In the eighties, the Turtles were a craze. Turn on the television on Saturday mornings, there were at least two channels playing some sort of propaganda for 'em. Millions of kids watched the TV show, owned the action figures...a select few of adults read the comic book... I myself was in this craze, being young (this was only a few years before the Batman phase of my life). The movie was released, and fans flocked....so what did they think? What do I think? I watched this movie after years of Turtle inaction, and I was pleasantly surprised. Read on, and start thinking.
The story goes as normal. The four Turtles, Renaissance-named Donatello, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, and Raphael, and their Master Splinter, a father-figure and teacher, live in the sewers, humanoid yet turtley after their encounter with radioactive ooze years before. On the surface, a crime-wave is growing, which we later find is the Shredder's Foot Clan, recruiting kids by teaching them the arts of thievery and then martial arts once found worthy. When the Turtles rescue reporter April O'Neal, word gets out about the amphibian crime-fighters, and the Shredder abducts Splinter. It's time for the Turtles to break up the Clan and find their master!
So there's a simple formula I've found for this movie (most movies have 'em): if you enjoy the Turtles, like I once did, the movie's extremely loyal to the comic book, TV series, and the like. Nothing's really been changed, and the live-action shots glorify them, if anything else. However, if you don't, then you might be watching the movie with a turned ear and eye. The title is enough to ward off the most serious viewer, and the idea of huge humanoid turtles learning the idea of martial arts to fight crime is just downright silly. Of course, there are the stragglers who still enjoy it - myself, included. So include yourself in one of the categories, Turtle-lovers or -haters. If you're a hater, you might as well stop reading this right here.
Acting is pretty good here. My favorite good guys growing up were, of course, the Turtles, but now it's changed to the vigilante Casey Jones. Being older, I enjoy Casey's rugged attitude and humorous outbursts. And the Shredder is great for a bad guy. Just listen to his voice and outfit, there's a villain in the making. Of course, for the haters, the Turtles teenage quips may not exactly fit well, but thank the Lord that they sound like they're twenty. Otherwise, the cheesy level would increase indefinitely.
The story? Probably everything you'd expect from a natural Turtles commercialized show. Turtles get screwed, Turtles kick butt, Turtles win at the end. Not much there, but with the nice imagery, it's good that there's not much story.
Speaking of imagery, the Turtles movie has changed the show's bright looks into a seedy city full of evil. For the older crowd, this is a good choice. A city is not meant to look as bright as a funland amusement park at night, and they followed this pretty nicely. The Foot Clan hangout for dropout kids looks like a real fun place to be, too.
So what's the bottom line? Same as I've said. If you're a lover, or at least a liker, this movie will work. It was made for the Turtle crowd, and it'll probably stay that way. Haters, you might as well watch it. There's a big chance you won't like it, but hey. There have been movies I thought I'd hate, and they surprised me. Sure it's cheesy, but at least it wasn't trying hard to be serious in the first place.
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