Film: TMNT

If you knew me as a ten year old, you would have known me to be a big time Turtles fan. I was totally sucked in; in fact although to me they were second only to Transformers they were the only characters I based actual school work around. I still remember how impressed my teachers were when they discovered I had written a story based around four big renaissance artists.

So I guess you could say that I was really looking forward to this, a CGI rendition of the franchise presented to us a whopping 17 years after the first feature. Being a natural cynic I expected the worst, assuming my rose tinted glasses would make me see a cash in in an even worse light.

But I was wrong. So wrong. TMNT was brilliant.

Set after the demise of Shredder, TMNT tells of a broken brotherhood trying to unite against a new (yet typical) foe threatening New York. All regular stuff and there were no points for originality... But in terms of execution the film did wonderfully well.

It almost felt like being with old friends again; Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Raphael were all just as they were supposed to be - there were no "creative updates" here. Even April O'Neill was just as hot as ever, this time voice by a certain Sarah Michelle Gellar.

As a film it was well made. The CGI itself was above average, although nothing too fancy. It was well directed though with scenes swooping and wooshing all over NYC, and some mad fighting stints too. As a member of the audience I was well involved in all the action.

I'm a bit puzzled by who exactly this film was made for. It was way too violent and scary for the under fives who were watching with me, and too obscure for any new fans (I couldn't help but grin when a bunch of kids in the line for tickets asked: "what the hell is TMNT?"). I guess it was made specifically for people like me; die hard fans from the first time around who were now adults. Perhaps the mothers were just using their kids as excuses to watch for themselves.

So yeh, I pretty much loved this film and I don't think that it was just for nostalgic reasons. The Turtles are definitely back, and I can only hope that there's a sequel in the works.