Film Reviews

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

• Director: Kevin Munroe
• Starring: (The voices of) Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kevin Smith
• Details: USA / 90mins (PG)

PREVIEW

My childhood was a blissfully happy time: no bills, no problems (except for strangely only ever being able to find one sock) and with The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Bravestar (my, did I love that Indian Sherriff) playing almost constantly on TV. I thought all my birthdays had come at once when the live action movie came out; my child brain revelled in its rubbery fighting turtles (although Raphael's lack of banter did perplex me somewhat.) Now, the turtles are back and are CGI-d up to their multicoloured bandanas, ready to entertain a younger generation of rugrat. The calibre of the creative folk involved here is unknown, as first time director Kevin Munroe comes from a video game background and TMNT is his first stab at a cinematic feature. The early word is seemingly positive - albeit mildly so. Fanboys are generally digging it, but critics are handing it its green ass back to be scientifically dissected by some frog-loving biology students. Quite frankly, it could go either way. The voice cast, while recognisable, is hardly stellar - there's not one 'name' in any of the turtle roles - and CGI flicks aimed at teenagers have a fairly miserable track record (remember Titan A.E? Exactly). That said, there is the curiosity factor of the twentysomething to consider - but it's questionable just how many of said twentysomethings will be taking their screaming sprog along, and even more questionable how many of those that recommend it to a friend. Still, I wonder if April is as hot as she was in the cartoon..

Review by Mike Sheridan