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Written by: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg & Jeff Rowe and Dan Hernandez & Benji Samit (screenplay by), Brendan O'Brien and Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg & Jeff Rowe (story by), Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman (based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters created by)
Directed by: Jeff Rowe, Kyler Spears (co-director)
Starring: Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, Ayo Edebiri, Maya Rudolph, John Cena, Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Giancarlo Esposito, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Paul Rudd, Post Malone, Hannibal Buress
Rated: PG
Plot
The teenage Turtle brothers work to earn the love of New York City while facing down an army of mutants led by Superfly.
Verdict
This movie was a pleasant surprise, and the conclusion only makes it better. The art style is unique enough to set it apart visually, but the story is strong. The teenage turtles long to experience the human world. That's what gets them into trouble, and it's also a component of the conclusion. Our hero turtles and the villain both are coming to terms with a world that doesn't accept them. What they do to gain acceptance is the difference and the crux of the movie.
Watch It.
Review
This starts with rogue scientist Baxter Stockman trying to develop mutants from animals before jumping to teenage turtles that are obviously a result of the experiment. I thought this might skip the origin story we know so well but we get it anyway.
The movie embraces them as teenagers with their hurried dialog with one another and ill-thought ideas. They want to fit in and to see the human world. That motivation drives the plot of the movie. It's why they start fighting crime. They hope that will lead to acceptance.
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| Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael |
The art style is unique though it really feels like ti's trying for something akin to Into the Spider-Verse. I don't mind that, it's unique and prevents the animation from feeling
to sterile or blatantly computer generated. It looks a little messy, and that adds
intrigue. Mixed media is used effectively and puts this in a world similar to reality.
The humor can be pop culture heavy. I'm not sure that will age well, but this also uses 90s hip hop extensively as the soundtrack which creates some really great montages. The No Diggity fight montage is great, from the shifting locations to the action during the uninterrupted fight.
This also can be gross. It loves vomit and bile, and there are a few visual gags involving that.
The turtles are distinct visually, more than just different colored bandanas. With little dialog, we get a sense of their personalities. The movie can be anachronistic, how does Donatello have glasses or Michelangelo braces? How do they have phones? This isn't worried about details if it serves the overall plot.
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| Superfly |
What I like most about the story is that the villain and heroes are coming from the same place of wanting to be accepted. It humanizes them both. The villain isn't bad for the sake of the plot. He's suffering from the same feelings of loneliness. They are both results of an experiment. While they both want to fit in, their plans to achieve that vastly differ. That's why they're heroes and villains. I also like how this introduces a lot of the mutants that have at least appeared in the cartoon and manages to not make it feel forced. We even get a nice conclusion for the ancillary mutants. I also appreciate that this doesn't try to shoehorn their arch nemesis Shredder. The villain we get fits the narrative.
The conclusion is more heartfelt than this movie has any right to be. It's the payoff to the turtles wanting to be accepted and devising a plan to become heroes. While this movie seemed primed to be the start of yet another Turtles franchise, this is a solid foundation.
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