TMNT was released in theaters Friday, and I have to say that this is the best Turtles movie so far. Yes, the script was oozing (pun intended) with cheese and it was a cartoon with a PG rating, but it was very entertaining. Also, the animation and the voice acting was very well done, including the delivery of classic lines like, "I love being a turtle!" I also think that it properly displayed what I always felt was Eastman and Laird’s original vision of the Turtles, and it should, with Peter Laird as one of the executive producers.
My first exposure to the Turtles was through the original cartoon series. The cartoon always felt, well, cartoony. That was great for a Saturday morning cartoon in the late ’80s and early ’90s. However, it wasn’t until later that I discovered the Turtles true origins: a comic book parody of New Mutants and Daredevil. The original artwork was much darker than the first animated series, and it wasn’t until first live action movie, and then again the 2003 animated series, that the darker Turtles received mainstream exposure.
Fast forward a few years to 2007, and you finally get to see the Turtles as I imagine Eastman and Laird would have originally wanted them. The animation resembles the manga style, with flowing character movements, closeups during battle scenes and even the momentary mid-air pause during leaps from building to building. So, yeah, while it is not going to win any awards (although I think the great fight scene on the rooftop should be nominated for one), it was a very entertaining movie. Of course, I might be biased having grown up with the Turtles.
Now here’s to hoping that Transformers won’t suck.
Did Chris ever tell you that those movies were the first films we ever saw unsupervised at a movie theatre?? Ahh…the good old days hanging out at Barrington Square.
She did, in fact, tell us all that. Not once, not twice, but many more times than that.
"Great freaking minds…" she says.