I didn't hate this movie, but aside from the animation style (I'm loving this new trend of blending traditional and CG-- also, I love how no one was designed to be necessarily cute or appealing save for the turtles) this is a pretty generic kids' movie. The story is honestly a bit of a mess (we have two villains, one of which is only there to set up the inevitable sequel, the other only elevated by Ice Cube's entertaining performance and a creepy character design) and the dialogue is so packed with pop culture references that it became tiresome.
As a TMNT outing, the film's biggest flaw is how the turtles all sound the same. The core of the everlasting appeal of the TMNT franchise is the give and take between the four brothers: Leonardo is serious due to his high expectations for himself, Raphael is a hothead with anger issues, Michelangelo loves partying to the detriment of his concentration, and Donatello is a geek who "does machines," to quote the '87 theme song. The best TMNT outings play up these differences, creating both tension and affection among the turtles. Here, these traits are downplayed so all the turtles can be loud, pop culture-spewing kids with ADHD. A lot of people have praised how they feel like "real teens," and yes, some teens are like this, but it ignores that teenagers are not one size fits all in terms of personality.
A few good things: while I prefer my Splinters to be wise and mature, Jackie Chan's paranoid Splinter cracked me up consistently. I also liked this new April more than I expected to. I prefer April to be an older sister figure to the turtles as she was in the 1987 and 2003 shows, and in the classic 1990 film. Lately, there seems to be more of a push to have April as a teenage friend/love interest, which I don't often like. I thought that was done well here though and I thought her chemistry with the turtles was excellent, their budding friendship very natural.
The group I went with (which included some massive TMNT fans) enjoyed the movie, but I just expect more out of family films these days. With PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH and the SPIDERVERSE films, we deserve family animation with more heart and originality than the likes of MUTANT MAYHEM or THE SUPER MARIO BROS MOVIE, both very attractive films with little else to offer. I still say the 1990 TMNT movie is the definitive big screen take: it had humor, great character dynamics, a gritty NYC aesthetic, and a tense finale. It's a great film that takes itself seriously, even when the filmmakers could have phoned it in and still gotten a hefty payday from box office receipts. I really wish the newer TMNT films would do likewise.
As a TMNT outing, the film's biggest flaw is how the turtles all sound the same. The core of the everlasting appeal of the TMNT franchise is the give and take between the four brothers: Leonardo is serious due to his high expectations for himself, Raphael is a hothead with anger issues, Michelangelo loves partying to the detriment of his concentration, and Donatello is a geek who "does machines," to quote the '87 theme song. The best TMNT outings play up these differences, creating both tension and affection among the turtles. Here, these traits are downplayed so all the turtles can be loud, pop culture-spewing kids with ADHD. A lot of people have praised how they feel like "real teens," and yes, some teens are like this, but it ignores that teenagers are not one size fits all in terms of personality.
A few good things: while I prefer my Splinters to be wise and mature, Jackie Chan's paranoid Splinter cracked me up consistently. I also liked this new April more than I expected to. I prefer April to be an older sister figure to the turtles as she was in the 1987 and 2003 shows, and in the classic 1990 film. Lately, there seems to be more of a push to have April as a teenage friend/love interest, which I don't often like. I thought that was done well here though and I thought her chemistry with the turtles was excellent, their budding friendship very natural.
The group I went with (which included some massive TMNT fans) enjoyed the movie, but I just expect more out of family films these days. With PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH and the SPIDERVERSE films, we deserve family animation with more heart and originality than the likes of MUTANT MAYHEM or THE SUPER MARIO BROS MOVIE, both very attractive films with little else to offer. I still say the 1990 TMNT movie is the definitive big screen take: it had humor, great character dynamics, a gritty NYC aesthetic, and a tense finale. It's a great film that takes itself seriously, even when the filmmakers could have phoned it in and still gotten a hefty payday from box office receipts. I really wish the newer TMNT films would do likewise.