TMNT: les tortues ninja

Oh, my God, I finally saw TMNT, I don't know how many opportunities to see TMNT in the theater, but it never pulled through. But I finally got to see the movie this morning on DVD; I have to say that over all the movie really worked. While I would still prefer the live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film made back in '90, this was a fun adaption as well. The CGI was always an ifie subject with me, but I think that it worked for the simple fact of where this movie was aimed at, mostly a children's audience, and the dark animation made you feel as if you were in the comics. The voices were a perfect fit and the story was very cool. The only problem I had with the movie is that it seemed to be like more of a video game than an actual movie, it could have just been more creative I think. But the story worked very well.

The turtles are back and they are about to face their biggest villain yet, a bunch of immortal stone monsters who are wishing to stay this way. But it gets harder when Leonardo comes back from the jungle just trying to become a better leader, but Rapheal isn't in the mood when he wants things done his own way. Now the boys must try to fight as one to fight off these monsters, with Splinter, Casey Jones and April O'Neil on their side, they just might be able to pull together and save the city once again.

TMNT is a fun animation movie that I'm sure kids will love. I was 5 when the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie came out and I admit, I still watch it to this day, I still love the turtles, so I guess I was looking for those old memories. But since this wasn't really aimed towards the old school fans, I think it was somewhat of a disappointment, but it is worth a watch. I definitely think if you enjoy the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stories, you'll get into TMNT.

6/10

TMNT does its job: CGIs are done very nicely, the visual overhaul of the Turtles' design comes near the original comic-look and for a kiddie flick (let's face it TMNTs target audience is well below 14) it is a shade darker, cooler and grown-up than any of the other animation films hitting the Box Office right now.

I was not sure what to expect after some of the reviews I read before seeing TMNT, but have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Snappy one-liners and some tongue-in-cheek comments younger viewers will not get did really make this a great CGI-movie. Especially the hyper-kinetic camera work and the rather unusual scene setups were really intriguing.

Don't listen to the "It's-not-like-the-comics"-Fanboys and dive into the turtle world, you won't regret it.

3000 years ago, warrior king Yaotl uncover a portal that turned him immortal. It also turned his men into stone and released 13 powerful monsters. The portal opens every 1000 year with the alignment of stars. After defeating their nemesis Shredder, the Turtles have gone their separate ways. Leonardo has gone to Central America. Donatello and Michelangelo are running their small businesses. Raphael works the night secretly as the vigilante Nightwatcher. The rich Max Winters has hired Karai and the Foot Clan to search for the 13 monsters. He is secretly the immortal Yaotl who has reanimated his stone generals.

This one puts the goofy silly feel of the earlier cartoons on the back burner. It's still there but this has a darker edge to it. The CGI is acceptable with a cartoon look. It has a dark noirish shading. The monsters look scary and mean. The story is simple and works. It's pretty good for fans both old and new.

Greetings again from the darkness. Reinventing a once popular franchise is always a bit of a gamble since the built-in audience will be very critical to changes and building a new audience can be extremely difficult. The secret usually lies in the ability to recapture the good parts from the original and add modern touches in order to attract new viewers.

Director Kevin Munroe delivers some witty one-liners and a couple of nice fight scenes all wrapped up in a terrific new animation style that lends itself very well to the dark side of sewers and big cities. Additionally, some complicated interaction between Leonardo and Rafael add a dimension not normally seen with the Turtles. All the necessary elements are there: the fight scenes (in keeping with the PG rating) are action packed, but with very little real violence; the bad guys are bent on world domination, even though the familiar Shredder is gone; the Turtle brothers struggle at times, but of course come together as a team when necessary; and the funny one-liners will make all ages giggle.

The downsides are the opening stage-setting scene, which will be a bit boring and hard to follow for the youngsters and the lack of any type of catchy music for the characters. Michaelangelo remains the fun-loving one, but he and Donnatello are pretty minor characters, and a big complaint is the lack of edge to Casey Jones. Instead of a hockey mask, he should probably dress as the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man. Still, none of that takes away from a fun film with a beautiful look.

Voice acting is pretty well done by the likes of Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Stewart, Mako, Kevin Smith and Ziyi Zhang. So take the kids and if you were once a Turtle fan, you should treat yourself to the fine new version. Cowabunga!!

This is one of my favorite animations and has some of the best action and visuals in any animation