I hadn't seen any big-screen TMNT outing since the abortive Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III more than 30 years ago. The latest entry got my attention mainly when the first trailer met with very mixed reactions, presumably because it emphasized the teenage aspect at the expense of coolness. Nonetheless, reviews of the actual movie have been positive overall, and I was willing to take a chance on an alternate version for a new generation.
After rogue scientist Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito) accidentally spills mutagenic ooze into a New York sewer, four anthro-reptilian brothers spend their first 15 years enjoying human culture in secret, albeit not as stealthily as adoptive anthro-rat Splinter (Jackie Chan) would like. When they unwittingly cause aspiring high school journalist April O'Neil (Ayo Edebiri) to lose her moped to a thief, they finally use their ninja training for good and gain a human ally. She and they both want to gain popularity by foiling serial robber Superfly (Ice Cube), but that gets complicated when they discover that he and his closest minions are fellow mutants out to create more mutants. Can the turtles hope to take them on? Do they even want to fight their likeliest comrades to protect humans, some of whom, under a shady project leader (Maya Rudolph), have nasty plans for the turtles?
Yes, there's been some race swapping, and a couple voices suggest gender swapping among the minions. April's age reduction is more significant, but I'd rather focus on Splinter, whom the turtles now call "Dad" rather than "Master." He is not a former human or even a former companion to a human; he learned martial arts only through videos. (If you've ever wondered how the family can afford anything, the answer this time is shoplifting.) His opinion of humans is almost as low as Superfly's, so despite advanced age, he may learn a bigger moral lesson than his charges. Not my favorite take on the character, especially with no accounting for his out-of-place accent.
Of the turtles themselves, Donatello (Micah Abbey) may have changed the most, becoming adorkable with his big glasses and high voice. Oddly enough, budding field leader Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu) is deemed more of a square, partly for trying to keep the others in line with Splinter. He also develops an instant crush on April, which, alas, is hardly the grossest aspect of the picture. Raphael (Brady Noon) has a lot of pent-up anger, but at least he's pretty good at knowing when to channel it. And for all the competition, Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) may remain the most clownish; I'm just glad he's no longer overhyped. They all improve gradually with practice.
The CGI style barely resembles any other I know. It looks like somebody took stop-motion animation and added a layer of fairly crude drawings. The sewer lids aren't even round, for crying out loud. It does enhance the sense of surreality and help sell the PG rating amid considerable if bloodless violence.
The humor? Well, since I'm not in second grade anymore, I much prefer the brotherly banter to the physical gags. Get used to seeing and hearing a lot of references to RL brands beyond Pizza Hut. And hearing eclectic music, old and new.
TMNT:MM is about what I could have hoped for under the circumstances. It's nice to know that the franchise hasn't exhausted the possibilities.
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