The turtles are back, not as men in big turtle suits, but as a computer-animated feature length adventure. Honestly, the animation was so sharp, that the turtles felt more real in this film than in previous incarnations. This is a major retro spectacular, aimed both at today’s children and those people under 40 who remember watching these guys on Saturday mornings. I was happily surprised at how dramatic a story is told - the film is not short on action, don’t worry - and how the filmmakers actually took the time to show each turtle’s personality and create some real internal conflict between the brothers.
This would be the fourth theatrically-released film in the series - its kind of sad I know that - but the first computer-animated one. It could have been named, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Returns, since the prior stories came out in the early 90s, and the team has fallen apart since their early days. The film stays true to the continuity of the prior stories, the main villain in the previous films, Shredder, has been finally defeated, and the Foot ninja clan, of whom he was leader, is a sad shadow of what it was. A new evil has arisen, starting 3000 years ago, as explained in a “Mummy“-esque opening sequence. There are 13 monsters that were accidentally released by an ancient general, and all his comrades were turned to stone. The general became immortal, and is still out there, trying to free his comrades from their suspended state. Needless to say, the turtles are going to need to do battle with a city out of control with crime, ninjas, immortal statues, and monsters -but most interestingly, each other.
The underlying current that elevates this film above the other action-packed, but emotionally empty, animated cartoons, is that even though the brothers care about each other, some of them don’t get along because of conflicting personalities. Who, in a family with several siblings, gets along with their brothers and sisters all the time? Sometimes siblings are so different that they will never be particularly close. This is well highlighted in the tension between the eldest brother Leonardo, and the emotionally-detached middle brother, Raphael.
The film has good voice-acting, with a supporting role provided by Patrick Stewart (“X-Men: The Last Stand”), a compelling story for adults and children alike - though the ending was a bit anti-climactic, and a lesson to be learned, of tolerance in dealing with different types of people. Parents and children alike will enjoy this new “TMNT”, and it will be a fun experience for those “kids at heart”, who want an exciting and energetic shot of nostalgia.
4 out of 5