|
|
|
|
|
TMNT
Originally intended as a Golden Harvest project for John Woo, this re-boot of the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise should provide decent entertainment for the Gen-Xers that grew up with the heroes in a half-shell, as well as any kids they might have popped out since then. Now, as one of those aforementioned Gen-Xers, I have to admit that I enjoyed all forms of the Ninja Turtles as a kid, whether it was the comics, cartoons, video games, or the movies. But now, looking through jaded thirty-something eyes, most of them have lost their sheen. The original comic, with its' hard edge and burts of violence, is still cool, but the cartoon and games have definitely become dated. And the live action movie? I have two words for you: Vanilla Ice.
Thankfully, there's nothing cheesy as the "Ninja Rap" here. The turtles still chow pizza and shout "cowabunga", but there's a bit of a dark edge to the story that elevates things above the usual dopey kiddie fare you might be expecting. An all-star voice cast, which includes Patrick Stewart, Laurence Fishburne, Zhang Ziyi, and (in his last role) Mako, gives the characters a nice sense of dimensionality to a set of personas that could have quickly become cardboard cutouts. Bolstered by fairly high-quality CGI animation helmed by the Hong Kong-based studio Imagi, and some fun and well-staged action sequences, TMNT is a kids' movie that you won't make you feel like you wasted your time after a viewing. While it's not on the more mature level of animation of something like Wall-E, TMNT at least doesn't insult your intelligence by shamelessly pandering to the lowest common denominator. RATING: 6 |