I Revisited the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

To be specific, the 1990 movie. I talked about it before a decade ago, but IMO I stated my thoughts better now than I did back then: 

Now is a hot time for me to discuss the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Apropos of nothing, out of nowhere last night on Twitter I saw the news that in August there will be a new animated feature film known as Mutant Mayhem which not only has what looks to be a distinctive animated style, but a voice cast that has everyone from Jackie Chan and Giancarlo Esposito to Seth Rogan (also a producer) and John Cena. The teaser trailer will be out tomorrow as I post this but for about 3 years back as a kid I was a BIG fan of the original cartoon so this was something Mom took me and my two sisters to see on the big screen back in ’90.

As it was more based on the comic book-which you can probably figure was meant to be satirical-than the cartoon, that’s why the tone was relatively dark. After all, the movie is all about teenage angst, both among the turtles & the young disadvantaged boys that Shredder and his crew manipulate and mold into a life of crime. The backstory of everyone is presented and this introduced the familiar names to the franchise, including plucky news anchor April O’Neil and ex-hockey player Casey Jones. Legit martial arts and Eastern mysticism is presented along with the jokes from the reptiles, their love of pizza, & all the rest.

Yes, the entire premise is absurd yet it still entertained me. I don’t know about the children of modern times but as a 9 year old I was more than fine with the darker themes and serious moments. As an adult I more appreciate that along with the period hair/clothing/score/soundtrack. The memories I have of 2 and 3 are not as hot although eventually I’ll watch those two and see if my tune changes at all. After the third one, none of the subsequent motion pictures were watched; after all, by the time 3 came out my fandom had waned so that was only experienced once on VHS-I never cared to see the rest. There is especially have no desire to ever experience Megan Fox as April O’Neil!

While I can’t attest to the quality of the cartoon reboots since I was a child, it still is charming to me that this property still exists today where my little nephews can either watch the “modern” versions or take a timewarp to experience the products of my youth. The Jim Henson creature effects still hold up today so that hopefully shouldn’t be a barrier to people such as my youngest relatives.