TMNT |
  • Hong Kong / USA • 2007 • 87m •    • Directed by: Kevin Munroe. • Starring: Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mako, Kevin Smith, Patrick Stewart, Ziyi Zhang, Laurence Fishburne, Mitchell Whitfield, James Arnold Taylor, Mikey Kelley, Nolan North, John DiMaggio, Paula Mattioli. • Music by: Klaus Badelt.      After the defeat of their old arch nemesis, The Shredder, the Turtles are needed more than ever, but Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo have become lost and direction less. Leonardo has gone to Central America, on the orders of the martial arts master and father figure Master Splinter, for training. Donatello and Michelangelo have started small businesses in Leonardo's absence. Meanwhile, strange things are happening in New York City. An army of ancient creatures threatens to take over the world and the Turtles must unite again to save it.
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Review:
TMNT starts at an unspecified time either during or after (the film never makes it totally clear) the events of the live action films. The evil villain the Shredder has perished, and the turtles have gone into hiding. And unfortunately, they have also drifted apart. They do what they need to in order to get by, but lack the feelings they had as a team. But shortly after April O'Neil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) delivers a package to art collector Max Winters (Patrick Stewart), bizarre monsters begin popping up in New York City. As a result, it calls the turtles out of hiding.
Yes, the plot is a bit far-fetched (why are these monsters only showing up in NYC? Why not somewhere else in the world?), but if you came to expect anything less, you will be sadly disappointed. Thankfully, the plot is explained well enough that while being slightly predictable, does not become a total dreaded cliché. Thankfully, the actual storyline is littered with dialogue references and actions, leaving very little to slow down the film, and even less filler material. There are a few subplots, but they are gracefully melded into the full storyline, leaving the key material to rarely meander into meaningless drivel.
The animation on the same length is absolutely top-notch. The things these characters can do are a purely visual treat for the audience. After seeing some of the action sequences, it becomes blatantly clear why they filmed the movie in animation, as opposed to live action. They can do everything that we remember those turtles doing all so long ago, but were never truly able to express correctly in live action. And they look great doing it too. Every character, albeit with wacky proportions, are all well crafted and expressed on screen. The humans look great, and highly realistic. But the actual monsters and turtles themselves are the true marvels of the show. They are all incredibly detailed, and highly articulated.
As said previously, watching the fight scenes is particularly marvelous in how flawless their movements are. A particularly well done battle scene involves a fight on a rooftop in the pouring rain. Watching the two characters battling, and being battered by rain is beautiful in its presentation. The rain streaks off their faces and leaves wet patches all over them with just enough majesty and creativity to allow the scene to blur between realism and animation. It just looks that good, and is easily comparable to some of the best work coming out of Pixar.
I also enjoyed the real emphasis on the relationship between Raphael and Leonardo. They are both twisted and kindred souls, fighting out for answers, and always have been. Their discussions and frustrations are a key point to the film, and are the real heart of its emotional chord (next to the struggle to remain tied together as a family unit). They also get to be their smart-assed selves as they explore NYC. But in allowing a lot of material to cover these two characters, Michelangelo and Donatello take a back seat in about every way but fighting. Donatello gets less than three minutes of dialogue, and Michelangelo's role as the group's joker seems to have been really elevated, instead of expanding his actual use as a character. Thankfully all four still talk and sound the way we remember them.
Some of the liberties they took with some of the characters were a little bizarre too. April acting like she is Lara Croft? The Foot Soldiers getting barely anything to do? None of the classic baddies? Some fans may be outraged by some of these changes and cuts, but they are not all that bad. They just could have been fixed up a bit.
The acting on the other hand, is hit and miss. Gellar only shows up sparingly throughout the film, and really does not do much for it. Chris Evans in his barely recognizable vocal turn as Casey Jones is not too bad, but is plagued with some pretty shoddy dialogue (only beaten in terms of stupidity by Michelangelo). Mako is kind of interesting to listen to as Splinter, but he sounds like a drunkard for most of his dialogue. This could have been due to his passing shortly before recording all the dialogue, but obviously that cannot be explained here. Patrick Stewart is great for his limited runtime, as is Zhang Ziyi. I was not expecting much from her (most of all good English), but her words are spoken fluently and decorously. Roles by Kevin Smith and Lawrence Fishbourne are a total bust, as they are basically cameo roles and do next to nothing for the film.
Although some of the key things about TMNT fans remember are missing, the film does much better than anyone could have expected it too. Fans may be a little weary, but thankfully, this nostalgic trip does a great job in what it sets out to do. The story is decent, and the animation is fabulous. It is a great extension to a nearly dead franchise, and I can only hope they do another one and make it even better. Then they will truly be able to make up for the abomination called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3.
Review by DonFishies from Canada from the Internet Movie Database.
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