TMNT (2007) User Reviews

Turtles in the New Millennium

[Cheshyre · 7/10 · 22 March 2007]

TMNT does its job: CGIs are done very nicely, the visual overhaul of the Turtles' design comes near the original comic-look and for a kiddie flick (let's face it TMNTs target audience is well below 14) it is a shade darker, cooler and grown-up than any of the other animation films hitting the Box Office right now.

I was not sure what to expect after some of the reviews I read before seeing TMNT, but have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Snappy one-liners and some tongue-in-cheek comments younger viewers will not get did really make this a great CGI-movie. Especially the hyper-kinetic camera work and the rather unusual scene setups were really intriguing.

Don't listen to the "It's-not-like-the-comics"-Fanboys and dive into the turtle world, you won't regret it.

Welcome Back Green Dudes

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 18 March 2007]

Greetings again from the darkness. Reinventing a once popular franchise is always a bit of a gamble since the built-in audience will be very critical to changes and building a new audience can be extremely difficult. The secret usually lies in the ability to recapture the good parts from the original and add modern touches in order to attract new viewers.

Director Kevin Munroe delivers some witty one-liners and a couple of nice fight scenes all wrapped up in a terrific new animation style that lends itself very well to the dark side of sewers and big cities. Additionally, some complicated interaction between Leonardo and Rafael add a dimension not normally seen with the Turtles. All the necessary elements are there: the fight scenes (in keeping with the PG rating) are action packed, but with very little real violence; the bad guys are bent on world domination, even though the familiar Shredder is gone; the Turtle brothers struggle at times, but of course come together as a team when necessary; and the funny one-liners will make all ages giggle.

The downsides are the opening stage-setting scene, which will be a bit boring and hard to follow for the youngsters and the lack of any type of catchy music for the characters. Michaelangelo remains the fun-loving one, but he and Donnatello are pretty minor characters, and a big complaint is the lack of edge to Casey Jones. Instead of a hockey mask, he should probably dress as the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man. Still, none of that takes away from a fun film with a beautiful look.

Voice acting is pretty well done by the likes of Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Stewart, Mako, Kevin Smith and Ziyi Zhang. So take the kids and if you were once a Turtle fan, you should treat yourself to the fine new version. Cowabunga!!

Good fun and a welcome return in a CGI film

[ml0792-3 · 7/10 · 18 March 2007]

Just saw this tonight at an advance screening. Have to say it didn't really leave me disappointed, but it's certainly not harking back to the hyper violent original graphic novels that some might have hoped. It's more of a continuation of the original couple of films, so more action than violence.

The story is a bit silly, but befitting of an animated piece. It mainly plays a back seat to the inner-turmoil between the four brothers which is the main focus of the film. Leo and Raph have the majority of the screen time with Don and Mikey taking a back seat, even to the likes of April and Casey.

Style wise, it looks very good, with some excellent fight sequences. Although overall the film went by very very quickly. Voice Acting was good too, nice to see Patrick Stewart in the mix too.

Basically if you liked the original movies than you'll be in for a treat. If you're one of those people that thinks they should all have red bandanas and swear all the time then this might not be exactly what you were hoping for.

exciting and entertaining at the beginning .. but not completely satisfying at the end

[2legs · 7/10 · 12 May 2007]

It's good to see TMNT's back on big screen and I was very excited about it! (Almost) everything was great: CGI, action sequences, darkness of the story/design and the story wasn't that bad at all.. except some part. This is probably a bias comment, cause Leonardo is my favorite.

At the end of the movie I've got the feeling that Raphael was (becoming) the leader of TMNT. He led his brothers and the rest of the gang to rescue Leonardo. I started to 'dislike' the movie AFTER Raphael defeated Leonardo. The chase scene over NY and the fight scene on the rooftop were amazing. It doesn't bothered me to see Raphael kicked Leonardo's ass on a one-on-one battle. I admit it, Raphael is the better fighter and the strongest among these four turtles. After all Leonardo is (still!) the leader, while Raphael is the rebel, Donatello is the brain and Michaelangelo is the comic of TMNT.

Brought me back to the good ol' days.

[blahXblahXblah · 7/10 · 25 March 2007]

At first I was little skeptical to see this movie. The only reason why is because it was going to be animated and not live action. But I finally got over it, and watched from the first minute to the last. I couldn't help but laugh at all the great jokes that were said. Michelangelo is still as funny as I remember. The turtles made it worth my while to get up early on Saturday morning when I was younger.

But there were a select things that bothered me little bit.

Don't get me wrong, I love the guys, but I thought that Leo and Raph got too much screen time. As well as April and Casey.

Speaking of Casey, what was up with him. I remember him being a hardcore son-of-gun. Now he is a whipped boyfriend.

Now with those flaws aside, I thought that this was good family-fun!

A fun adaptation of our favorite turtles in a half shell

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 6/10 · 26 August 2007]

Oh, my God, I finally saw TMNT, I don't know how many opportunities to see TMNT in the theater, but it never pulled through. But I finally got to see the movie this morning on DVD; I have to say that over all the movie really worked. While I would still prefer the live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film made back in '90, this was a fun adaption as well. The CGI was always an ifie subject with me, but I think that it worked for the simple fact of where this movie was aimed at, mostly a children's audience, and the dark animation made you feel as if you were in the comics. The voices were a perfect fit and the story was very cool. The only problem I had with the movie is that it seemed to be like more of a video game than an actual movie, it could have just been more creative I think. But the story worked very well.

The turtles are back and they are about to face their biggest villain yet, a bunch of immortal stone monsters who are wishing to stay this way. But it gets harder when Leonardo comes back from the jungle just trying to become a better leader, but Rapheal isn't in the mood when he wants things done his own way. Now the boys must try to fight as one to fight off these monsters, with Splinter, Casey Jones and April O'Neil on their side, they just might be able to pull together and save the city once again.

TMNT is a fun animation movie that I'm sure kids will love. I was 5 when the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie came out and I admit, I still watch it to this day, I still love the turtles, so I guess I was looking for those old memories. But since this wasn't really aimed towards the old school fans, I think it was somewhat of a disappointment, but it is worth a watch. I definitely think if you enjoy the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stories, you'll get into TMNT.

6/10

What a letdown. My inner child weeps.

[blackismylove · 3/10 · 24 December 2008]

When I was a little kid I loved the Ninja turtles. So needless to say, when I heard they were coming out with a new movie, I couldn't wait to see it, but the minute I heard it was all CGI, I could tell right away that it would be a far cry from the franchise that I had become so fond of.

I thought to myself that it would have been more appealing to the older loyal fans, and kids would still want to see it. But after I actually watched it, I changed my mind. The story wasn't really interesting enough, so it didn't really matter if it was computer generated or not. There seemed to be a lot of character references that I didn't get. I assume that you had watch the current series to understand who everyone was.

I found what was going on to be so forgettable. I was not compelled to see what happened to the characters or how their problem became resolved. It wasn't entirely bad. I supposed that for a kid's standards of movie entertainment, this did the job. But for an old fan, I completely disappointed.

Fitting Reinvention of the Franchise

[ChimpCadet · 8/10 · 9 February 2007]

i just saw a test screening of TMNT and, although i suspected it would be good, it surpassed my predictions. i should note that i am a pretty big fan of the old movies (1 and 2 anyway) and the old cartoon, and am a collector of TMNT comic art posters-- this may give you a perspective on where i'm coming from before you read my review. Without giving much away, here is what i liked(+)/disliked(-).

+ANIMATION: the biggest thing the movie has going for it is the animation. it is miles ahead of any animated movie I've ever seen. the level of detail is unsurpassed and completely amazing. everything from backgrounds, characters, various surfaces and textures (including skin), lighting and different effects (including a pivotal sequence in the rain) absolutely blew me away.

+DESIGN: along the same lines as the animation, the general look and design of everything was pretty cool. the turtles themselves look different and new, as well as splinter, casey and april. their designs fit in well with the overall look of NY city, which is dark, worn and very impressive. the skyline was very well done. I was also particularly impressed with the design of karai and the foot.

+CHARACTERS & RELATIONSHIPS: especially between the turtles and splinter --and particularly raphael and leonardo-- the relationships are complex, as is traditionally the case for the franchise. in this film they are well drawn and developed and, in the end are fulfilling and cathartic. there are a few surprises to say the least, both within the turtle team and also without. casey also adds to his relationship with raph in this movie.

+SCREENPLAY/STORYLINE: The screenplay is generally okay. the tone is about as perfect a balance you can hope for for a film trying to appeal to the Saturday morning crowd as well as the old school, 20-something fans. it returns to the darker, more emotional tone of the first live action film but doesn't fail to deliver on humor (although some of it is hit and miss-- probably the result of trying to appeal to the younger crowd). Dialogue is decent. the storyline is a bit more on the sci-fi side than most fans of the old movies will be used to, but it seems secondary to the development and relationships of the characters-- a good decision on the part of the filmmakers. the plot is still interesting and fast paced, and the villains are credible.

+ACTION/FIGHT SEQUENCES: generally well done. for me, the centerpiece of the whole movie was a climactic, rooftop fight scene in the rain. other cool sequences include a skateboarding scene, and a huge fight against a bunch of foot ninjas.

-HUMOR: not that it was particularly bad (although michaelangelo was borderline annoying sometimes), but for me, there wasn't enough. i usually associated the turtles with humor, even in their darker pieces like the first live action film.

-SPLINTER'S VOICE: this may be sacrilege, but Mako's voice took some getting used to. I was used to the soft-spoken whisper of past splinters. this one is harsh and grumbly. this isn't to say its bad-- it just took some getting used to.

-CHARACTER SCREEN TIME: michaelangelo and especially donatello were hardly in the movie. there could have been more development about their characters (traditionally leo and raph are the focus, though) although they do bond well as a part of the whole group. Same goes for April. She has usually been a pivotal character in any incarnation of the franchise, but she is minor here. Hopefully there will be future films where these three characters will be explored in more depth.

-APRIL: not only does she have little screen time, but she isn't as "strong" a character as she usually has been, and her fighting skills were kind of out of the blue. besides this, her relationship with casey was kind of flat. hopefully it will be remedied in future films, if there are any.

-CASEY JONES: what happened to the hard-edged casey we all knew? i get that he is supposed to be more "domestic" now, but i didn't even get a hint of the old, violence-crazy vigilante.

-VIOLENCE: i hate for this to be another "there's not enough violence in TMNT" discussion, but although there is a lot of fighting, it seems they've really tried to keep the violence to a minimum, which is understandable considering their broad market (after all, it is PG). depending on if this film is successful, i would like to see them up the darkness and violence a bit more (PG-13 would be cool)-- although even if it is successful, it probably wont happen. wishful thinking i guess.

You will enjoy this film if you are a true old school fan or a fan of the newer cartoon. If you never really liked the turtles, you probably wont like this either. Since this is supposedly based more on the original comics, even the comic fans should enjoy it. Although it is a bit on the dark side, the PG rating is fitting, and isn't too much more violent than the Saturday morning cartoon, id imagine. it is a good action film and a good family film-- adults and non-fans shouldn't be bored. To people who balk at the idea of it being animation ("its a cartoon!") or being PG, i'd say give it a chance-- you might actually like it. like most things, if you walk in hating it, you're gonna leave hating it. but as a longtime fan of the turtles in most incarnations, this film has my seal of approval. it was pretty good, and i expect to see more.

OVERALL: 8/10

Great Graphics and Animation!

[Juan_from_Bogota · 7/10 · 14 May 2007]

I really had a pleasant time watching this movie: the graphics and animation were great!, and the story is totally captivating as a superhero tale. The fight scenes are absolutely well obtained and i loved the facial expression of the human; they were quite original, the girls (April and Karai) looked beautiful; it's like a combination between anime faces and traditional cartoon characters!. The only thing that a didn't like of the movie was the fact that the thirteen monsters capture is shown too confusing, i would have prefer that they took more time on each monster so i could have seen more every one, its strength, behavior, powers and weak points, as on any villain that you usually see in comics. But besides that this is a good animated film. This fourth movie of the teenage mutant ninja turtles is maybe the best of all, totally computer animated but excellent in its script

ABOUT THE MOVIE: The story is about the ultimate enemy of this mutant turtles, who started 3000 years ago, where an extremely trained army of soldiers witnessed an alignment of starts that opened a gate to other dimension; this gate gave immortality to the leader of the army and also released thirteen immortal monsters that started to make some damages since that time, and turned to stone the rest of the great army. In the present times, the group of turtles was somewhat split, with Leonardo training in Southamerica, Raphael being a new type of hero as the night watcher, Michaellangelo working as party clown with a big turtle mask and Donatello being a 24 hour online assistant of some software company. Immediately when Leonardo returned from training and while he was having some differences with his brother Raphael, some monsters started to appear in town; while fighting these monsters they also met a group of expert ninjas leaded by Karai, who followed orders from a powerful and wealthy man, Max Winters. April O'Neal as archaeologist and well trained in martial arts, and her friend Casey Jones helped the turtles in these weird challenge as the ancient army of stone was returning also to live.

7/10! Good film and nice work of Kevin Munroe.

Lame, Lame, Lame

[kylehodgdon · 3/10 · 25 November 2009]

Let me first say that I was the biggest Ninja Turtles fan growing up. I saw the three live action films in the theaters and loved two of them (no need to point out which I did not care for).

Going into "TMNT", I did not expect to get anything anywhere near the awesomeness of the first two live action films. I knew that this was a different movie, and I was okay with that. I knew that these turtle's were the turtles of a new generation and that is all fine and dandy; I'm cool with seeing something I love and having a new story told (see my reviews on the X- Men movies).

No, the reason that I disliked "TMNT" was not because it was the same Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from my childhood, but it is because this movie was very, very lame. Let's start with the plot: It was atrocious. I didn't want some fantastic explanation with space age variables. Success is mapped out with a Ninja Turtles movie and they failed miserably. It should be something simple. Someone like Shredder, Baxter Stockman, Krang, they would all work. I'm not saying that those exact characters need to be featured, but someone interesting. A random half hour episode from the 1990's cartoon has much more substance that this film ever had.

The second major reason why this movie was so lame was because it is so kiddy. Remember seeing the original? It was a kid's movie, yet it was tough. It's really too bad kid's shows and movies are so innocent these days. I mean, kids can take a little harshness and reality. It doesn't need to be so lame. "The Brave Little Toaster" is more adult than "TMNT".

I didn't like any characters either. Casey was dorky, April was not right, The Foot Clan and the girl they were with were pointless, Splinter did not have any of his original charm, and the turtles were just second rate knock offs of what they should have been.

I didn't like the CGI in this movie either. It was okay, I guess, but I have seen much better.

This movie was not something I would want my kid to watch. If they think this foolishness is cool, which it is advertised to be, then they would be dead wrong. This is stupid.

Good fun on the big screen

[tfay-4 · 8/10 · 19 March 2007]

Saw the preview of TMNT on the weekend and I have to say that the comments from ChimpCadet are spot on.

I am one of the older generation of TMNT fans and I can happily say that I greatly enjoyed watching this film. Also the row of children sitting behind me did not make one noise from the start of the film to the end. Which I think is a good sign to universal appeal of this film.

The plot ticks along at a good pace, some of the action sequence are outstanding in terms of action, animation and detail (as stated by ChimpCadet the fight in the rain is a highlight of this film).

On the whole a great film that does well to start the franchise and spawn a sequel or two.

Good enough CGI, turtles with a darker edge

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 25 May 2014]

3000 years ago, warrior king Yaotl uncover a portal that turned him immortal. It also turned his men into stone and released 13 powerful monsters. The portal opens every 1000 year with the alignment of stars. After defeating their nemesis Shredder, the Turtles have gone their separate ways. Leonardo has gone to Central America. Donatello and Michelangelo are running their small businesses. Raphael works the night secretly as the vigilante Nightwatcher. The rich Max Winters has hired Karai and the Foot Clan to search for the 13 monsters. He is secretly the immortal Yaotl who has reanimated his stone generals.

This one puts the goofy silly feel of the earlier cartoons on the back burner. It's still there but this has a darker edge to it. The CGI is acceptable with a cartoon look. It has a dark noirish shading. The monsters look scary and mean. The story is simple and works. It's pretty good for fans both old and new.

A 7.2? Are You Kidding Me?

[nolanmoravec · 2/10 · 28 March 2007]

What the hell is a matter with you all? A 7.2? This movie was a terrible piece of crap. I admire the fact that Hollywood wanted to bring back the turtles, but they should have waited for a much better script than the piece of s**t that they got. The movie's storyline was just tedious and repetitive (turtles have to stop monsters from bringing about the end of the world) which made the film seem like a three-part Saturday morning cartoon brought to the big screen. The movie lacked humor as well which is what makes the turtles fun to watch and makes them lovable. The only good thing about this film was how the CGI was able to bring more exciting fight scenes and action to the film, but it was something again that the movie could have had more of. I was extremely disappointed with this film and I hope to God that they do not do another film like this again. If you want to watch a good Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie than watch the first two films.

Definitely eye popping....

[Trashbag · 7/10 · 24 March 2007]

You've probably been hearing comments of how stunning the animation was. And every last one of those comments are right. It is obvious how much care and attention was put into the look of this film. Everything from the New York City environment to the Turtles themselves looked absolutely fantastic.

The story was sort of a mixed bag. I liked the struggle between the Turtles and how Leonardo is trying his hardest to get the team back together with Raphael trying to pull away. Everything else, however, could've been a little better. There doesn't really seem to be any level of suspense here, save for a fight between two main characters (which looks phenomenal, I might add). I also would've liked to have seen a bit more screen time for Donatello, who always seems to be pushed to the side. And there were some jokes here and there that might make you cringe, most of them involving Michelangelo. But this is still an enjoyable flick for everyone to watch, even if you're not a Turtle fan. It's worth seeing for the animation alone.

Heroes in a Half-Decent Reboot

[Mr_Censored · 6/10 · 23 March 2010]

Fourteen years after the abysmal "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III" sent our beloved heroes in a half-shell back to the sewers, "TMNT" finds the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles returning to the limelight in a completely CGI'ed reboot of the franchise.

While the film doesn't go out of its way to ignore or necessarily acknowledge the other films, it works as both a new beginning as well as a loose sequel. Opening up with a narrative by Laurence Fishburne, a gaggle of medieval monsters are set-up as the villains as opposed to the usual Shredder and it is established that that Turtles are in shambles, with Leonardo laying low in Central America while the remaining three work menial jobs and look back at the glory days of yore. After a visit from news reporter/friend April O'Neal (voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar) brings Leo back to the fold, the turtles spring back in action to send the beasts back to where they came from and reclaim their place as the under-appreciated guardians of Manhattan.

The CGI here is rather good (with the human rendering being the only weak factor), but unfortunately "TMNT" feels, in essence, like one big cartoon. While it's entertaining and easy to swallow, it lacks the substance that the first film had (if you remember, that film was true to the grittier origins of the Turtles while keeping their fun-loving spirit alive as well). You can almost assume that this film was meant more for the younger crowd and less for the twenty-somethings who nowadays look back fondly on the days of not only the original movies, but the original Saturday morning cartoon and the endless onslaught of action figures and various merchandising that accompanied it as well. In turn, this reboot is about on par with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze," and at the very least, washes away the bad taste that the third installment left in its viewer's mouths. Featuring voice work by Mako, Kevin Smith, Patrick Stewart and others, it's an entertaining but wholly forgettable affair that is no more than an 87 minute cartoon.

Successful revisitation

[neil-476 · 7/10 · 13 March 2011]

The Turtles were big at the time my son was the right age for them (albeit in England we got the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, because the powers that be decreed that knowledge of all things ninja related was a bit too strong for children). So I was familiar with the bowdlerised English version of the TV cartoon series, the bowdlerised English comic, the live action movies, and I even had some knowledge of Eastman and Laird's rather darker US comic. My son was absolutely barmy about them and, to tell the truth, I quite liked 'em too.

It all went very quiet after the third movie (which, personally, I liked best of the lot). And then along comes this new CGI movie.

I think CGI, as a medium, suits the Turtles better than traditional animation or live action, and this film gets nearly everything right (character design - Turtle, human, and creatures - is fine, but sometimes the animation runs the action too fast and confusingly). The story works well, and it's a pleasure to see this odd little offshoot of popular culture back on the screen.

Good continuation with an obvious hole

[womprat99 · 17 March 2007]

Overall TMNT was a good movie, well done in CGI, with great character development and good fun. The only downside is the obvious hole at the end when the 13th monster is being sought out.

** SPOILER ** Before, when the stone general guys were discussing the 13th monster still being out in the city, we flash to Raph in the diner and his fight sequence with the 13th, a little red monster no higher than his knee. But when April and Casey go out to get the 13th to seal the vortex, it's some huge beast, not the little cuddly knee-biter. Did I miss something, or did the director? ** END SPOILER **

Anyway, highly recommended for the kids and the Turtles fans alike. Bring on number five.

Someone said it was exactly like the TV cartoon....so?

[alan_v35 · 2/10 · 13 September 2007]

The rental box for this piece of crap should be stamped with a large warning label: 'For Children Only. May cause vomiting and suicidal thoughts for adults'. Except, of course, that the film's violence has earned it a PG rating, so I'm not sure if parents would choose this for their kids, either. Well, the Turtles are back in a movie that looks so much like a video game that all it needs is the Sony PS3 logo. The acting is fine with such names as Patrick Stewart as villain, Max Winters and Laurence Fishburne as the narrator. The story is kindergarten simple and the dialog is on a par with the most mediocre Saturday morning efforts. There is less action that you would expect to find and the jokes don't work. So what's left? The film starts with a 3,000-year-old back-story that ends with 13 monsters being released into the world. Meanwhile, old turtle friend April O'Neil sets out to find Leonardo who has been training alone in Central America. She convinces him to return to his family, which has been floundering in his absence. Isn't the profound wisdom of Master Splinter enough to keep these guys on track? Anyways, he does return and after a bunch of squabbling, the turtles get back down to the business of making money- I mean fighting evil.

I can only guess that this mass marketing machine that lead off with a movie is aimed at youngsters and maybe at those who enjoyed the cartoons, movies and games from the last time these four were set upon the wallets of impressionable children and their helpless parents. There is nothing new to offer, here and what is re-hashed wasn't interesting the first twenty times we saw it in movies exactly like this one.

This work was first posted on realmoviereview.com

A wonderful nostalgia

[crussell-stu · 8/10 · 24 March 2007]

I went into this feature not quite knowing what to expect. I grew up with the turtles and was a huge fan of the comic book, the cartoon series (the original, of course), and the movies (only the first two). Growing up with the first two movies, I was really hoping that this one would be live-action. I will have to say though, that I was not at all disappointed in this feature.

At the beginning of the movie, I was slightly disappointed in who the rivals were. It seemed very far fetched, even for a Ninja Turtles movie. However, about half-way through the movie, I found myself forgetting about the not-quite-so-wonderful way the story line was set up. I'm not going to give away too much, but let's just say that the feud that has existed between Leo and Raph reaches an interesting point in this movie.

Overall, I would have to say that any turtles fan should give this film a shot. Try to not go into it with expectations set by the first two movies. Just think of this as a stand-alone movie, even though it does roughly follow the story-line set by the first two. If nothing else, the CGA is wonderful and the voice acting isn't so bad either.

Brings back memories

[tikiroomfan · 7/10 · 4 June 2007]

My history with this movie has been as much a roller coaster as the films plot. When the first teaser came out, I was stunned, could it be that my favorite childhood icons were making a return in a Batman Begins style way, by going back to the origins and having a bolder, darker Turtle movie. And then, my hopes were crushed when I saw the full length trailer. Gone were the dark, shadowy figurings jumping on the rooftops in the teaser, now we had a full blown cartoon. I was pretty much crushed. It seemed that the release of TMNT would hail as much fan fare as any run o the mill CGI movie, which is, hardly any. The TV spots just confirmed my fears that offically the Turtles were back, but offically back to their old post-comic book "cowabunga" days. But then I read the IMDb reviews, which were fairly positive, so I decided to check it out. The end release was a mix of both what I had hoped for and what I kind of dreaded. By far the biggest complaint I have about this film is the way it treats the human characters. It seems the only cool human characters were April and to a lesser extent Casey Jones, though I think Casey lost his edge with this. Most humans are animated very cartoonishly, they remind me of Incredibles rejects, but thankfully the main humans, April and Casey, are pretty cool. As I mentioned before, Casey was a bit of a let down considering the darkness of the original character, but still, it's cool to see him back in vigilante form, and April is smoking! I don't think I've ever been attracted to a few pixels like this. (Call me a pervert, when you see her in her ninja gear near the end, you'll think otherwise) The plot is just so-so, I would of liked to see a famous villain like Shredder or Ooze, but this works just fine, besides, the main attraction here isn't the story but the turtles themselves, and they are well accounted for. I love the personalities in this, though Don, my favorite Turtle, oddly has anything to do, the relationship between Leo and Raph is very intense and more then makes up for less screen time for the other two. (Plus, Mikey has always been a little annoying to begin with) plus Splinter flat out ROCKS!! Although his design reminds me of Chester Cheeta a little to much. The action in this film is great. There's not a lot of violence, and therefore not a lot of fighting, but when they do fight, it's really cool. The best scene in the film is a fight between Rapheal and Leonardo in the rain. It really shows off how beautiful the animation really is. Every rain drop is accounted for as the two duke it out. In the end, the film really is a great return to the Turtles I used to love, even a bit darker then the original TV show and live action films in some respects. I really hope they make a sequel and bump the rating up to a PG-13, with that rating, they could REALLY make something incredible. 7.5/10

Shell Shock!

[ldavis-2 · 2/10 · 19 August 2007]

Bad enough they couldn't stop at "The Secret of the Ooze" and HAD to make "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III"! I was willing to forgive until I PPV'ed this today!

Who decided this bozo Kevin Munroe had the nun-chucks to revive the franchise? Animation that rips-off "The Incredibles" and "Shrek"! Not using the voices from the series! Turning April into a Z-Grade Lara Croft, and re-hooking her up with loser Casey! Worse, Munroe's Turtles are obnoxious, undisciplined brats, and all Splinter does is wait for his favorite TV show to come on! Oh, and one silly question: if the monsters have been wreaking havoc for 3,000 years, why hasn't anyone known about them until now?

As this turkey arrived DOA, the idea of Donatello as a freelance tech consultant and Michelangelo doing kids' parties in a turtle outfit obviously came from someone with an actual working brain cell. Sadly, we'll never know who. Come back, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers! All is forgiven!

Not bad at all

[fenixurban · 9/10 · 25 March 2007]

Okay, when I was little, I was a big Turtle fan. I had this deep, emotion connection with the show. Years later, yes, I never give it much thought. In a way, my hopes were answered when I found out this movie was coming out. One could just look at it and tell that this movie is either going to be really good or really bad.

I was shocked.

I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will say this. Like many, I was glad to not see Shredder. But that aside, this movie was REALLY well done. It, like many action movies, has its faults (cheesy dialog for instance), but they suit this kind of a movie and franchise. The action sequences were great and the story was compelling and moving. The characters were well developed, and of course, totally freaking awesome. I also say that it is good that the story is darker than the cartoon from the early 90's. Personally, I feel the most moving stories have to be dark.

In short, this movie does a great job targeting audiences of all ages. Cartoony for the kids, compelling and interesting plot for the teens, and very good morals to remind the parents of what they should be teaching their kids. 9/10.

Lives up to the spirit of the cartoon

[the_only_warrior · 7/10 · 24 March 2007]

I went in there with very low expectations, despite reading some good reviews. However, I was not disappointed.

Being a huge fan of the original cartoon series (a long time ago), I was very glad they went down the animation route and didn't try to make it "realistic". The animation is superb and better than the trailer suggests! The voice acting is really good - especially the turtles who shy away from the caricature of the original feature films.

I think the story is a little bit too complicated for the length of the movie. There are many characters shoved in there who really do not do much - e.g. the foot clan seems very irrelevant and completely unsinister, the monsters barely get seen and Donatello and Michaelangelo do not get to show their characters very much. The final battle is a let-down for me, though perhaps it is the flaw in their choice of immortal villains rather than mortal ones.

Having said all this, the movie is fun to watch, has some funny moments, great animation, is great for kids and I look forward to a sequel that expands upon everything we saw in this movie.

It's not a movie... it's a video game

[Kenneth_Loring · 1/10 · 16 November 2009]

That is of course not to say that video games can't have beautiful cut scenes with a great, inventive story. Nothing about this movie is inventive though, and nothing about it makes sense either(Much like a video game). The villain of this movie and these 13 monsters are completely uninspired and resemble your by the numbers bad guy in a cartoon film. The turtles even fight against each other, which makes very little sense, and finally when we reach the climax(And I use the term very loosely here), we are unimpressed with what happens. Basically, at the end I don't feel that any effort or love was put into the script at all. Even during the film they have the gall to put the name of each Ninja Turtle on the screen when they first appear! What?! Did the director really think the vast majority of people who were seeing this movie wouldn't know who the Turtles are?! Frankly, I feel that this is proof positive that the director is insulting the intelligence of Ninja Turtle fans everywhere. This is a very poor reboot of the franchise. If you absolutely have to, just see the original live action movie made back in 1990.

The Turtles are back...

[Youngbuck11 · 7/10 · 28 March 2007]

Back when I was a small child, I liked to watch the live-action Ninja Turtles films, but you couldn't really call me a fan. I first found out they were making this last fall, and while I was looking forward to it, I wasn't really highly anticipating it. So when the day came that it was finally released, I wasn't bouncing off my seat ready to see it. But I still went, and was very surprised.

A lot of people didn't like the idea that a Turtles film was going to be made in CGI. For some reason, it seems that a lot of people who want to look like that are 'artistic' talk crap about CGI, but I for one thought that the Ninja Turtles are more suited for a CGI film rather than live-action. With animation, it doesn't really look silly. But with a bunch of guys walking around in fake turtle costumes, it looks a little too ridiculous to take any of their problems seriously.

This film had a very unique look to it. It's locations seemed to be very stylized, as if from a painting, only 3D. It was very beautiful to watch and only went to further enhance the experience of TMNT.

The story they followed is very different from anything we've seen in a Turtles film. It seemed like it fit more in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Cartoons, but wasn't too bizarre. However, I think that, while there is a sort of overall group of bad guys that the Turtles must destroy, and there is a whole sort of back story, the main focus of the film is on the Turtles struggling to hold together as a family. Sort of like, they're retired and miserable.

The voice acting for the Turtles themselves was very well done. In fact, the only problem I had with it was the voice of Splinter. It just seemed very awkward and it didn't fit the design they had. But after a while, I guess it sort of grows on you. There weren't that many scenes with him, either, so that helped.

Overall, this film was an action-packed, fun restart for the Turtle franchise. It manages to capture the sense of humor the old films have, but also manages to wake you down a more dark and serious road.