Series: TMNT

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'TMNT' explodes into the 21st Century

'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' is an undeniably amazing phenomenon. It's no wonder. Hatched as a self-published black and white comic book, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird intentionally mated three of the most commercially viable comics concepts with lovable amphibians, tipped their hats to Mr. Frank Miller, and caught lightning in a bottle: that rare, purely creator-owned concept that spawns an empire.

It's only fitting then that lightning will strike again this weekend (as Frank Miller's '300' likely cedes the #1 spot at the box office) when 'TMNT' brings the boys back to the big screen after a 14-year absence and there's little doubt that fans will love it.

Rather than go through a labored re-introduction (a la "Batman Begins"), TMNT hits the ground running. A narrator gives us the basics on the turtles before explaining the core villain plot of the film: 3000 years ago, a South American warrior opens a portal to another world, giving himself immortality at a terrible cost. Today, the planets will soon align, allowing the portal to be opened once more.

April O'Neil is on assignment in South America, tracking down a stone statue for a wealthy investor. She makes a detour to investigate a mysterious "forest spirit" who is aiding down-trodden villagers, a character who sounds suspiciously like Leonardo. We learn Leo has been away from the city for two years, trying to fulfill some vague training exercise at the behest of Master Splinter.

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In his absence, the Turtles have fallen apart. Donatello has been relegated to a menial phone tech-support job, and Mikey is doing kids' birthday parties (wearing a Ninja Turtle costume and getting beaten by Nerf nunchuks no less). Only Raphael has chosen to carry on the fight against evil, adopting the secret identity of Nightwatcher.

But when April returns the statue to New York City, she doesn't realize that her employer, Max Winters, is none other than that 3000-year-old warrior and the statue is a critical piece in his plans to re-open the portal.

Whatever will NYC do without its Ninja Turtles?

'TMNT' is made first and foremost for the fans. Either you know who Ninja Turtles are before entering the theater, or your allow yourself to go along with it. Don't expect the film to school you in the backstories of any of the players outside Winters and his crew.

Not that that's a bad thing. If you sit back and let it whip, TMNT has frame-for-frame almost as many exciting visuals and cool story beats as that other Miller-inspired movie, and probably a bit more depth too.

The CGI animation is fluid and rich and lets the Turtles bounce through their story in a ninja-esque fashion that could never be matched by live-action foam-rubber body suits.

The four new Aztec-inspired villains and the 13 monsters they hunt show the explosion of imagination that all family-friendly fare should aspire to.

Director Kevin Munroe can be commended not just for wonderful character designs, but also for his dramatic framing of the film. Moody lighting evokes film noir of yesteryear, even as privileged camera moves and the occasional bullet-time action-freeze declare this to be your 21st century turtle movie.

Munroe juices ever frame with a dramatic vibe and attitude that keeps the viewer plugged in: the reveal of the first monster to arrive in New York; the beat where Leonardo returns to the city, riding on the landing gear of an inbound jet; the knock-down, drag-out brawl between our two lead turtles. TMNT overflows with that certain "kewl" factor that other recent superhero movies lacked.

The story of the film is anything but simplistic. Munroe throws an amazing number of players into motion, more than one might expect for a kids movie. We've got the four turtles, Splinter, April, Casey Jones, Max Winters, his four stone warriors, thirteen monsters and Karai, who leads about 100 Foot clan warriors.

The core character conflict is between Leonardo and Raphael as the two young bucks struggle over leadership of their team, and the question of what it takes to be a leader. Likewise, Max Winters proves to be more than just your typical movie villain. It's good to see a film like this for kids that isn't afraid to play against our expectations.

If anything the movie may have too many moving parts, and some of the characters do suffer from it. Mikey is relegated to the background task of providing occasional comic relief. Donatello fans will certainly be even more disappointed, as the character serves no useful story purpose and barely registers with the audience.

Now is the time to trot out a pun like "a shell of a good time" or "a turtle-ly awesome movie" but we're not doing that today.

All in all, TMNT plays like the frenetic supercollider explosion version of the animated series. Parents who bring their kids may need a high degree of willing suspension of confusion (disbelief goes without saying) but should be able to enjoy the ride. But TMNT is packed with enough action, fun, and even some heartfelt interchanges with Master Splinter to be more than satisfying for any youngster, fan or not.