Director
Kevin Munroe
Cast
Chris Evans Casey Jones (voice)
Sarah Michelle Gellar April O’Neil (voice)
Mako Master Splinter (voice)
Mikey Kelley Michelangelo (voice)
James Arnold Taylor Leonardo (voice)
Mitchell Whitfield Donatello (voice)
Nolan North Raphael (voice)
Laurence Fishburne Narrator
DVD Release Date: August 7, 2007
Rating: PG
Running Time: 87 Minutes
The Movie
Four brothers. Mutated by an ooze that took them from small pet shop turtles into human-sized turtles trained by a mutated talking rat. Trained in the art of ninja and destined to help the people of New York City against the threat of evil, the turtles were brought up to be a strong family fighting together as one. But times have changed and they are not exactly the strong force they once were.
The Shredder is their long-time arch enemy that has finally been defeated and things should be great, but the villain’s defeat actually drove them apart. Leonardo is training in Central America trying to become a better and focused leader. Back home, Raphael is tired of doing nothing so at night he dons a metal suit and helmet and stalks the streets as the Nightwatcher putting criminals in their place. Donatello is working as an IT tech support operator and Michelangelo is entertaining at kid’s birthday parties. Things are certainly far from normal.
After a visit from April, Leonardo returns home to take his rightful place as leader of the turtles. Raphael is not happy at his brother’s return and they continue to butt heads as they always have. But they have bigger problems at hand. Max Winters is an immortal lord who has walked the Earth for close to 3,000 years. Long ago he found a transdimensional gateway that allowed for thirteen monsters to come into the world and for his immortality to begin. The problem is that opening the gateway caused his fellow warriors to turn to stone.
It is almost time for the gateway to open again and Winters must find the monsters to return them to their dimension and free his brothers and sister from their stone tombs. As if things weren’t bad enough, he has enlisted the help of the Foot Clan to help find the monsters. The turtles must put aside their differences and work as one to help keep the city safe and to stop Winters from having his very powerful warriors come back to life.
Being a long time fan of the turtles, it is hard not to say that skepticism wasn’t in my mind when word first came out about TMNT. Being out the spotlight for so long, trying to recreate an old franchise, and the updated animation just screamed failure like so many other old school remakes have experienced. Never have I been happy to be so wrong. TMNT delivers a fantastic looking film with great voice actors, a good storyline, and awesome action.
The film sets up a great new plot without having to rehash the Shredder story again, but fans getting the hints throughout that a sequel may show us the leader of the Foot again in the future. Yet even though Winters’ monsters are the main focus; perhaps the more intriguing storyline is the dissention between Raphael and Leonardo. Their utter contempt for one another is very obvious and nicely done leading up to a great battle sequence between the two.
TMNT has something for everyone. The longtime fans, new comers, adults, and children alike will all be able to enjoy the film without getting bored for one single second. Everything flows smoothly and the two storylines are given equal amount of time to develop while keeping the running time at just around ninety minutes. The turtles have made their journey back to the forefront in a very impressive way, and I sincerely hope more films like this one are to follow.
The Video
The film is shown in both Full Screen or Anamorphic Widescreen formats and is a simply beautiful looking adventure. The colors are vibrant and bright in a mostly dark film where the blacks are black and not a purple or bluish tint. The animation is absolutely gorgeous and flows smoothly making this one of the best looking films so far this year even if it isn’t live action.
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital AC-3 Sound and comes through very nicely. Every punch, kick, monster screech, broken board, twig snap, water movement, and every small or huge sound imaginable sounds as if it is happening right in your home. The music is great, especially during the fight scenes, and all dialogue can be heard cleanly and clearly.
Special Features
Audio Commentary – Director Kevin Munroe sits alone and discusses the film and it really isn’t worth listening to. I hate solo commentaries and it is even worse if the information being given is as dull as Munroe’s is. He talks in a very monotone voice as you’ll notice in almost every other special feature on this disc and it is just nothing worth learning about.
Alternate Opening – This is actually the opening I would have rather seen then the one in the final cut. It starts with a bunch of pictures and drawings catching up the audience with what has been going on in the lives of the turtles, Casey, and April. It then leads into a slight different opening with the mugger being a purse snatcher instead of a bank robber and meeting up with the Nightwatcher.
Alternate Ending – An incomplete temp animated ending that shows the turtles talking with each other on a rooftop, but the main focus is on Casey and April. Casey realizes he must stay the vigilante type because that is who he is supposed to be and he also proposes to April. The final cut ending is much better.
Mikey’s Birthday Party Full Sequence – The entire scene of Mikey entertaining at the kids’ birthday party and the director discusses how much he likes the scene. Hopefully you’ve seen the film first because you can’t even hear the scene or what is going on with his talking.
Raphael’s Rough House Fight Test – A very rough animated sequence of a fight between Leonardo and Raphael. Mostly grey-scale animation with some color for the bandanas and we are told that this was done very early on to kind of get an idea of what their boundaries would be.
Monsters Come Alive – Storyboard to finished scenes comparison showing the differences in the monsters and the Foot Clan from early on to completed project.
Donny’s Digital Date Files – This is a really in-depth but very short look into the creation of the film and all the digital aspects of the CGI. There are looks at the skin of the turtles, April’s hair, all the trees, and Splinter that is very different from any other character in the whole film.
Roof Top Workout – A storyboard sequence of the turtles playing ninja tag on the rooftops of some buildings. The scene ended up being cut and it is a shame because it seems as if it would have been an interesting scene in the film especially in the relationship between Leonardo and Raphael.
Still Wanna Fight?! Temp/Scratch Test – A little bit of a backstory of Casey and April and how they really do love each other, but don’t quite know how to vocalize it. This feature also touches on the relationship between Casey and Raphael.
Additional Scene: Splinter Gets Cake – A grey-scale animation look at Michelangelo’s skateboarding scene leads into a bonus scene of Mikey giving Splinter a piece of cake and Donatello stepping in. Yet again though, you can’t really hear what the characters are saying with the commentary so it is rather frustrating.
TMNT: Internet Reel – Seems like a really long trailer. Seriously, that is about it.
TMNT: Voice Talent First Look – Some of the talented stars that lent their voices to characters in the film give their thoughts on what it is like doing voiceover work as compared to actual acting. They also give some fond memories or the turtles themselves.
Trailers – The Last Mimzy, Fred Claus, TMNT: The Video Game, Space Ghost & Dino Boy: The Complete Series, Birdman & The Galaxy Trio: The Complete Series, and Tex Avery’s Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection
The Inside Pulse
TMNT came out of nowhere and totally blew me away. The film is one hundred times better then it has any right to be with the story, characters, history, and overall look. It is beautifully done animation and entertaining right from the start. The multiple storylines are done flawlessly without over or under saturating one to save the other. The special features are there in big numbers, but most of them are extremely short. I don’t really think there were more then one that went over ten minutes long, not including the commentary. And I really wish there would have been some way to shut Munroe up because he talked over any feature that had a hint of extra footage so you get to see it, but never really get to hear it. But if anything, this DVD should be bought for the feature film itself because it will take fans down a nostalgic road in a good way and surely gain new fans that have never experienced the pizza obsessed turtles before. I had my doubts, but I’m glad to see that they were unmerited and totally wrong. Cowabunga dudes!
