Thoughts on the new movie!

[vagrant718]

i thought the movie was good. But i gotta add the fight between raph and leo was entirely leo's fault, since leo was playing peacemaker in the beginning and nightwatcher went on the offensive

[Nightwatcher]

I agree completely. I loved the movie, but as I was driving home I thought about how Donnie kind of got the shaft. It seemed like they were going to use him more in the beginning and then they just kind of left him and to a lesser extent Mikey (he got more jokes so it wasn't as obvious) in the dust.

They didn't even have him do anything technical really. The only "tech problem was solved by Casey.

That being said, I would want him to have a substantial role in a sequel.

[discordiatookie]

I thought Casey's voice was spot on, personally.

As for Splinter, at first I thought he sounded drunk, as if he was slurring his words. But by the end of the film I loved his voice, the way he pronounces everything, I dunno what it was, I just really dug it. Mako rocks!! Plus, he doesn't really sound like an old dude handing out advice, he sounds like a master, a sensei, not afraid to give his pupils hell when they need it.

[Nightwatcher]

Obviously some spoilers:

Since we are on the discussion of Leo and Raph, I would like to mention how I enjoyed that I enjoyed difference from the Leo I'm used to.

It always seemed like Leo and Don were 2 turtles that didn't have any glaring weaknesses (none that I remember anyway). Raph was too emotional and Mikey doesn't take enough stuff seriously which can be their faults.

It always annoyed me when they made Raphael look bad for going against the group, but they never seemed to make Leo look bad.

That being said I liked to see Leo show an inability to lead when he first came back, and an arrogance about himself over his brothers during the fight.

Also I liked how the Leo vs. Raph fight ended. I expected the "winner" of their fight to be the other turtle.

[TerranigmaFreak]

If only this movie was 10 to 20 minutes longer, then I'm sure they could have fleshed out Donny and Mikey a little more.

Also, I don't agree on the next movie focusing strictly only the other 2 like this movie. Don't get me wrong, I love Don and Mike, but IMO, I think all 4 of them should be equally important in the movie. Of course it certainly wouldn't hurt to give Mikey and Donny more screen time to make up for this movie. It's just that I want it to be done better, instead of having 2 of them dominate the movie while the other 2 barely gets any good screen time or lines. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should always be about the 4 of them.

[triplexxx]

Just saw it, I got what I wanted after all: Every turtle got a fair chance to shine, 'cause they all kicked ass in battle, all four were in tip-top shape & their skills/acrobatics were all top notch and real fun to watch, and they all got a fair share of dialog too. The sci-fi/fantasy element was marvelous. Max Winters was fascinating. Splinter was humorous and pretty nice (though I still blame him for the family break-up in the first place). Casey was great, April was cool, and Karai was pretty good (though she didn't have that much to do). To tell you the truth, this movie was really not that dark at all, at least I didn't think it was, but everyone has their own personal measurement system.
~A

[Lone Wolf]

I give the movie an A-/ B+. The prologue is too long, and the threat at times is too convoluted. Too many characters for an 85 minute film.


Fight scenes were incredible. Great dialogue between the turtles. Character development, while present, is minimal; nevertheless, the dynamic between the characters is always genuine and never feels forced; every character has a distinct personality. Thanks to good dialogue and a consistent cast of personalities, if you read a quote from the film, you would have a relatively easy time figuring out who said it. Yes, even without the actors voice.

I thought the Foot Clan fit in fine. They served their purpose of acknowledging the turtles history, giving us some cool fight clips, and providing the audience with much fodder for sequel speculation.

In my opinion, this is the first movie in 17 years that is worthy of the franchise. I can only pray to God, Allah, Zeus, Vishnu and Rah that we get a sequel, because it deserves one.

[ThemanthatwouldbeRaphael]

I finally saw the movie I've been defending for months now today. First showing down at my theatre.

I'll just get right into the review.

Storywise, I really dug it. I loved the monster angle, though, like I've heard people say, I wish it could have gone into more depth with the monsters and how they got into New York. The main plot however, was pulled off rather nicely. A lot of good scenes, I especially loved the breakfast scene. I liked the fact that there was more emotion in this one than in the first, you could really feel the tension between Leo and Raph, and they pulled off the broken team/family angle off really well, it gave more depth to these characters. It really stuck true to the characters. Munroe also really knows how to do dialouge, and the ad-libing throw in there was well played.

The animation is where this movie really shines. Fight scenes looked beautiful, I especially loved the intro. Imagi should be given an award for this flick, they worked they're asses off and it shows. The facial expressions were perfect, and even the tinyest details were just a joy to the eyes. They really did make this movie look like a comic book come to life. The camera also added well to the mix. The best sequences were by far the Leo/Raph fight and Mikey's skateboard sequence. No CGI movie comes close to this level of greatness.

The voice acting was incredible. James, Mikey, Nolan, and Mitchell truly brought the Turtles to life. Sarah and Chris were great as well, Chris truly surprised me. Evans has managed to pull off both Johnny Storm and Casey Jones, thus guy can do comic characters. Mako, Patrick, and Ziyi were also good, though Karai sounded a little off at times. But I loved the feeling Mako put into the movie, may he rest in peace. I was also proud to see such great talents as Phil Lamar, Billy West, Jim Cummings, and Tara Strong involved in this.

The humor was kinda off and on. Sometimes it didn't work, but other times I couldn't help but to crack up. The humor in this movie definatley appeals to a much wider audience that the humor in the new series. Don and Casey, I thought, especially stood out. My firend Ricky was especially cracking up at the jokes in this flick.

The Leo/Raph fight, best fight in ANY incarnation of TMNT. I love the first movie, but that fight easily tops every fight in the first 3 movies. Centerpiece of the movie.

That said, my gripes:

The movie, WAY too short. It took off and just went without stopping. I really wished they would have kept all the cut footage in, It really would have helped if this movie was longer. Though, I guess Warner Bros just wanted to test the water with this movie, so I expect the inevitable sequel to be longer.

Also, some of the lines felt out of place. Some of April and Karai's lines I thought didn't really work, and would have been better off unsaid, or better worded.

I didn't mind the cartoony look of the humans though, I'd rather this than the "Polar Express style".

IMO, I'm with IGN in saying this movie was the best TMNT movie yet. The first one was great, but this added much more needed depth to the characters. The action was intense, the character relationships were well played, the voice acting was incredible, and theres still more they can do with the series. I hope the TMNT never go back to Live Action. It doesn't suit them like CGI does. Kudos to Kevin, Thomas, Peter, and everyone at IMAGI.

I'd gie this movie a 9/10. Not perfect, but still well worth the time.

[iris]

I enjoyed it.

Mako's voice was great, but a little jarring at first, if only because I'm so used to other actors.

And yeah, there's no way this movie ISN'T getting a sequel.

[ThemanthatwouldbeRaphael]

Saw it, loved it, gonna see it again.

I give it an "A"

[Kaz]

some other things, it really anyoed my the bout in the end you had to squint to see Don fighting, and Raph sounded to italian but when he fought that monster in the diner i pissed myself with laughter, the music was good, Mikey's skate board scene totaly rocked, and that battle with the foot was way to short that should have gone for ages, and scince when does aprile fight huh HUH! but i cant wait to the next move becuase SHREDHEAD'S BACK

[CJStyles]

I enjoyed it myself and thought it was fitting to follow the original movie

[iris]

I just about agree with all of your review, TMTWBR. I'd move that down to 7.5/10 though, if I'm trying to be objective.

I agree that the voice acting was stellar, the animation was smooth, and the characters were more than spot on (although old skool toon fans may not completely agree with that one). The movie was better than the trailer-- and you know that's not always the case!

Had no problems with April and Karai's lines, but I may have been distracted. And while I like CGI, the other styles have their benefits.

If I'm gonna to nitpick, I'll say the narration wasn't loud enough in the beginning; I could barely hear it. And I did have a small "eh??" moment with the editing in the middle of the final battle, but I won't mention it specifically. But that's getting REALLY picky.

I think I'd really like to see the director's cut!

[ThemanthatwouldbeRaphael]

I can't wait either, I think the movie will be a 10 on DVD. It just really think they should have left all the cut footage it, and add more to the fight scenes.

[kryka83]

Originally Posted by ThemanthatwouldbeRaphael

I finally saw the movie I've been defending for months now today. First showing down at my theatre.

I'll just get right into the review.

Storywise, I really dug it. I loved the monster angle, though, like I've heard people say, I wish it could have gone into more depth with the monsters and how they got into New York. The main plot however, was pulled off rather nicely. A lot of good scenes, I especially loved the breakfast scene. I liked the fact that there was more emotion in this one than in the first, you could really feel the tension between Leo and Raph, and they pulled off the broken team/family angle off really well, it gave more depth to these characters. It really stuck true to the characters. Munroe also really knows how to do dialouge, and the ad-libing throw in there was well played.

The animation is where this movie really shines. Fight scenes looked beautiful, I especially loved the intro. Imagi should be given an award for this flick, they worked they're asses off and it shows. The facial expressions were perfect, and even the tinyest details were just a joy to the eyes. They really did make this movie look like a comic book come to life. The camera also added well to the mix. The best sequences were by far the Leo/Raph fight and Mikey's skateboard sequence. No CGI movie comes close to this level of greatness.

The voice acting was incredible. James, Mikey, Nolan, and Mitchell truly brought the Turtles to life. Sarah and Chris were great as well, Chris truly surprised me. Evans has managed to pull off both Johnny Storm and Casey Jones, thus guy can do comic characters. Mako, Patrick, and Ziyi were also good, though Karai sounded a little off at times. But I loved the feeling Mako put into the movie, may he rest in peace. I was also proud to see such great talents as Phil Lamar, Billy West, Jim Cummings, and Tara Strong involved in this.

The humor was kinda off and on. Sometimes it didn't work, but other times I couldn't help but to crack up. The humor in this movie definatley appeals to a much wider audience that the humor in the new series. Don and Casey, I thought, especially stood out. My firend Ricky was especially cracking up at the jokes in this flick.

The Leo/Raph fight, best fight in ANY incarnation of TMNT. I love the first movie, but that fight easily tops every fight in the first 3 movies. Centerpiece of the movie.

That said, my gripes:

The movie, WAY too short. It took off and just went without stopping. I really wished they would have kept all the cut footage in, It really would have helped if this movie was longer. Though, I guess Warner Bros just wanted to test the water with this movie, so I expect the inevitable sequel to be longer.

Also, some of the lines felt out of place. Some of April and Karai's lines I thought didn't really work, and would have been better off unsaid, or better worded.

I didn't mind the cartoony look of the humans though, I'd rather this than the "Polar Express style".

IMO, I'm with IGN in saying this movie was the best TMNT movie yet. The first one was great, but this added much more needed depth to the characters. The action was intense, the character relationships were well played, the voice acting was incredible, and theres still more they can do with the series. I hope the TMNT never go back to Live Action. It doesn't suit them like CGI does. Kudos to Kevin, Thomas, Peter, and everyone at IMAGI.

I'd gie this movie a 9/10. Not perfect, but still well worth the time.

I FORGOT ABOUT THE BREAKFAST SCENE!!! hahahaha Leo and Raph's vibes towards each other was totally awesome!!! I wish the movie had included the looks on the guys' faces when Splinter discovered that they had fought the night before and yelled at them before they went to the next scene ^_^

[METALHEAD]

i have it an A+ i loved it every moment and man raph and leo's fight so so intense...raph running away realising what happend i swore it sounded like he was sobbing...and when they made up in the end...i swore they were about to french kiss each other and make out right infront of everyone... heh... *gets weird looks from everyone* i'm yaoi fan...give me a break...yes i'm male >3>

[esco]

I saw it twice today. Liked it for the same reasons as most others. Final battle seemed kind of "off" to me though.

And Leo held back after he found out it was Raph...

[Rooish]

I just voted and gave it a B, because when I left the theatre, I was disappointed. Maybe I am a more critical person than I thought. But in the few hours since I watched it, it's grown on me, and maybe now I want to give it an A. It was definitely a ... weird movie. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. Eh ... let me try to break down how I felt about it all.

CHARACTERS: The boys were fantastic, and I thought their characters were as well-written as I could have asked for. The problem is that none of them (except Raph) got enough screen time, and there definitely were not enough interactions between them. But my heart was BURSTING WITH JOY when

Spoiler:

Leo's family greeted him when he came home.

I liked Splinter, and Leo, more in this movie than in any other version of the TMNT.

April and Casey, too, were well-done; I didn't mind April's fighting or career change as much as I had expected. Casey was very cute and funny. Karai, Max Winters, the generals, and the monsters were all individually cool, but there were too many bad guys and I got confused about the point of even having Karai and the Foot Clan in there at all, except to (not-so-subtly) set up the possibility of a sequel.

Raph was a tad more of a jerk than I'd have liked, but he was pretty, um, hot as well. I expected Don to steal the show with tongue-in-cheek smartness, but he really didn't have enough lines to do so, which was a disappointment. Michelangelo was absolutely adorable, and not too annoying,

Spoiler:

and the part where he added his Cowabunga Carl head to the shelf after Raph put up his Nightwatcher helmet was absolutely hilarious. I burst out laughing because I guessed what was coming, and the theatre joined in when they saw it.

SOUNDTRACK AND SCORE: I loved them both. I expected to hate the rock/rap songs, but they fit very well and made the movie more fun. The score was dramatic and emotional. A+.

INTRO: Lame as hell, and the worst part. My eyes were tearing up with embarassment at the dramatic epicness (when were the Turtles ever epic?), and Fishburne's underwhelming narration. I loved when each of the Turtles were introduced, though, and I would have cheered if anyone else in the theatre had.

SCRIPT: Not bad. Some of the lines were very cliché. Raph actually screamed, "NOOOOOOO!" at one point. Who does that? But, there was less cliché and sappiness than I had feared. Some of the conversations were very good: Leo-Raph, Raph-Casey, and Splinter-Raph's. Thankfully, some of the lines from Steve Murphy's novelization that I thought were too lame didn't get in. Unfortunately, some very cleverly written lines in the novelization didn't get in, either.

VOICE ACTING: Great job all around, especially with some of the lines they had to work with. The only voices that bothered me at any time were Karai's and Leo's. But Leo grew on me. And Karai is just too awesome for me to mind that she had a Chinese accent.

PLOT: Overused plot (but written in a quasi-original way). Way too many loose threads. Leo never found in himself the ability to lead. There was no point to Karai and the Foot Clan, but I would have preferred them to the monster plot (although Winters was cool, and the stone generals and the monsters did look wicked). There was a glaring mistake that anyone could have picked out:

Spoiler:

(the Jersey Devil was the last monster to be caught at one point, but then in the end, it had metamorphised into a huge monster thing that chased the Cowabunga Carl van.)

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think many of us really like TMNT to be too sci-fi. And Peter Laird god damn well knows that. I know it's his creation, and I know he didn't write the movie, but ... argh. I don't know. I just really like the idea of the Turtles being freaks in a realistic world.

DESIGN/ANIMATION: Beautiful. The Turtles and Splinter, and the monsters and the stone generals, and the scenery all looked great. As everyone says, the rain scene was absolutely stunning. The fight scenes were amazingly animated and left me breathless. I couldn't get enough of looking at the Turtles' dynamic facial expressions. I only have three problems: 1) I would have liked more saturated colours, 2) the humans looked weird (but I think that is a constant in all TMNT incarnations ), and 3) sometimes, as someone else mentioned, the lips didn't match up with the voices.

Sorry if my criticalness pisses anyone off. I really am glad the Turtles are back, but I wanted to see more of the Turtles. It was a very pretty letdown. Final word is, I would love a sequel ... darker, maybe, and based on "City at War." But I don't think I can be of much help getting us one, because I really have no desire to see the movie more than, um, twice more in the theatre.

[Rooish]

Originally Posted by METALHEAD

and when they made up in the end...i swore they were about to french kiss each other and make out right infront of everyone...

I'm not into yaoi (especially not Turtle incest yaoi?) but I thought that, too.

[VaughnMichael]

Let me Just start by saying I may be a turtle fan for life but I sure went into this moving thinking I wouldn't like it and slowly as I saw more things for it I started to open up to it then about a week before I had read the paper back novel loved the story & now I've finally seen the movie and I must say this is hands down the best CGI movie I have ever seen period the detail has surpassed anything I've ever seen before.
I gave it an A+ no not because I'm a turtle fan because it was a damn good movie that's why. I don't really know what all of these reviewers are talking about from start to finish this movie had kick butt action, a great story, & stunning visuals.
THE STORY, & THE PLACES
THE OPENING
It was very Beautiful not sure if I care for the persons voice telling the story though but the fight scene was just beautiful. It may have come as a bit short but I think it got the job done I only wish it could have been a bit longer and perhaps we could have seen the generals in human form in battle.
THE JUNGLE
Simply beautiful I loved the colors, the textures and the way the leaves and grass blew in the wind.
I also really liked the backgrounds and characters it seems to me that the people doing this movie really did their homework!
I do wonder though even though we saw no blood did Leonardo kill those guys in the jungle?
BACK IN NYC
I thought this was a pretty cool way to show what was going on nice story telling device an oldie but a goody having April tell Leo what the others have been up to and while she didn't really know what Raph was up to we got to see. It was nice to see some well known voice actors playing the thugs as well as the toaster bit that was very cute.
I loved the fact that they got Billy West of Ren & Stimpy, & Futurama fame to play the TV news caster great work Kevin or whoever got him!
The City looked so nice and laid out my favorite part though had to be the dinner which has to be based on the famous Nighthawks panting by Edward Hopper I'm not sure if it is for sure but that's what I got from the look of it personally but Funny little art joke having Nightwatcher there lol.
While I found Michaelangelos little skateboarding scene to be honestly pointless the children got a kick out of it and I did like seeing the subway go through.
I'd like to add I'm very happy they took the time to make the prequel comics they help very much with the understanding of these story's. I only wish they had done more perhaps one on Max & the stone warriors as well as what the foot clan have been up to.
THE TURTLES LAYER
I liked it! It was like this huge amalgamation of everything we've ever had from the 80's toon, the movies, the comics, and the 2k3 series. Nice work!
Oh and to anyone wondering where they got the video Game machines and soda machines I bet they got them from the old foot warehouse in the first movie.
MAX'S TOWER
Simply Stunning the building that holds many works of art and priceless artifacts in it's self one. The animation on how the floor opened up was just brilliant. I also liked the security system I had already visions in my mind what would happen when Casey broke the vase and oddly enough it was just like I thought very nice.
THE HALFWAY POINT
I saw allot of people sort of having mixed feelings about this you have to have it though in my opinion you have to have the characters discover what's really happening around them you can't just skip that.
Allot of children started to talk over April & Don's part but loved the Fight between Leo & Raph.
I sort of felt that it was dragging on a bit though through the middle as did my younger sister she mentioned to me by this point she was getting sleepy.
I think allot of it had to do with the science fiction element it would really seem kids well at least young men where there to see the fighting go on.
Me I like both so I was just fine with it all and love to learn about past story's I'm not saying all but allot of children really don't care about that stuff I honestly can't remember myself caring till I reached about the age of 23.
THE ALMOST ENDING
The fight between the Foot Clan & the TMNT seemed rather rushed to me in all honesty I wish it could have been longer but perhaps that is just what we will get in next movie & I have no doubt in my mind that we will be getting another so better sleep now Kevin while you can lol.
I did like seeing Splinter running though he really did look like a large mutated rat for once in the characters creation and not a giant dog lol.
I must admit I still hate the music that had been chosen for this movie but it does work it's just background noise really to get you pumped and it did it's job for me.
I loved the moment where everyone comes into Winters Tower to see the Vortex Tornado reaching through the sky it was stunning and exciting the best way to describe this part of the movie to me is like when you've been playing a video game forever and you get to that last part it just gets so exciting.
Then to Have the Warriors Turn on Max and throw him like a rag doll was something else had I never even taken a look at the story I'd never have even thought about that let alone Max not truly being a villain.
The fight between the Stone Generals and everyone was great I think this was the highlight of the movie for me. I have to agree with allot of the reviewers when they said certain parts of the movie come off as Power Rangerish but I know what they meant by that now during allot of the fight scenes they have allot of one-liners some funny some not so funny.
The Turtles Used to do one liners in all older things allot and I think allot of people have forgotten that and the fact that this movie takes place in the more light hearted mixed worlds between Mirage black and white comics and the 80's cartoon.
I loved the almost ending of this movie between Karai's "You've passed the test you soon will be seeing many faces from your past again" to Max's laughter and happiness that his life may finally be over quickly rising and turning to dust it was great I would have been happy with it ending there.
But they went and did the lets have a Mike do a joke thing at the end I was oh lord please do not let this end like this and you know what I was happy it didn't even though the kids really enjoyed his eww it's in my mouth and nose comments.
THE 13TH MONSTER CHASE
This I didn't like so much I feel this is the worst part of the movie and seems like it was cut for time or something. I know it was supposed to seem like they where very short on time trying to find this last real monster but it just went by to fast and the monster seems to have come up out of thin air.
The Best part about this scene was Casey and April's bickering and the comments between Karai and the lone foot soldier that line of Karai's was the saving grace for me in this scene.
It also seemed a little to convenient for me that they lead the 13th monster back to Winters Tower throwing the Stone Generals along with the monster plummeting into oblivion.
I honestly couldn't come up with a better way in my mind though on how to make that all happen differently so I'm quite fine with it although I still think it to be a quick way to wrap things up.
THE ENDING
Ok I must admit it was cute and sweet and a great homage to the Turtles past bravo it even brought a few tears to my eyes to see all of those things for some reason.
To see Shredders Helmet, The Triceraton Space helmets, The utroms blasters and robots, as well as artifacts from the other movies as well it was very nice and now Raph's Nightwatcher Helmet rest with Winters and The Cowabunga Carl head.
A Very sweet and touching ending indeed.