The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back! This movie picks up several years since we last saw them on the big screen…with the brothers no longer a crime-fighting team.
However…when a new villain emerges with plans to take over New York City and then the world…Leonardo…Donatello…Michelangelo and Raphael reunite to battle some nasty monsters and some ancient stone statues that come to life.
Both April (voiced by Sarah Michelle Geller) and Splinter…their rat mentor…are back to lend a hand. And the Turtles are also helped by April’s boyfriend Casey.
The CG animation in “TMNT” is great. The movie doesn’t look anything like the TV cartoon. And it’s surprisingly serious…including one scene in which two of the brothers fight each other.
The few funny moments come from Michaelangelo…who still loves riding his skateboard and saying “cowabunga!” But there isn;t as much pizza eating as I expected.
The plot is a little complicated…so make sure you’re paying attention…especially at the beginning. I wished I could have hit “rewind” amd watch the first 10-minutes again when I saw “TMNT” in the theater. That’s the great thing about video!
It’s rated PG…for animated violence and scenes involving the monsters that may bee a little too scary for kids under 6.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “TMNT” gets a B.
By the way…if you’re a huge “TMNT” fan you’ll be very happy at end of the movie as it looks like a sequel may be in the plans.
Lights Camera Jackson (a.k.a. Jackson Murphy) began his career as a film critic/entertainment reporter in 2006 at the age of 7. Jackson has written nearly 1,000 reviews of new releases. All together he has seen more than 1,500 films. In 2010, Jackson became the youngest person to win a NY Emmy Award, for his on-air movie reviews on Time Warner TV station, Capital News 9.
LCJ appears every Friday morning on WGNA-FM . His movie reviews are also posted on his website, his YouTube channel and the popular website Cultjer.com. He is also a contributing writer for Jerry Beck’s AnimationScoop.com. Jackson hosts the weekly internet pop culture news show “LCJ LIVE” (every Sunday at Noon ET). And “The LCJ Q&A Podcast” features interviews with celebrities and filmmakers. Among those who have joined LCJ on the show are comedy legend Gilbert Gottfried, “Wallace & Gromit” creator Nick Park, Emmy-winning game show host Todd Newton and Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody.