Even though they are among one of the most popular media franchises of all time, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles saga has always had difficulty transitioning to the big screen. It makes sense that Paramount Pictures would want to bring Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo to movie theaters to become the studio’s signature superhero saga with the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, despite complaints of superhero fatigue.
The characters, stories, and action of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and graphic novels look great when brought to life with stunning animation, but this has sadly mostly been seen on the small screen. While 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze, are both fun nostalgic favorites, their goofy costumes and popular culture references to 1990s hits mean they have not aged very well. Comparatively, the next film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, was a complete disaster, as were the two films executive produced by Michael Bay.
However, the one success in the 21st century that the turtles have had on the big screen has been the severely underrated animated feature film TMNT, which hit theaters in 2007. There have been other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated films, but Turtles Forever was a television film, Batman vs. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released directly to home video and VOD services, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie was on Netflix, with no theatrical distribution. Here’s why TMNT is the most underrated theatrical film within the franchise.
A Change Of Style
At the time of the original 1990 film’s release, computer-generated imagery had not yet developed in a way that would have properly served the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Since Jurassic Park had not yet hit theaters, the notion that characters created with CGI could interact with live-action actors was not yet plausible, and there was no chance that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could have worked as a live-action film. Even in 2007, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would have seemed like an odd choice of sagas to reboot in live-action, considering the franchise’s success on the small screen.
As a result, the 2007 film got to use all the advents of 3D animation that had developed in the time since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III had been released. In the time since, Pixar had found success with the Toy Story films and their other critically acclaimed original projects such as Monster’s Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and A Bug’s Life. While it briefly seemed like they would be the only studio to master the craft, Dreamworks Animation proved that it had what it took to compete when Shrek won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature after its release in 2001. This indicated that it was the right time for a computer-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
The finished result is the most stylized Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film at the time. Hard use of shadows gave the film a more mature film than its live-action predecessors, which is an inverse of how most people think of animated films. The detailed New York gave the film a strong visual look, and the computer animation allowed the Turtles to move and perform martial arts like fans had only ever dreamed of and is one of the most underrated action movies of the 2000s.
Continuing The Story
Even though the animation style is radically different from anything else in the franchise that had been released at that point in time, TMNT actually continued the events of the original trilogy in a compelling way. Even though they had worked together to defeat Shredder, the former brothers had grown apart and gone down their separate paths. It was a slightly darker storyline to approach, and in many ways, TMNT serves as a “legacy sequel” to the original films.
It actually marked the great setup for a sequel, and in fact, there was originally going to be a sequel focused on the 13-part comic book saga “City At War.” However, when Paramount and Nickelodeon acquired the rights to the property in 2009, the sequel was scrapped in favor of a live-action reboot. It’s unfortunate because the 2014 reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its 2016 sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows were not well-regarded entries that turned the beloved characters into monstrous CGI caricatures and featured too much adult humor to be enjoyed by the intended audience of children.
Interesting Character Interpretations
The characters are sufficiently developed and reach interesting conclusions by the time the film ends. Starting the team off as distant at the beginning not only allows for a strong character arc but also highlights their personalities separate from one another while also showing how they are stronger together.
Leonardo is made more the traditional stern leader he is typically known in the comics, while Ralphael’s cool but rude attitude is amped up to be a more violent vigilante. Contrasting these two brothers’ personalities really develops their relationship and culminates in a fight fans have wanted to see for years. Meanwhile, Donatello is shown as the most mature, while Michaelangelo is allowed to be the comic relief he works best at.
TMNT, in many ways, is a better mix of the classic 80s cartoons with the underground comics the characters originated from, even more so than the 1990 film. TMNT is a high mark in the franchise, and even though the reaction to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem might eclipse it, TMNT should not be forgotten.
