Fat Ninja

We took the kids to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) on Friday night. I’ve been a fan of Eastman and Laird’s TMNT since I can remember. The original comic series was fantastic and I loved the early cartoons and the first movie, even though they were marked departures from the source material. I’ve done my best to pass the tradition on to Byron. When I heard that a new, computer animated TMNT was in the works, I was stoked, especially since Eastman and Laird appeared to be heavily involved in the creative process.

In my heart of hearts, I wanted TMNT to be handled in the vein of the original comic books. On paper, the Turtles had a lot more edge, and there was a great deal more of a serious tone to them. However, I also realize that there is little money to be made in the appeasing of children posing as grown men. Having said that, TMNT maintains the general characterization of the four brothers in half-shells that began with the cartoon series from the 90’s. Michaelangelo is still the board-riding, wise-cracking, pizza-munching goofball you remember, and Donatello’s still the brainy one. And, yes, the reserved Leonardo and the maverick Raphael are still butting heads and vying for control of the brotherhood. In spite of this, TMNT still manages to take itself quite seriously.

The film’s storyline finds the four brothers divided in the wake of the Shredder’s demise. Leonardo has been sent to the jungles of Central America by Splinter to become a better leader. Michaelangelo moonlights as “Cowabunga Carl”, a bobble-headed tribute to his own turtleness that spends his days being pummelled by children at birthday parties. Donatello works out of the Turtles’ lair, providing IT-support, while a distant Raphael spends his nights dispensing his own brand of vigilante justice on the surface. When Leonardo returns, he finds his newfound leadership skills put to the test as an immortal warlord and his four generals wreak havoc on the streets of New York.

Visually speaking, TMNT is brilliant. The turtles look a great deal more like their comic-book counterparts and the computer animation in general is captivating. I would say that if there’s one animated feature that it most resembles, it’d be Pixar’s The Incredibles, but it still maintains its own sense of identity. Between the vivid art direction and the film’s plot, TMNT is a perfect film for young parents like Laura and me. It has everything that I loved about the series when I was growing up, but it’s been remodelled for a new generation of fans. With plenty of laughs and action, TMNT is a fast-paced family film that’s a shell of a good time.

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