Whether you choose to believe it or not, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been a part of American culture for over 20 years. And why wouldn't it be? It's got everything good all-American kids live for! Show me a kid who doesn't love pizza, skateboarding, and the overuse of the word "dude"! The four mutant brothers even have a catchy theme song! But for all of the nostalgia involved in a franchise like this TMNT is ultimately a letdown.
Expecting to garner high numbers, my friend and I thought it would be fun to count the "classic" Turtle mannerisms throughout the film. Prepare to be shocked:
Times turtles ate pizza: 2
Times a turtle is seen skateboarding: 1 (it is an admittedly cool sequence...)
Times the theme song is heard: 0 (I was at least hoping for a few bars during the closing credits...no such luck.)
It's not even the lack of nostalgia that made me more than a little sad as I was walking home from the theater. Even the plot itself left quite a bit to be desired. The story goes that Leonardo (James Arnold Taylor) has been sent to Central America by Splinter (Mako) to hone his leadership skills. While he's gone his brothers are living their lives as non-ninjas (Michelangelo's stint as a "turtle" for children's birthday parties proves to be just about the only comic relief for the first third of the film).
Tech guru Max Winters (Patrick Stewart) is hell-bent on acquiring a full fleet of ancient monsters which will compromise New York City...and the world! Only one super mutant ninja fighting team can save us!
chance to rent it sometime. I've seen all the other Teenage
Muntant Ninja Turtle movies over the years.