TMNT
As a huge geek, I'm an old school Ninja Turtles fan. I grew up watching the original kiddie cartoon, then graduated to the harder edged 1990 film when it came out. Even the two inferior sequels were entertaining. When I heard there were plans for another sequel, I was interested, but that interest did wane some when they announced it would be a CGI feature. As the devlopment went on, it seemed like the buzz was gettnig better and better. Sarah Michelle Gellar was signed as April O'Neil, Chris Evans was in as Casey Jones, Ziyi Zhang as Karai, and Patrick Stewart as Max Winters. All in all, things were looking up. Add to that some really great promo stuff, and my interest was actually pretty high by the time it opened.
All in all, the whole film was pretty enjoyable. Very few lags, a wonderfully original story, which ties into the first three live action films quite nicely, and some really great animation all makes this film good for kids and adults. The story begins as the four turtles are in disarray with Leo on a training mission, Mike doing kiddy parties, Don doing IT help over the phone and Raph stalking criminals by night as a vigilante. April and Casey are together as a couple, and they help a billionaire named Max Winters bring in some artifacts. The Foot, or what's left of it after Shredder was defeated, are working with Winters to find 13 monsters. This all ties into the fact that Winters is an immortal king, who gained his immortality at the price of turning his people into stone and unleashing the 13 monsters. He's trying to make amends, but his stone generals aren't too happy with that. They kidnap Leo, and its up the rest of the heros to save him and the world.
With a lot of laughs, great visuals, non-stop action, and a lot of heart, TMNT is a worthy addition to the Ninja Turtle lore that I grew up with. An 8, which ain't bad for March.
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