Leonardo in Warner Bros. Pictures' TMNT
© Warner Bros
Maniac Grade: C
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: PG
Stars: James Arnold Taylor, Mikey Kelley, Mitchell Whitfield, Nolan North, Mako, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Chris Evans, Patrick Stewart, Ziyi Zhang
Writer: Kevin Munroe
Director: Kevin Munroe
Distributor: Warner Bros.
"TMNT"
By: Brian ThomasDate: Friday, March 16, 2007
This is one of those reviews that needs to be started with a disclaimer. I’m no stranger to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I spent about five years drawing and writing for Mirage Studios, so I logged a lot of hours thinking about the adventures, motivations and personalities of four mutated turtles (plus at least one mutated man and a host of supporting characters). So I qualify more than most in judging whether the authors of the latest adaptation of these characters have been accurate in their artistry.
The author in the case of the latest Turtles feature film, their first interpretation in CGanime, is Kevin Munroe, formerly best known as lead artist on the Freaky Flyers video game and crerator of the Xmas special Donner. As a cartoonist (writer & artist), he’s been behind the scenes at dozens of projects from major production studios. When this project was announced, John Woo was supposed to be directing, and many fans were disappointed to learn that he’d been replaced by a virtual unknown. In this case, Munroe turns out to be a much better choice. His background as a cartoonist means he was more easily able to get inside the skins of these comic characters. The result is the most faithful, best realized adaptation of these characters to film ever attempted.
Without bothering to present the origin of the characters, TMNT assumes that the entire world has had plenty of opportunity to become familiar with them, and picks up their story years after the day when the general public, if not the fans, left them at the end of three live-action theatrical features. The Turtles’ friend and confidant April O’Neil (voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar) is no longer a TV reporter. Now some sort of archeological tomb raider, April is in South America on a dual mission: to acquire an ancient statue of a general for multi-billionaire Max Winters (Patrick Stewart), and to find out what happened to Leonardo (James Arnold Taylor), who is overdue to return from a sabbatical. April succeeds in bringing both targets back the New York City, where we catch up with the rest of the Turtles. Michelangelo (Mikey Kelley) is operating a struggling business as a Ninja Turtle birthday clown in disguise, which cleverly implies that the Turtles had been “outed” in the past and achieved some level of fame, which has since passed coinciding with their retirement from crime-fighting. Raphael (Nolan North) refuses to accept this retirement, and has secretly become a masked vigilante. Only Donatello (Mitchell Whitfield) seems to be obeying the edict of Master Splinter (Mako) that they all remain underground in their sewer headquarters and environs, spending his time with his computers and inventions. As for Splinter, he spends most of his time obliviously meditating and awaiting Leonardo’s return so that he can gauge his students’ progress, and in particular the growth of Leonardo’s leadership skills. Casey Jones (Chris Evans) is now April’s live-in boyfriend and assistant, while continuing his activities by night as a masked vigilante with a sports fetish.
Through April and Casey we meet Winters, who is secretly an immortal warlord. Winters once commanded armies led by the five generals. Thousands of years ago, they attempted to open a dimensional portal, but were foiled, and during the attempt Winters was cursed with immortality, the generals were made into statures, and 13 monsters were let loose upon the Earth. In order to reopen this gateway, Winters has gathered and re-animates the statues, in turn sending them forth to capture the monsters, which are necessary for the ritual. Their hunting expeditions draw the attention of Raph and Casey, and through them the rest of the heroes, who join to oppose Winters, though a twist or two is thrown into the plot.
The design and animation on display here is first rate. It’s a difficult task to adapt characters who have been through so many creative hands over the years, but Munroe and his team have succeeded in distilling the best traits of many talents, leaning toward the cartoony aspects that work best in total CGI projects. The style is much in keeping with that of The Incredibles, but with the gritty New York atmosphere of the Mirage comics. A lot of shots are very beautiful and fascinating to watch, and in large part the animation avoids the puppet-like effect seen so often in CGI. There’s a lot of good stuff in the script as well, with many side aspects of the Turtle series (the rivalry between Raph and Leo, the Foot clan) seamlessly integrated into the story.
So why doesn’t the film rate a bit higher with me. Most likely because outside of the main menace it’s all material that has already been covered years ago in the comics, and the movie is playing catch-up for the general public. There’s nothing wrong with this, but character interactions and developments don’t have quite the same impact when you’ve examined and re-examined the same material already. Also, while this makes for a grand adventure that would make an excellent Turtle comic, it doesn’t ring like the major chapter in the lives of the characters that it ought to. It does a great job of re-igniting the franchise as a series of films (much like the Fantastic 4 movie), but it feels like it’s setting up a better movie to come.
Once again we have an animated film in which the big name voice cast feels like an extravagance. Only Patrick Stewart lends the distinction necessary to his character to justify his inclusion, while no one is likely to notice whether Gellar is playing April unless they check the credits. No less than Laurence Fishburne narrates the prologues!
