TMNT
TMNT or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, depending on how you’re inclined, is a 2007 semi-reboot of the franchise. It does function as the fourth film in the franchise, but the transformation from live-action to CGI gives the series a new fresh feel. Chronologically, the film takes place after the final film in the series to be released, which was way back in 1993. Due to the length of time between the most recent film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3, one would think a complete reboot of the film franchise would have been a more effective and natural way to introduce the medium of CGI as the course that TMNT would take. That was not the case, however, and TMNT instead attempts to function as a continuation of a running story.
The idea for a CGI film for TMNT first originated back in 2000. John Woo was supposedly attached to direct the film. The film idea languished in “development hell” for quite some time, with nothing ever coming out of it. Woo moved on to other projects and TMNT was shelved. As the film emerged from the shadows to its ultimate creation by director Kevin Munroe, the decision was made to create the film entirely utilizing CGI. This decision was made, according to Munroe, to help the audience in suspending belief. The producers added that the rising budgets of the first three films in the franchise were impacting how the fourth film would be put together. Each film in the franchise made less than its predecessor, so that didn’t help the case for a live action revival.
TMNT involves the occurrence of strange things in New York City. The turtles have broken up, somewhat, and are off pursuing “real life” tasks. The gang has grown estranged after the death of Shredder and, without a significant enemy to combat, a rift exists within the turtles. Raphael, voiced by Nolan North, has taken on crime under the guise of a vigilante. Michaelangelo, voiced by Mikey Kelley, and Donatello, voiced by Mitchell Whitfield, have taken on conventional jobs to pass the time and contribute to society. Leonardo, voiced by James Arnold Taylor, has gone to South America to train to be a better leader. Splinter, voiced by Mako, continues to mentor and lead the turtles. As the strange events in the city escalate, April O’Neil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) must find a way to rally the troops so that they can save New York.
The basic theme of TMNT is that the family has fallen apart, however this theme is explored minimally with the subplot of animosity between Raphael and Leonardo. While the animosity exists, there is no real sense of separation between the rest of the turtles because it has simply been too long since we’ve seen them on the big screen. The main plot, which involves a lot of monsters and flashing lights, seems ripped out of a Saturday morning cartoon and is incredibly bland. Instead, TMNT simply feels unnecessary and disappointing. With the imagination of CGI creating a solid look for the film (some of the shots are tremendously well done), it all seems wasted given the nature of the film that Munroe put together.
Munroe discussed his goal for TMNT as making the film a little bit darker, suggesting that his film would be “less Cowabunga.” The result is a film that takes itself far too seriously and has none of the goofy context that the series demands. Instead, Munroe takes the idea of mutated turtles and causes us to take it seriously. The idea here, according to Munroe, was to appeal to the “mature audience.” The problem is that the material doesn’t suit the intention. With rap-metal soundtrack and large scale strings in place to guide the more “poignant” moments, the film has a discrete melodramatic feel in some moments and pops along like a mid-90s TV show with the rest. Unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be Munroe’s attention.
The problems for me with TMNT began with the utter lack of interest I had in just about anything that was going on during the film. Perhaps it’s my age and I’m too mature for Munroe’s mature audience (I’m 28), but something about TMNT simply missed capturing my interest altogether and I found myself propping my head up to try and get through it. The characters lack the irony and self-awareness that the series creators envisioned. Instead, with all of the comic book films going “darker,” we have another lookalike CGI piece of film that really makes no impact in the genre. It’s instantaneously forgettable.
TMNT may well please those in the younger generation that love the fact that their favourite comic book and TV show heroes have been redone on the big screen with an edgier and darker feel. But for me, the lack of character interest, plot interest, and overall film interest really undoes how dark or mature this film is supposed to be. Instead, TMNT feels like a wasted effort. It feels like a languished Saturday morning cartoon idea that could have easily been split three ways to air on network television. It feels dull, boring, tepid, and uninteresting. The animation, while compelling in some pieces of the film, is generally too normative to elicit any sort of decent reaction. It’s too bad, but TMNT really isn’t good.
Trailer:
