Verdict
Summary
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might be the very best movie one could possibly make with this concept, made by people who actually did their research and made the best, most accurate and well-rounded movie they could. Every time I watch it, I’m still amazed by how much character and depth they squeezed out of the Ninja Turtles and how natural such a ridiculous concept looks on screen.
Plot: In New York, mysterious radioactive ooze has mutated four sewer turtles into talking, upright-walking, crime-fighting ninjas. The intrepid heroes — Michelangelo (Robbie Rist), Donatello (Corey Feldman), Raphael (Josh Pais) and Leonardo (Brian Tochi) — are trained in the Ninjutsu arts by their rat sensei, Splinter. When a villainous rogue ninja, who is a former pupil of Splinter, arrives and spreads lawlessness throughout the city, it’s up to the plucky turtles to stop him.
Review: New York City is plagued by a rash of thefts by a mysterious ninja clan called the Foot, lead by Shredder, an armored Ninja master with a metal mask that hides age-old scars. These thefts are being exposed by Channel 10’s news anchor April O’Neil, who is attacked by the Foot to shut her up, but is saved by 4 mysterious reptiles, the Ninja Turtles. She befriends them and Splinter, their master who taught them “to be Ninja teens”. Together, with the help of a vigilante known as Casey Jones (who dresses up in a goaltender’s mask and uses sports equipment as weapons) they go after the Foot and uncover a connection between Shredder and Splinter.
If all this sounds stupid, it’s not, and it’s a testament to the filmmakers that they made everything palatable and not overly silly. The Turtles and Splinter are such realized characters that you stop seeing them as a bunch of foam and rubber rather quickly. And the theme of honoring your family is very palpable in this film (the Foot is staffed with runaway kids that are attracted to the glamour and riches offered by the Foot, but soon realize that they had it better with their own families). Honestly, I can’t find one flaw in this picture. Oh, and look out for Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Hitchicker’s Guide to the Galaxy) as Thug #1 in this movie.
In my opinion, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the best and most faithful comic adaptations ever made. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released in the height of the Ninja Turtles craze of the late-80’s and early 90’s, but I sort of got the impression that it was probably in the works for some time before the cartoons hit the small screen. I remember school kids crowding around grainy magazine pictures (no internet back then) that depicted the live-action Turtles in all their animatronic glory. It floored us. They were going to make a Ninja Turtles movie, and it wasn’t going to be a cartoon! How the hell would that look?? And what would the movie be about??? Is Splinter in it? Are they going to change things?
Watching the film for the first time in the theatre, the majority of kids that saw this thing only knew the cartoon and were expecting Krang, Beebop and Rocksteady. We actually weren’t expecting to see Casey Jones, least of all with his mask off! Kids who were disappointed that the movie didn’t match the cartoon were left wondering why they changed stuff (like me)…then one day I got the opportunity to actually read the original comics from ’84 (a dude in my Summer camp had a trade that collected the first ten or so issues) and I was stunned! It was exactly like the movie. Every plot point, from the first meeting between April and the Turtles, to Casey Jones, to the Farm House, to April’s notes in her diary about each Turtle, to Shredder getting destroyed in the garbage truck – it was all there! But, that would mean….no…it couldn’t be. They actually did a faithful adaptation of the comics without changing stuff and screwing up the original idea!!!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a revelation when it came out in 1990. Parents taking their Turtle-crazy kids to see the movie thought they would be in for a boredom-fest that would pander to their kids and leave the parents out of the fun. What they got was a story that had depth, character and a lot of heart. Unlike the Power Rangers, the Turtles each had personalities. Raphael was moody, Donatello was the smart one, Michelangelo was “a party dude” as the cartoon intro put it, and Leonardo was the leader who constantly questioned himself. And the story had them separated from their father-figure Splinter and forced them to grow up fast by themselves in order to save him. Raphael’s moodiness also jeopardizes his family as he takes a stroll to calm himself after an argument with Donatello while the Foot Clan attack the Turtles. Raphael gets knocked out and Donatello sits by his side till he wakes up, blaming himself for his brother’s injury. Clearly, this wasn’t a loud, dumb light-and-sound-special-effects toy show for kids. Everybody could relate to it.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might be the very best movie one could possibly make with this concept, made by people who actually did their research and made the best, most accurate and well-rounded movie they could. Every time I watch it, I’m still amazed by how much character and depth they squeezed out of the Ninja Turtles and how natural such a ridiculous concept looks on screen.