TMNT (aka Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

T-U-R-T-L-E Power!

If you were a kid in the early 90's or you had a kid during the early 90's or you were alive during the early 90's...you knew about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle phenomenon.

I hopped on the TMNT bandwagon with their first movie, aptly named Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), road it through the sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) and fell off the wagon with the bumpy and rather lackluster Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time (1993) For some unknown reason, the big screen has been over-grown, gnarly, crime-fighting-turtleless for 14 years.

Simply shocking.

Not to worry, though. The four crime-fighting amphibians, their rodent ninja master and band of friends are back with animated vengeance. Plus, with the magic of CGI, these turtles have an unprecedented new litheness.

As with any cinematic resurrection, there are doubts surrounding the ability to make a new movie equal to the original. Naturally, a number of TMNT fans have awaited the release of this newest adventure with a mix of excitement and fear. Myself included. Would Kevin Munroe (who according to his imdb page, had only 1 video game to his directorial credit) be able to capture and deliver a story with the same action, comedy and fun of the first movie?

For all you comic book readers out there, I would just like to say this: I have never read the comics. I don't know anymore than the movies have taught me. That having been said, I thoroughly enjoyed the new TMNT. Michelangelo was bodacious with his obnoxious puns, prompting one of his amphibious brothers to quip, "Mikey, do you remember our little talk?" Donatello was introduced to the audience as "your friendly IT support agent 24 hours a day." Raphael is as angry as ever. And Leonardo is searching for himself in South America.

TMNT gave me the overwhelming urge to watch the 1990 original, which I own thanks to my wonderful little brother, so I popped it in when I got home. There are some amazing similarities. Specifically between Raph and Leo. I won't say more for those who will be seeing one or both of the movies in the near future, but I think some of the dialogue is even the same at parts.

With all do respect to the original...I do believe this latest installment, which continues the story of the four brothers following the demise of Shredder and The Foot (who do make an appearance), does more to set up the characters of the Turtles. As a kid, I didn't grasp the concept that Raph was angst-ridden, Don was the genius, Leo was the fearless leader and...well, ok I did get that Mikey was the party dude! Kudos to the TMNT scriptwriters for transforming the boys from 4 pizza-loving partiers into 4 distinct and independent characters.

What would I have liked to see more of? Mikey and Don. The first movie showcased some great numchuk action...this movie had virtually none. Well, no visible ones anyway. Likewise, Donatello and to an extent Michelangelo’s characters both took a backseat to the conflict between Leonardo and Raphael. They've left the door open for a sequel...so let's bring the other two brothers into the spotlight!

Totally tubular shots of the boys looking powerful, cheesy jokes and radical amphibious ninja action. The Turtles are back in town...COWABUNGA, DUDES! 4 Stars.