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For years now, Hollywood has been digging up popular cartoons from the ‘80s and ‘90s and rebooting them for the big screen—playing into parents’ sense of nostalgia while launching new lines of toys for kids. Some stick with the kid-friendly cartoon format, while others—like director Jonathan Liebesman’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—attempt to attract audiences with a bolder, darker adventure.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot stars Megan Fox as April O’Neil, a human interest reporter who dreams of becoming a serious journalist. As New York City comes under attack by the evil Foot Clan, April decides to do some investigating of her own—and her digging leads her to believe that there’s a band of mysterious vigilantes who are fighting back.
As she continues to search for answers, April finally comes face to face with the vigilantes, who turn out to be a group of gigantic, pizza-eating turtles. And when they uncover the Foot Clan’s sinister plan, April finds herself caught up in the fight to save New York.
The latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles adventure is heavier and more violent than you might expect—as evidenced by the film’s PG-13 rating. On one hand, that does allow for some eye-catching fight sequences, which make for most of the film’s best moments. But while the extra action and violence may appeal to grown-up fans of the turtles’ original adventures, it will make parents think twice about taking their younger kids. And let’s face it here: a movie called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should really be kid-friendly.
That’s not to say, of course, that the film is especially mature. The script is loaded with terrible one-liners and cheesy gags—and the turtles’ juvenile behavior often skews more toward pre-teen than teenage. Despite a few more updated references, there’s still something about the characters that seems to come straight out of the early ‘90s. And while some viewers might appreciate the retro feel, others will just see it as outdated and irritating.
Visually speaking, the motion-capture turtles take some getting used to, but once you become accustomed to the gigantic reptiles, they’re actually pretty impressive—and they seem to have more personality than the film’s human characters. Most are flat and stereotypical and poorly acted, and some (like Will Arnett’s Vern Fenwick) seem to have no purpose whatsoever.
Of course, the cool mutant-reptile action makes the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles worth a look for boys in their early teens and grown-up fans of the characters and their original adventures—but this is one rebooted franchise that just hasn’t aged especially well.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
