Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie

So a few things over the last couple of weeks have been making this movie pop into my head this week, aside from a pizza craving, and a crazy kids show I have to watch at work all the time, I never don't enjoy this movie. So in light of not being able to see Iron Man 2 this week, I poped in this little baby and I'll post a small review.

Late 80's to early 1990s, Turtle Mania had swept the nation with kids. So someone decided to produce a movie. What they produced was an overall well done piece harking to both the kids audience but somehow threw in a few bits of the dark gritty stuff from the adult comics.

The Good:

Characters: No doubt the performances was well done and appealed to both kids and adults. It was easy enough for a kid understand or just enjoy the action, and for adults to get a laugh.

Costumes: hands down for the time you thought the turtles were real, either as a kid or an adult taken in by the movie magic. Jim Henson's creature shop excelled, and Jim Henson stated they were the most advanced at the time.

Story: Simple as it was it was well told. The classic struggle between the Foot and the Turtles. Elements borrowed from both the books and the cartoon.

Production Values: They didn't scrimp here either. At least half of it was shot on well constructed sound stages, while others were on location in North Carolina and New York.

The Bad:

Logic Holes: Considering this is for family, you have to at least try to excuse the logic holes, as in Why Raph didn't take better care not to be followed by the foot, how Casey happened to be in the area, things like that. Small, but noticeable.

The Verdict: The film still holds up after all these years and I think people will agree is it still an enjoyable movie and arguable the best of what;s come out for the TMNT franchise.

Movie Review: Turtles Forever

Let me tell you first that I am a big, big fan of the TMNT. In fact growing up it rivaled The Real Ghostbusters as my favorite franchise.

As I grew up Turtles dropped off for me, but I always kept a foot in the pond, catching a glimpse of new series that pop up or delving into the original material.

I came upon this while looking up news on the new movie, and someone posed a video in teh comments section to the trailer of this movie. Loving stories about trans-dimensional cross overs, plus it was TMNT, I couldn't resist watching it good or bad. So without Further adue,

Turtles Forever is a made for TV movie, made in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the franchise (this was in 2009) based on the current animated incarnation of the Turtles, through some mishaps in an alternate dimension, the 80s Turtles are transported to the modern world, with their villains in tow. Together it causes their villians to team up (sort of) to combat the Turtles, but the Modern Shredder wants to take it further, and wipe them out entirely. Can the Turtles stop The Shredders genocidal plans?

Plot: It seems whenever a villain realizes the possibility of other worlds they either want to take over those other world or destroy them, so this concept is nothing new. What makes it creepy is the modern Shredders intense hate to eliminate them from existence altogether. It's fun but serious at the same time, which brings me to...

Characters: Unsure of how they would treat the different incarnations of the turtles (we see three in all) writing for three VERY different eras has it's complications - but T.F. does it with a balance that is magnificent. The 80's turtles are all about pizza power, jokes, and keeping it light while their Shredder and Krang are on the boarder of incompetent villains; while the Modern Turtles are just that - modern edgy but not too dark. There are constant comment from one another on how they do things, how they interact with their own world, and it's hilarious BUT good. If it wasn't for the excellant writing of the Turtles and the characters we visit surrounding the, this could have been a REALLY bad movie.

Animation: It takes from the current series, so it's a little anime/cell shaded deal. Some CGI effects, but nothing unusual.

Voices: Done very well, the only real downer was that the original voice case from the 80s series didn't reprise their roles because of Union issues - the company that made the movie is non-union. Still, those that did the voices were pretty spot on and were in character, so no complaints there.

Final Verdict: This is a fan service to those that love Turtles. Especially if you're old enough to remember the 80's incarnation, and the Comics whence they came. Sadly it's not been released on DVD yet, but you can find it (in 8 to ten parts) on YouTube, although not sure how long that will last. Thankfully it's well done and a service to Turtle Fans everywhere. Trust me, liking Turtles as I do, if it sucked I tell ya. So check it out.