[Movies] TMNT

Got to see the new TMNT movie. For you kids too young to have really experienced the original series or those too old to recognize the letters anymore, that stands for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a comic book that got turned into a hit cartoon series that ran from 1987-1996 with a few attempts and updating the series in 1997-1998 and the current series which began its run in 2003.

The movie was done completely as computer animation and I have to admit this was the strongest part of the film. The animation was amazingly crisp, especially in the rainy sequences. It captured the feel of both the cartoons and the previous movies which used to feature live actors in animatronic suits. Amazing what folks can do with computers these days.

The weakest point, unfortunately, was the story with too much of the film dominated by the Raphael - Leonardo sibling rivalry instead of the potentially interesting story about the immortal lord and his stone generals. Extradimensional travel has always been right up the alley of the TMNT universe but this ended up way too much like a weird soap opera.

Even the comedic piece felt a bit forced. While the one-liners were more than plentiful, their delivery seemed kinda flat and the timed was somehow off. I didn't laugh at most of their remarks, which is strange considering I normally enjoy low-brow humor.

The TMNT is worth the animation and any lingering nostalgia you have for the original series that you might want to work out of your system. Other than that, leave this one for the kids.