Isabel and I saw TMNT (the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie tonight).
I give it a scaly, green thumbs-up.
Cons: Probably the most significant con of this movie from my perspective is that we are given the impression that April O'Neil and Casey Jones are cohabitating. (To the writers' credit, however, there are definitely emotional difficulties with the arrangement...April wants a firmer commitment out of Casey, who looks a bit immature for not just biting the bullet.) Some minor plot discontinuities regarding Monster #13 in the middle of the movie will leave you slightly shrugging. Also, I watched two kids leaving the movie trying to do ninja moves on each other and then get yelled at by their parents. I'm not really into the whole anti-cartoon violence movement, but sometimes you have to admit that monkey see, monkey do. Finally, some of the alien monsters might have been a little too nightmarish for the really little ones...especially if they aren't old enough to understand the plot, wihch might be a bit unwieldy for some kids.
Pros: The three predominant themes are 1) brotherhood, 2) due submission to a just authority, and 3) forgiveness (the word "penance" even shows up in the movie). It actually handles these in smarter ways than I think most critics are giving the movie credit for. Maybe I'm losing my sense of taste, but I thought this movie did a great job at doing what a TMNT movie is supposed to do: get in, have some laughs, do some ninja stuff, and get out. I'd say it was like a shorter, less violent, more family friendly version of the first Pirates of the Carrbbean. Actually...now that I think about...the plot had a lot in comon in PotC...but I don't want to give anything away. I would have appreciated more Mike and Don, especially since they provided most of the worthwhile witty banter...but the banter rose to the occasion. The movie also gets credit for not having to force us to relive the origin story of the turtles all over again. It starts en media res in a way that lets the movie slide into a host of TMNT continuities, whether you are a fan of the current cartoon, old cartoon, or original comic. Most importantly, it was a fun cartoon with lots of ninja...and if there's one thing movies can always use more of, it's ninja.
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