TMNT
There are some cases of motion pictures for which the world is not yet prepared. And there are some cases of motion pictures for which the motion picture was not yet prepared for the world. And then there are those cases where something is not prepared for something and it’s not one thing, nor another.
Take the matter of “TMNT.” When I look in my good old index under “TMNT,” I find that the title is indeed “TMNT.” The creators were apparently trying to mark this movie as a different creature from the original “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” motion picture adventure, and indeed it is. Where the original TMNT were live-action, martial-artists-wearing-animatronic-suits movies, this one ventures into 3D animation, a place for which the Turtles are eminently suited. Yet 3D animation is a place usually reserved for children’s movies, and while it is fine fare for said youngsters, one definitely gets the feeling that this “TMNT” really, really, really wants to be an adult movie.
From the sombre initial narration by Laurence Fishburne (which, combined with darkness and greenness, can’t help but bring back nostalgia for “The Matrix”), to the anything-but-simple plot, there is a level to this movie that always seems to be wanting to do more. The complex and troubled relationship between the Turtle brothers, the couple-ish interchanges between April O’Neil and Casey Jones, and even the vaguely unhappy ways of the lady leader of the Foot Clan all seem to hint at more drama and emotional story than any kids film should hold, but never get really worked out.
The mutant ninja turtle action, however, is the main reason for this movie, and on that, it delivers. While I find myself wondering if the main thing they teach at ninja school is how to drop from a height and look cool in your landing pose, the action sequences of the movie do catch the Turtles perfectly and makes the movie. Young males and grown-ups nostalgic for their own Turtle youths will definitely find this outing worthwhile. As anything else . . . well, there are much better choices out there at the moment.
What Great-grandfather Sherlock would say:
“Let us see how it fits in with the sequel.”
Past Investigations
An Introduction to
Mr. Sherlock Holmes IV