TMNT (2007)

A very underrated film

I have always had a soft spot for the Ninja Turtles and I loved the two live action films....yes there were only two! So I was very excited to see the new CGI TMNT, but the horde of terrible reviews came so fast it made my head spin. I finally got a chance to catch this movie on HBO and FORSHAME ON ALL OF YOU WHO HATED THIS MOVIE!!!

This was a great story with a great cast of characters. The story takes place after Shredder and the Turtles are not actually teenagers anymore. The story has a lot of emotion and great dilogue between the turtles even an excellent falling out with Leo and Raph that just left me awestruck. Making this an animated film was the right way to go because the action sequences were mind blowing. This was just a great way to lose myself in fantasy for a good hour and a half. As far as I am concerned I don't think anyone should have a problem with this movie and if you did you probably never liked TMNT when you were kid and I feel sorry for you. June 12, 2008

I'm gonna dropkick you to Hurtytown

Being the major Turtles fan I am--and have been from the get-go--I was a bit weary when I heard about their venture into CGI. I mean seriously, with the wrong director, they could easily ruin our much beloved Turtles for future generations. We all, as fans, lucked out and are greeted with a terrific rendition with one of the best stories ever though.

The story starts off with the Turtles in complete disarray. Leo is out of the country training to be a better leader, yet also trying to decide if his brothers are better off without him. Raph is out fighting baddies undercover as the metal-clad Nightwatcher. Don is keeping his nerdy schtick going strong by becoming an IT person. And Mikey is working for a party agency where he DRESSES UP AS A TURTLE. Love it.

Enter Winters. He was granted immortality centuries ago for the sacrifice of his army. However, he's now set to resurrect his army so he won't be immortal anymore. They find this out and fight back. Then the Turtles come in.

I think the greatest thing about this movie is that they centered the light-heartedness of the Turtles around a fairly intense storyline. Yeah, they still have their sense of humor about everything but the story is so dark, which only makes the movie that much better.

If you ever liked the Turtles you owe it to yourself to check this out. For you young-uns out their, here's your chance to introduce yourself to the greatest ninjas ever. Here's hoping they continue the story and bring back the awesome Shredder. Fingers crossed! June 8, 2008

Teenage Brooding Ninja Turtles

This is a mostly enjoyable rendition of our terrapin friends. The story is pretty basic and straightforward, but it definitely feels like they developed it with a companion video game in mind. Many scenes just feel like they were meant to be great levels on the video game based on the movie.

If you can get past that, however, the action is actually done quite well.

The one thing that is really missing here is the lightheartedness of the first films. Whether you loved or hated those films, they definitely had more humor than this rather dour version. (I personally loved the first two, but the third one suffered from much more than sub-par animatronics due to the fact that the Jim Henson Company wasn't interested in doing the third one.)

Not to say that there is no room for a more brooding version of the turtles. It works, for instance, rather well for Raphael since he is by far the more broody of the bunch. Leonardo also does a fair amount of brooding himself, always wondering what more he could be doing as the leader, not feeling up to the job. However it does Michaelangelo and Donatello a disservice. Their strong point (as characters) is largely built around their playful, quippy, snarky attitudes in situations of great danger. They get a couple of quips out here, but they feel forced and there are not enough of them to really get a feel for their characters.

On the whole, I enjoyed the movie well enough, but I would have definitely preferred more for the cinematic return of the Turtle clan.

**Mild Mild Spoiler Alert**

They hint at a possible sequel, and I do hope that they get it out. This movie was largely bogged down by the attempt to re-introduce the characters to the movie-going audience. (April as a ninja? C'mon.) A sequel, however, would not be thusly hindered. Hopefully they could spend more development time in creating a very intriguing story and less screen time with the brothers fighting each other. April 29, 2008

Why would you want to buy this?

I just borrowed this from the library for free and it has absolutely nothing to do with the original theatrical movies which where live action movies and this one looks fake because it actually looks like a computer video game with animation added, nothing original about it and the story is not complete so I can't believe that people wasted tier money at the movie houses to see it, the extras only tell a little about the actual creation of hos the turtles came to be. March 31, 2008

Great!

I just loved this film. I was so nostalgic that I watched it twice both with a big ol smile on my face. Though even if I hadn't been a fan as a child I would have still enjoyed this movie. It has character development, action, comedy, and a collective team orientation- even the foot soldiers joined the turtles to overcome the obstacle. I think its a great film for any age. I am also pleased that they will be another (based on how it ended.) The only thing that as a female bothered me is how they portray females even in animation. In this animation April and the leader of the foot soldiers were both sexy gals with tremendous curves- couldn't we get the average gals with the average physiques (I don't remember April being vuluptous and she def wasn't sexy besides she looks like a Teenager herself in this one and she should be atleast in the mid to late 20's.) March 1, 2008

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