgetting about the not-quite-so-wonderful way the story line was setup. I'm not going to give away too much, but let's just say that thefeud that has existed between Leo and Raph reaches an interesting pointin this movie.Overall, I would have to say that any turtles fan should give this filma shot. Try to not go into it with expectations set by the first twomovies. Just think of this as a stand-alone movie, even though it doesroughly follow the story-line set by the first two. If nothing else,the CGA is wonderful and the voice acting isn't so bad either.

Alain English

(2013-05-07 21:48:15)

Enjoyable CG romp

For this kidult, TMNT proves to be a very welcome return for theevergreen butt-kicking mutant turtles. The film has abandoned both thelive action and chop-socky seriousness of previous instalments, infavour of CGI and outrageous plotting that is in the spirit of thewacky cartoon.The plot involves a 3,000 year old immortal's attempt to return tonormality and take over the world, with the help of the Turtles' oldenemies the Foot Clan and reanimated statues of ancient powerfulwarriors...The Turtles are naturally the only ones up for the task of stoppingthem and with the aid of old sidekicks vigilante Casey Jones andreporter April O'Neill, and the guidance of their rat master Splinter,they're soon on the case.The story injects some interesting conflict into the story involvingthe rivalry between the Turtles themselves. It seems the years haveseen the brothers grow apart. The fight between sullen but streetwiseRaphael and the team leader Leonardo is a highlight. Other than that,it's standard but enjoyable stuff story-wise with plenty of amazinganimation to keep the kids entertained.I enjoyed it, and I'd like to see a sequel that ups the ante in storyand character. Here's hoping this first movie was just a warm-up...

blackismylove

(2013-05-06 15:21:22)

What a letdown. My inner child weeps.

When I was a little kid I loved the Ninja turtles. So needless to say,when I heard they were coming out with a new movie, I couldn't wait tosee it, but the minute I heard it was all CGI, I could tell right awaythat it would be a far cry from the franchise that I had become so fondof.I thought to myself that it would have been more appealing to the olderloyal fans, and kids would still want to see it. But after I actuallywatched it, I changed my mind. The story wasn't really interestingenough, so it didn't really matter if it was computer generated or not.There seemed to be a lot of character references that I didn't get. Iassume that you had watch the current series to understand who everyonewas.I found what was going on to be so forgettable. I was not compelled tosee what happened to the characters or how their problem becameresolved. It wasn't entirely bad. I supposed that for a kid's standardsof movie entertainment, this did the job. But for an old fan, Icompletely disappointed.

(2013-05-06 03:01:26)

TMNT (2007)

i really enjoyed the movie, it was funny (courtesy by cutie Michelangelo :) ) but also it had its serious side like the conflict between Leonardo and Raphael with a romance between April and Casey. The most important issue of this movie is that is focus in family relationship and how the boys can work together as a team to defeat their enemies.

Roadwarrior85846

(2013-04-25 10:36:09)

Totally not like the old-school, live-action TMNT movies but still fun to watch.

I love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons and movies and I thinkthis one is also good but not as good as the old movies. I'll make itbrief of what i liked about this movie and what kind of bothered me inthis move:1. First off...MAKO! This actor rules (God Bless his soul) and Ithought he was perfect for being Splinter! 2. The CGI looks very greatshowing the Turtles' lots of character in each one and also whenthere's one scene that it was raining, the water gliding down theTurtles' faces were really cool and very realistic. 3. Having Casey inthe movie is awesome.Well that was the good part and this is where its gonna be a punch inthe gut...1. The storyline was kind of weak and there are a few times that itgets a little bit lost. 2. The movie was wicked short. 3. You don't seethat much martial art action. 4. How April O'Neil and Casey don't lookthat much detailed. 5. No Corey Feldman as Donetello!!! 6. No EliasKoteas as Casey!!! 7. Splinter doesn't say, "I made a funny!" 8.Finally, it doesn't really connect to the other Turtles movie but thiscan be explainable by trying to create a brand new franchise or startthe story from scratch (aka Batman Begins or Superman Returns)Overall, if I was 10 years old, I would love the movie from beginningto end. But now I'm 20 going on 21 and I've experienced the Turtleswhen I was a young kid, there's a certain feeling that I'm missing whenI tried watching it but i still enjoyed it. But hey, at least its funto watch on a lazy day. COWABUNGA!7/10

brando647

(2013-04-24 23:32:05)

The Ninja Turtles have returned!!

Just when it seemed the Ninja Turtle franchise was officially gone,writer/director Kevin Munroe arrives and revamps the series with a newCGI installment, fourteen years after Stuart Gillard ruined everythingby turning our heroes into slapstick-fueled time travelers. It's beensome time since the Turtles defeated the Shredder and their family isfalling apart. The plot revolves around a cosmic event that occursevery 3000 years and one man's interest in it; a man named Winters hashired April O'Neil to bring him 5 statues of ancient generals and plansto use them when the cosmic event opens a dimensional portal.Don't believe that, just because the movie is CGI, it's aiming for achildren only audience. In fact, Munroe's movie corrects my maincomplaint about the original two sequels: it loses the campiness. Thefilm still has one-liners and some childish humor, but it returns withsome of the moody atmosphere of the original film. A good portion ofthe tension in the movie comes from the deteriorating relationshipbetween Raphael and Leonardo, leading up to what is my absolutefavorite scene in the movie. There is one aspect of this movie thatstill gives it an overall childish vibe - the use of monsters as a plotdevice. The dimensional portal, when it originally opened 3000 yearsago, released 13 monsters onto the Earth. Whenever I hear thecharacters or the narrator refer to the "monsters", I'm immediatelyreminded that I'm watching a kid's movie. I just wished Munroe hadpicked up a thesaurus when writing the dialogue for this film andpicked a word that didn't come off so weak.Being that the latest installment is CGI, the voice-acting becomes animportant aspect for the audience, and I feel Munroe and his teampicked a fantastic voice cast for this movie. One of my problems withGillard's film was the recasting of Splinter's voice; the new actor wasterrible. For the new movie, Munroe cast Mako and I feel he wasprobably the best Splinter of all four films. We're given an authenticfeel to a character that should sound like an aging Japanesefather/teacher (as opposed to the laryngitis-suffering Muppet in III).I personally felt Sarah Michelle Gellar, while I feel she's a decentactress, was a bad choice for April O'Neil. Gellar is too young andsounds as if April is still barely out of her teens. To be honest, Ifelt the same in regards to Chris Evans casting as Casey Jones. Theprevious films had Jones as an older, street-hardened vigilante andEvans doesn't come across as such. There casting doesn't really hurtthe film, and the rest of the voice acting is great, with performancesby Patrick Stewart and Laurence Fishburne (and a cameo by Kevin Smith).The newest addition to the Ninja Turtle franchise has revived a seriesI'd thought left for dead, and it's taking it back to it's roots. Theanimation was great and the plot, while nothing spectacular, manages toentertain. I would like to see Kevin Munroe and his team return tocontinue the series with another CGI film and keep the franchise alive.I recommend that any fan of the series be sure to watch this film; sofar, it's the best sequel we've been given.

lloydmeetsgirl

(2013-04-18 23:28:15)

Long awaited and worth it

When I found out that the new ninja turtles was NOT going to be in thesame live action style as the original 3 movies, I was incrediblydisappointed. My roommate still really wanted to go, so I tagged alongready to waste $8.This movie was amazing. Very well done, good plot, good depth, butstill with the original silly humor you loved as a kid. Charactersgenerally have the same personalities, and they are even betterdeveloped than in the first 3 movies.Two thumbs up from this harsh critic. Best movie I have seen intheaters in awhile.

(2013-04-18 11:11:50)

One Line Review

They already made 3 TMNT movies. That should have been more than enough for everyone.

Jorge Alvarez

(2013-04-09 04:51:14)

This Movie is So Cool

WOOHOO!!!I LOVE The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and this movie makesthem ROCK!!! They are more like the older Japanese comics(of coursetoned down for maturer audiences) and oh man it is awesome. Man I really hope and can't wait for a sequel. I myself also grew upwith the Turtles and had been keeping up with the current Cartoons. Andoh man this movie made my day, night, week and even month. In fact imay even see it in theaters a few more times.This is a must buy movie. And definitely worth the $8 to $10 ticketprice. If you are a Fan your gonna cry with joy and if your not you maybe after this movies, regardless of age. Great for Comedy, Action,Fantasy and Martial Arts Choreography. Seriously Watch it and if youare going to I will easily go and watch it with you.PEACE!!!

(2013-04-08 10:23:27)

TMNT Fun!

This review is from: TMNT (DVD) I actually got this video for my daughter at her request, she is a huge TMNT fan and the local library's copy was getting worn out! :-)She has watched most of the TMNT movies, and this is her pick as the best of them and enjoys it often!

JosephLee411

(2013-04-01 21:44:03)

The Ninja Turtles Are Back! Sort of...

TMNT(2007)Starring: James Arnold Taylor as the voice of Leonardo Mikey Kelly asthe voice of Michelangelo Nolan North as the voice of Raphael MitchellWitfield as the voice of Donatello Chris Evans as the voice of CaseyJones Sarah Michelle Gellar as the voice of April O'NeilPlot: Years after the events of the first three movies, the NinjaTurtles find themselves disbanded and on their own separate paths.Leonardo is away in another country, Raphael is a vigilante andMichelangelo and Donatello have part time jobs.but other wise are doingnothing of note. When a ancient group of monsters threaten the city,they must come back together as a family and save the day.Like most, I really loved the Ninja Turtles as a kid. I had the actionfigures, movies, TV episodes, you name it. Even though the Turtles havesuffered some serious damages(the third movie, The next mutation liveaction show) I still have a soft spot in my heart for those greenreptiles. Naturally, I was excited at the prospect of a new movie. So Iwent into this ready to have a great experience with the turtles oncemore.Well that didn't happen. This movie, while enjoyable, does not holdthat essence of the Ninja Turtles. My biggest peeve would be the factthat Leonardo was now a very annoying character while before he used tobe my favorite. When he and Raph fought originally, it was because Raphwas hard-headed. Now I felt myself siding with him because Leonardoseemed like a blind follower to Splinter instead of a stern leader likepreviously. They completely butchered what made that character work.Donatello might as well have not been in the movie for as much use ashe is to the plot. They got Raph and Mikey right, at least.And as far as side characters, they also did well with Casey Jones andSplinter. I don't know what happened to April O'Neil, however, becausethe Sarah Michelle Gellar voiced role was definitely not her. Now she'sworking as an antique collector, with no explanation as to her previousjob(or even mention of it)? The mishandling of the classic characterswas a serious flaw I felt. Another, would be the weakness of thevillains. Patrick Stewart doing good voice work aside, there was theFoot, monsters, an immortal guy and then his generals, and then a plottwist that just seems thrown in for the sake of a plot twist. The storyhad some major issues and felt very rushed.However, there are some things they did get right. Again, thecharacters of Raph and Mikey were perfectly done. Mikey's still a bigkid and Raph's still a stubborn cool guy. By the way, it makes perfectsense that he would become a vigilante if the Turtles were no longerfighting crime, so bravo for that addition to the story. The animationwas also quite well done, and you could tell a lot of work was put intothat aspect. The fight scenes(especially *SPOILER* the one betweenRaphael and Leonardo) were excellent and action is where this movieshines. Most of the comedy comes from Mikey and it works there too.Even when you would think comedy would feel inappropriate, they throwit in and it's just fine.Overall, TMNT was not the worst Turtles venture out there(Next Mutationis definitely the standard-bearer there) but it could have been a lotbetter. Check it out on DVD if you can but I wouldn't recommend rushingout to see it.Rating: ** of *****

Carl Swan

(2013-04-01 07:56:09)

ninja turtles kick ass dude

Firstly let me just say that you don't have to be an old-skool ninjaturtles fan to see and enjoy this film. I really have to commendeveryone involved with this project. They have kept the dark mood andfeel that is almost like a classic Japanese anime and yet kept itwithin the boundaries so that the younger kids can enjoy it as well. Imean i have great memories of being a kid in the late 80s and early 90sand the ninja turtles were a big part of that. whether it be thecartoons or the first movie, it was all great. i mean the second 2movies kinder sucked but there still pretty funny. then about 4 yearsago another batch of ninja turtles cartoons came along and have got tobe the best cartoons since spiderman featuring venom and all that. ihighly suggest you see them to. and this is where the new movie carrieson from and it is without doubt, a fantastic show and absolute classfrom start to finish. The action is furious and near none stop and whenit does pause briefly, the story interweaves between the turtles andthere fellow casts and those major and minor stories are really good aswell. Whether its taking your kids or kids getting your mum and dad totake you, or a ninja turtles nut like myself, i can guarantee you'llall absolutely love it. see ya later dudes