I am a big TMNT fan. I watched the 1987, 2003 and 2012 series. I have played their video games and watched their other movies. I have been with these guys for some of the franchise's best, and their worst. When the 2018 series rolled around, I finally thought, perhaps it is silly for a 30-something year-old man to be watching these cartoons. I gave the show a fair shot, but decided, no this was not for me. Seemed like TMNT's version of "Teen Titans Go!". But, keeping with the comparison, "Teen Titans Go!" did make a quality movie or two.
So after all that backstory of my thoughts of the series, what do I think of this movie? It's OK. There have been better Ninja Turtles Movies and there have been much worse Ninja Turtles Movies.
Starting with the positives, this movie does not waste any time. It is a tight 82 minutes and it feels like the characters do not take a break from the action once it gets going. The villains of the film are appropriately intimidating. They are stronger than our hero's and are just delightfully evil. There is some real body horror that goes on with their tentacles and characters transforming. Good animation in general from this film. I admittedly have a bias towards 2D animation. This movie has a great energy and movement to all the action scenes unmatched by previous entries. The characters had some jokes that got legitimate laughs from me. But those jokes do come at a sacrifice.
On the negative side, the movie does not do a good job balancing the humor and serious moments. That may sound odd for these characters, but they need to know when to have a quiet moment to let something sink in. Bleeding a little into my critiques of the 2018 series in general, not every character can be the party dude. The dialogue of these characters are written in such a way that the characters don't stand out like they do in other portrayals. With all the characters acting this way, there is less of a variety of jokes you can do with them. It also leads to this team being really annoying, there were times in this movie I was rooting for them to fail just out of spite.
The story itself is nothing special. An evil alien race trying to take over the world, a giant sky beam, some mind control, portals, some lessons about teamwork and believing in yourself - All your basic kids' movie action stuff. Oh and no TMNT movie seems to be complete without Leo and Raph fighting, because we haven't seen that enough.
All in all, if you're a fan of the 2018 show, this will satisfy you fine. If you're a fan of the Turtles in general, this may leave you wanting more. If you are just looking for some good mindless Ninja Turtle action, then you've come to the right spot. Go Ninja Go Ninja Go.
So after all that backstory of my thoughts of the series, what do I think of this movie? It's OK. There have been better Ninja Turtles Movies and there have been much worse Ninja Turtles Movies.
Starting with the positives, this movie does not waste any time. It is a tight 82 minutes and it feels like the characters do not take a break from the action once it gets going. The villains of the film are appropriately intimidating. They are stronger than our hero's and are just delightfully evil. There is some real body horror that goes on with their tentacles and characters transforming. Good animation in general from this film. I admittedly have a bias towards 2D animation. This movie has a great energy and movement to all the action scenes unmatched by previous entries. The characters had some jokes that got legitimate laughs from me. But those jokes do come at a sacrifice.
On the negative side, the movie does not do a good job balancing the humor and serious moments. That may sound odd for these characters, but they need to know when to have a quiet moment to let something sink in. Bleeding a little into my critiques of the 2018 series in general, not every character can be the party dude. The dialogue of these characters are written in such a way that the characters don't stand out like they do in other portrayals. With all the characters acting this way, there is less of a variety of jokes you can do with them. It also leads to this team being really annoying, there were times in this movie I was rooting for them to fail just out of spite.
The story itself is nothing special. An evil alien race trying to take over the world, a giant sky beam, some mind control, portals, some lessons about teamwork and believing in yourself - All your basic kids' movie action stuff. Oh and no TMNT movie seems to be complete without Leo and Raph fighting, because we haven't seen that enough.
All in all, if you're a fan of the 2018 show, this will satisfy you fine. If you're a fan of the Turtles in general, this may leave you wanting more. If you are just looking for some good mindless Ninja Turtle action, then you've come to the right spot. Go Ninja Go Ninja Go.