Review

Review Date: 25-March-07
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Juicy

TMNT (2007)

More than most, "TMNT" seems like a movie that must be reviewed with a certain target audience in mind. As far as I'm concerned, anyone willing to shell out a few bucks to watch animated ninja turtles (shell out, get it?) is going to enjoy this flick. It's cartoony in an earnest, mindful way. It's predictably funny, sappy, mock-scary, and good-vs.-evilly. The animation doesn't break new ground but is worthy of a feature film. Most important, it features the most delightful foursome of crime-fighting reptiles around. For some, that adds up to a good time.

I remember years ago when my teacher mother first informed me that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had taken over her middle school. The name of the cartoon sounded so bizarre that I was charmed, and I went on to get acquainted with the boys through their non-animated movies in the early '90s (which, to be honest, I don't recollect at all). Now I'm older and here they come again, up from the New York sewer where they live with their aged rat mentor Splinter, or rather, where three of the four live as the movie opens: the temperamental Raphael (voiced by Nolan North), the goofy Michelangelo, and the brainy Donatello. The eldest, Leonardo (James Arnold Taylor), is residing in South America, ostensibly on a training mission but really hiding from his responsibility as leader of the pack. A visit from his pal April (Sarah Michelle Gellar) gets him aching for home, where he returns to find things in chaos. Not only has an immortal tycoon (Patrick Stewart) summoned one of the turtles' old enemies (Zhang Ziyi),13 ancient monsters, and a regiment of power-hungry stone warriors, but Raphael has become a loner vigilante unwilling to accept orders or welcome his brother back. Their fellow fighter Casey (Chris Evans) tries to broker a reconciliation, but you know how touchy teenagers can be. Without family unity, how can the brothers overcome?

Well, they work off tension through some fairly bloodless violence, including an amusing run-in between Raphael and a naughty 20-pound devil before the big showdown. And of course Splinter offers sage advice, plus there's pizza. The ending of "TMNT" puts you right where you want to be, amused, ready to move on, and content with the suggestion of a sequel. I for one am glad that turtles are so long-lived.

Copyright © 2007 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.