MOVIE REVIEW: New ‘Ninja Turtles’ movie brings a lot of old-school fun

As some sort of journalist, I feel I should warn you that this review might be a little biased.

When I was a kid, the Ninja Turtles saved me from both the Shredder and reality, so I owe them big-time.

Like many of you, I grew up with the Turtles, so I was really looking forward to this movie. I knew there would be no middle ground – it would either revitalize my childhood or destroy it.

To me, the best thing about this movie was that it felt like a long episode of the original TV show. It was full of action, predictable jokes and had a good moral at the end.

When the film started, I was worried we’d have to slog through 20 minutes of exposition of who the Turtles were and where they came from.

Nope, they winged through it in about 15 seconds, which is fine considering everyone knows or should know the back story before seeing this film. If you don’t, basically, they’re mutants, they’re turtles and they’re ninjas.

The film picks up a couple years after the last one. Considering how badly the last one tanked, I was expecting a total restart of the series a la “Batman Begins” but rather this one maintains the continuity of the others (keep your eyes open for nods to the previous films – it’s fun).

The main story is simple but fun. The side stories, while more compelling, are very standard fare for a Ninja Turtles movie.

As a hard-core Donatello fan, I was hoping this new movie would develop him and Michelangelo more. I guess the writers figured they’d stick with what’s worked so far. Basically, Leonardo and Raphael don’t get along: big surprise.

What was a surprise, and a pleasant one at that, was how good the animation was. The characters moved extremely fluidly and naturally. The fight scenes especially looked good.

There were a couple elements where I think they tried too hard. These are nitpicking things though, coming from some one who takes animation a little too seriously; I bet most people who aren’t looking for them won’t pick them up for the most part.

The character designs on the other hand, were great. From the monsters to the ninjas to even the boring old humans, a lot of characterization comes out just from how everyone looks.

The voice acting was great. I was especially was impressed by the use of non-native English speakers – Mako (“Pearl Harbor”) and Zhang Ziyi (“Memoirs of a Geisha”) – to play characters who were non-natives. It sounded a lot better than getting someone to fake an offensive accent.

Throughout the movie there were several shots that you could tell the animators were just thinking, “What would be really cool just for cool’s sake?” I loved each of those shots and wish I had a poster of each.

While not nearly as funny as the first Turtles movie (go watch it again, you’ll thank me), there were quite a few belly laughs to be had. I was hoping for more adult humor snuck in, but I’ll settle for family fun.

The movie is far from perfect though. There are several parts where the dialogue is so cheesy you could make sandwiches for everyone watching.

Also there are some parts that are really just confusing. They may be plot holes or just confusing direction that got me lost. I’ll have to watch it again (which I’m totally willing to do). It’s nothing major, certainly not worth missing the movie over, but they’re there.

I’m sure there have been and will continue to be plenty of negative reviews from other critics for this film. They’ll talk about the flaws I’ve already mentioned and complain about how there was nothing new or original in this movie.

They may be right. But I don’t think it’s fair (or smart for that matter) to go looking for originality in a movie based on a cartoon from the ’80s. You can’t judge this movie by those standards.

You can, however, judge this movie for what it is. What it is, is a good time at the movies that’ll help you relive an important bit of your childhood and leave you so bubbling with excitement you’ll be bouncing off the walls when you get home, looking for ninjas to jump kick.

And judging it as such, it does very well.

Steve Shinney is the Diversions editor and occasional movie critic for The Utah Statesman. Comments, questions and classic Ninja Turtle

moments can

be sent to him at

steveshinney@cc.usu.edu.