Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Rating: 3/5
Directed by: Kevin Munroe
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Chris Evans, Mako, Patrick Stewart
Theatrical release date: March 23, 2007
Showing at: Galleria 6

Is there anyone out there who doesn’t know the Ninja Turtles? Details varied slightly between their incarnations in comics, on the TV and onscreen, but the basic story has stuck true. Four turtles, mutated into speaking bipeds, become ninjas under the tutelage of a similarly mutated rat named Splinter. He teaches them to work as a team to fight crime, particularly their arch-nemesis the Shredder and his ninja Foot Clan. They are helped by reporter (or antiques dealer, depending on the incarnation) April O’Neil and hockey-mask-wearing vigilante Casey Jones.

I grew up a huge fan of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (TMNT) cartoon and I approached their new “animated” film by novice director Kevin Munroe with trepidation. I haven’t watched the recent cartoon series and I am not a fan of CGI. When properly and precisely used as a tool it can be amazing, but all too often it is used as a crutch by hacks.

The latest movie, simply titled “TMNT,” continues the turtles’ story from the previous theatrical releases (though only gives passing visual reference to the much-derided third installment).

The Shredder is defeated and presumed dead, and his Foot Clan thought disbanded. Leonardo (James Arnold Taylor) is away training to become a better leader at Splinter’s (voiced by Mako) request, and in his absence the other turtles are lost and without purpose. The scientifically and technically-minded Donatello (Mitchell Whitfield) works for a computer help line, Michelangelo (Mikey Kelley) is damned to wearing a big foam turtle head at birthday parties and Raphael (Nolan North) is dark and brooding, spending his days sleeping and his nights dishing out vigilante justice. Meanwhile, Casey (Chris Evans) is living with April (Sarah Michelle Gellar) but is concealing his continued night-time forays with Raphael.

Unable to act as a team of unified brothers, the Turtles are faced with an untimely crisis when monsters start attacking the city and the Foot Clan returns under the leadership of Karai (Ziyi Zhang). These monsters are remnants from an extra-dimensional portal that was opened 3,000 years ago to give an ancient warrior king power and everlasting life. That king is now entrepreneur Max Winters (Patrick Stewart) who has hired the Foot Clan to retrieve the monsters for a ceremony that will reverse his curse of immortality. Unfortunately, Winters’s brother and former generals do not want to relinquish their immortality and would rather take over the world.

Does that plot sound complex and absurd? Well it is, and it is the biggest failing point of the film. I expect the convoluted plot was lost on many children in the audience, despite the film starting with shoddy storytelling in an extensive narration by Captain Exposition (Laurence Fishburne). (No, he’s not really called that.)

Parts of the film are fast-moving CGI action designed to keep the audience’s attention, but this obscures not just the details of animation, but also the details of storytelling. Whereas the plot and relationship of Winters and his family is glossed over, the director luckily slows down enough to completely explore the relationship between Leonardo and Raphael.

My other comment on the animation is on the depiction of the human form in CGI. The women look like they could be snapped like a twig, with their wide hips and bulging breasts. The men have gigantic shoulders and broad chests, perched atop a thin waist and tiny legs. I realize this is a cartoon, but these subliminal depictions of ideal body forms disturb me nonetheless.

A large staple of the ’80s cartoon was comic relief, and “TMNT” continues that tradition, not to take a children’s movie too deeply into the dark brooding of Raphael or cartoon violence. Michelangelo keeps his surfer’s slang and has a number of lines that cracked up the children around me. Splinter also continues to make some classic “funnies,” such as professing his love for “Gilmore Girls.”

Ultimately, one has to realize this is a children’s movie, and the absurd plot and poor villain development are a simple limitation of time and the genre. Similar problems are also evident in the best of the “Batman: The Animated Series” episodes and films – or even live-action superhero films that need to balance the development of so many characters. “TMNT” could have been better, but it is a satisfying and enjoyable entry for any fan of the Turtles. It exceeded my expectations.

Any of you Turtle-heads out there want to see the flick for free? Filmboard will be hosting a midnight showing for free this Thursday night (March 22). Get your ticket at the clocktower at 7 p.m. Buses to the Galleria at 10:30 p.m. WU ID required.

Popularity: unranked [?]

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Cadenza. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.