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TMNT - Spoiler Free

Anyone wonder when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned into the KFC of the pop culture world? TMNT? Okay, that was a poor comment... On with someone who makes good comments, KF of A Comic A Day - AD

When the twenty-something-year-old guy stood up in the back of the theater dressed in a head-to-toe Donatello costume, I’d never felt more undressed for a midnight movie premiere. My old school Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt was in the hamper and I didn’t bother to wash it, but even if I did, it wouldn’t have compared to the bandanas, jackets, pajamas and plastic weaponry my fellow fans touted with pride in anticipation of their heroes’ triumphant return to the big screen. I was excited, too, but I’ve learned not to anticipate these franchise revivals. While such cinematic reboots often attempt to rekindle the fanboy flames of old, as a nostalgic sap surrounded by the same comics and action figures of fifteen years ago, I’m usually still on fire for this stuff. You press restart, ironically, you lose me.

Fortunately, TMNT picks up where any other installment of their saga left off: action-packed, adolescent amphibian angst and adventure. Director Kevin Munroe must have studied radioactive chemistry, because he mixed just the right elements for this new incarnation to ooze with charm . . .

Basically, TMNT is the Turtles’ reunion tour, reuniting not only their divided team but also an entire generation of fans with the heroes in a half shell they fondly remember from their youth. Plot wise, Munroe produces a story that evokes shades of Superman Returns, utilizing the time since their last big screen adventure as an allegorical catalyst to evolve these characters to the next, natural level, while also establishing a cosmic threat that pits our favorite lean, green, fighting machines against their fair share of monsters and Foot soldiers – everything we fans clamor for in a reptilian battle royale. Although the special effects of this adventure’s climatic moments took a page from the Akira playbook and emphasized a cosmic light show over the team’s foot-to-Foot combat, the slugfest-meets-special effects is a surefire way to secure today’s younger audience. We old-timers were satisfied with the original film’s raw rooftop brawl, and I hope future installments of this rebooted franchise will remember that rich tradition.

Surprisingly, I always forget how emotionally ambitious true Ninja Turtles stories are, which shouldn’t shock even a general audience when “teenage” is the first word used to describe these heroes. Almost every fight scene in this film (and there’s a lot of them!) has an introspective subtext, some connection to the movie’s overwhelming theme about family and commitment. Indeed, every character, from the Turtles to their new immortal enemies to the new leader of the Foot Clan, expresses some familial motivation, which is an appropriate theme for all ages to understand and further speaks of the Turtles’ inherently timeless potential. Every kid has fought with a sibling, and every adult has pondered the importance of their legacy, so anybody that takes in this flick will feel a heartfelt connection with its content. Of course, a little martial arts and a Bigfoot monster or two never hurt anybody, either.

But who cares how the movie made you feel – how did it look? First as comics, then cartoons, then live action puppetry, the foray into CGI confirms that the Turtles can master any form of visual media that can handle them. Although I’d never heard of the Hong Kong-based Imagi Animation Studios before, I was extremely impressed with their cinematic style and attention to detail. Under Munroe’s direction, New York City became a strong supporting character throughout the film, with cityscapes so meticulously established through sweeping and rack focus shots that one could be led to believe that Imagi incorporated real footage to cut corners with their backgrounds. While the humans like April and Casey looked a bit The Incredibles-ish, the turtle-centric scenes were nearly flawless, detailing their scaly skin and occasionally paying homage to their original comic book incarnations by obscuring their pupils for that white-eyed, tough guy grimace. When a turtle first appeared on screen, as if ripped from those raw Eastman and Laird images from two decades ago, the audience cheered.

Not that the Turtles were completely grim ‘n grit. This latest interpretation of our half-shell heroes incorporates the wonton frivolity and cheeseball humor of the original cartoon series with the cutting edge action and violence of their black and white comic roots. Each Turtle boasts his respective personality as established in their first cartoon series (Donatello still “does machines”), and the Leonardo/Raphael feud from the first film continues here in a confrontation more intense than the very climax of the plot. Don is actually the least used personality, as his intelligence offers more comedic foil than plot propellant yet not enough to dominate Michelangelo’s antics, but fans of all of the characters should be pleased with the way they look and act. It’s a total package, from shell to finish.

However, TMNT is still a “do over” in many respects – paying homage to its past in Splinter’s trophy room yet teasing that the past may return in an ambiguous claim from the Foot’s new leader. While the new enemy of this newer film was foreign to old school fans like me, the driving conflict of the Turtles’ legacy is their obligatory love for each other. With four completely different personalities, that big sewer must seem awfully small, but as the unique creatures that they are, they only have each other. They have to love each other. So, while TMNT was marketed as a rock ‘n roll reunion tour, it’s best described as a family reunion . . . and we fans, whether we dressed for the occasion or not, have been adopted. We can’t help but love them, too.