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Our four favorite ninja turtles are back in action and in CGI!!! Since the defeat of the Shredder, the gang has been growing apart. Splinter sends Leonardo away to find himself in the hopes that this will make him a more effective leader. Back home, things have been getting pretty hectic with the crime in the city. A very rich industrialist, who goes by the name of Maximillian Winters, is collecting, or should I say "building", an army of ancient warrior statues to reverse a curse. Throw in some Foot Clan, a pinch of Casey Jones and Splinter for good measure and we have one kick ass ninja turtle adventure, people!
I never thought I'd use the word "dark" and "kids" in the same sentence to describe a film oriented towards the littler ones, but this was a great dark action/adventure flick that adults can appreciate also! I used to collect the TMNT comic books way back when and this movie totally translates the whole feel of those comics to the big screen -- although minus the blood. The film will definitely pave the way for many more TMNT flicks to come, in my opinion. Good story, great characters, lots of action, funny and excellent CGI. Basically, everything you could ask for in such a movie! I'm not sure how the "older" fans of the franchise will feel, but let’s face it, once it hit the Saturday morning cartoons, the franchise quickly geared itself toward younger viewers. And that’s OK! I went to see this film with my five year old nephew and we had a blast! The other cool thing was that there were strong intelligent female characters in the film who kicked major ass, so it's likely to appeal to young girls as well.
All the voices were perfect! I particularly enjoyed Patrick Stewart’s voice! It was very suave and commanding. Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ziyi Zhang were also equally up to the task and brought charm to their respective characters. Mr. Kevin Smith's small role was funny and, of course, Lawrence Fishburne's narration in the beginning was perfect!
As for the CGI, it was fantastic! It's funny because they were able to keep the integrity of the original book by making the film dark while still pulling off a great action-packed kid’s movie. The action sequences were fun to watch; I really liked the skateboard segment through the sewer system (they should make a themed rollercoaster ride for that!). The other sequence I really enjoyed was the rooftop battle in the rain. The details of the raindrops falling on the turtle shells were quite impressive! TMNT is comparable to THE INCREDIBLES, but I find the details in the TMNT environment much more sophisticated! Look out THE INCREDIBLES!!! Wait a second...Now there's a movie, TMNT versus THE INCREDIBLES!!!!! That's money all the way to the bank!
All in all, it was a very enjoyable film that old fans can respect and the young viewers will love! Does anyone remember PRE-TEEN DIRTY-GENE KUNG-FU KANGAROOS? I'm just wondering because after the success of TMNT (trust me, it will make big numbers!) maybe they'll start to capitalize on other mutant animals. Only time will tell, I guess! When the movie was over I asked my 5 year old nephew what he thought and he said: "It was super sweet and I'm definitely getting this on DVD!" There you have it folks, straight from a five year old! Cowabunga!
-- by Tim
Goernert
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