The Ninja Turtle movie… how does one write an objectionable review of a movie they loved every second of? :) Since I probably can’t, it might be best if I just tell you why I thought it was so good!

First, we must go back a bit to fully understand this movie. When the ninja turtles first came out almost 20 years ago, I was like 8. I had their comics, their toys, watched their cartoons, and it wasn’t uncommon to find me with a garbage can lid tied to my back and 2 meter sticks I stole from school running around the neighborhood pretending I was Leonardo. This was also about the time the first Turtles movie was released.

Costumes were detailed, the atmosphere was fairly dark, and the turtles were written with clear personality traits. Raph fought crime at night by himself, and had a lot of built up anger. Leo, the leader was skilled with everything he did, yet at times second guessed his own decisions.. Don and Mike were “best buds” and goofed off, but would do anything for their brothers.. There were some cheesy one-liners, but all in all the script was clean enough for the kids, yet wasn’t overly dumbed down like the cartoons, so it was also enjoyable by an older crowd as well.

Then as the second and third movies came out, plot lines got weaker and harder to believe, costumes became more vibrant and cartoonish, and the atmosphere in the movies got much brighter. Personally, of all the movies, I thought the first was the best, and to this day, still sit and watch it from time to time

Now what does all this have to do with the new movie? Everything! Watching this movie as an older fan, you see they went through a lot of effort to bring back what we all liked of the original turtles, but still kept it written for the newer generation who watch them now. The sets are again darker, the characters are not overly vibrant and cartoony, and the scripting is more on the side of mature, not “dumbed down” and childish. Raph is back to fighting crime at night by himself and has issues with his temper. Don and Mike are doing their own thing, but as you would expect are very close with each other. Leo, is off learning about leadership, but questioning his success at it. These are all things us older fans loved about the first movie, and it will be appreciated in this one.

The CGI animation in this movie is simply tip top! Incredible detail went into the sets and scenery. Movement and action is very well done, and its obvious a lot of attention went into every frame. Rain splashes on everything it hits, turning cloth dark and soggy, while other surfaces become glossy and wet looking. Reflections are visible on things like glass and metals, and the lighting is amazing. There is a scene where Leo raises his sword near his face, and you can actually see the reflection of light from the sword highlighting his face. It really puts a lot of other CGI rendered movies to shame. Even though the movie was rendered with incredible detail, they still kept a “comic book” feeling with the characters. Humans such as April O’neil and Casey Jones have long thin bodies, kind of like the characters in “The Incredibles”, and facial expressions are exaggerated but not overly so. Personally, I think they did an incredible job of mixing the old, with the new, and from what I’ve seen of other movies, that’s not easy to do right :)

To be reasonably objectionable with the review, there is really only one thing I did not enjoy and was a little disappointed with. That is with the voice actor of Splinter (The Turtles mentor). The first time I heard him talk, something was just off. It’s hard to explain, but you will know when you hear it. Some of his words just seem “lazy” like, the voice actor just didn’t open his mouth enough to clearly say a word. For the most part it’s not bad, I guess I was just expecting something more like the voice of the mentor in Karate Kid. His voice was old and whispy... but at least he spoke clearly and his words didn’t run together. The good part is splinter doesn’t have a huge role in the movie, so it is more of a minor nit-pick then a movie breaking annoyance :)

So… overall I enjoyed pretty much every aspect of this movie and will defiantly be buying the DVD when it comes out. It will proudly sit on my shelf next to the first Ninja Turtles and just like the first, will most likely spend a considerable amount of time in my DVD player ;)

In total I give this movie 4 and ½ army guys out of 5

Telnets