In light of the news that TMNT is looking at another movie reboot, lets take some time to talk about and appreciate how solid the first Ninja Turtles movie actually is. (Spoilers, obviously) I'd safely put this movie into the Top 10 for best comic book movies ever, hell I'd even entertain an argument that it's in the Top 5. This is a really good movie that has aged a lot better than I think anyone would really expect.
The movie is a pretty great mixture of the original comic's tone with some aspects of the 80s cartoons sprinkled in. The tone of this movie hasn't really been replicated in any of the other Ninja Turtle movies and it's really unfortunate. For a property that, at the time of its release, was pretty cartoony and marketed entirely for kids this movie wasn't afraid to let shit get real a little bit. For example, Raph getting the fuck beat out of him in the 2nd act and the Turtles being ran out of town by Foot Soldiers really does a good job of shattering the idea that the heroes were invulnerable and also added a lot of intensity towards the final battle when they go up against Shredder. The movie's story also doesn't insult the audience's intelligence that much, either. Some of the subject matters that come up with this story are fairly heavy family themes considering the movie it's taking place in. Also, shout outs to the practical suit work of the Turtles. It's exceptional, and it really helps the movie in terms of holding up over the years (In before DonnieFaceInMouth.jpg).
Hey, remember that farm scene from Age of Ultron? Yeah, TMNT 1990 did it first and better. The heroes get their teeth kicked in by the bad guys and they retreat to lick their wounds, get some motivational speeches in, then plan to return home and save the day. This is actually my favorite part of the entire movie because there's a ton of great character moments, we see the Turtles mature a little bit, and get a nice little father/son moment between the Turtles and Splinter.
Oh and one more thing, Shredder is a fucking boss in this movie.
Shredder is another part of this movie that sells the tone of everything and they don't really fluff things that much because kids are seeing the movie. Shredder straight up murders people in this movie and when it comes time to throw down against the Turtles he doesn't pull punches. Also, how many super hero movies (especially pre-2000s) have the titular heroes straight up lose their final fight against the villain? The Turtles not only lose to Shredder in the final battle, they get fucking bodied by him (when you take the sequels into account they technically never defeat Shredder themselves) and need Splinter to bail them out.
But defeating Shredder isn't really the point of the final battle, the point of the ending is that the four Turtles fight together as a family and refuse to sacrifice each other in the process, which ties together some of the "family" themes I was mentioning earlier.
So yeah, TMNT 1990 is still pretty legit. Is it dated in some of its music and clothing/hairstyle choices? Yeah, but the martial arts, the Turtle effects, and the story as a whole still hold up today I feel.
The movie is a pretty great mixture of the original comic's tone with some aspects of the 80s cartoons sprinkled in. The tone of this movie hasn't really been replicated in any of the other Ninja Turtle movies and it's really unfortunate. For a property that, at the time of its release, was pretty cartoony and marketed entirely for kids this movie wasn't afraid to let shit get real a little bit. For example, Raph getting the fuck beat out of him in the 2nd act and the Turtles being ran out of town by Foot Soldiers really does a good job of shattering the idea that the heroes were invulnerable and also added a lot of intensity towards the final battle when they go up against Shredder. The movie's story also doesn't insult the audience's intelligence that much, either. Some of the subject matters that come up with this story are fairly heavy family themes considering the movie it's taking place in. Also, shout outs to the practical suit work of the Turtles. It's exceptional, and it really helps the movie in terms of holding up over the years (In before DonnieFaceInMouth.jpg).
Hey, remember that farm scene from Age of Ultron? Yeah, TMNT 1990 did it first and better. The heroes get their teeth kicked in by the bad guys and they retreat to lick their wounds, get some motivational speeches in, then plan to return home and save the day. This is actually my favorite part of the entire movie because there's a ton of great character moments, we see the Turtles mature a little bit, and get a nice little father/son moment between the Turtles and Splinter.
Oh and one more thing, Shredder is a fucking boss in this movie.
Shredder is another part of this movie that sells the tone of everything and they don't really fluff things that much because kids are seeing the movie. Shredder straight up murders people in this movie and when it comes time to throw down against the Turtles he doesn't pull punches. Also, how many super hero movies (especially pre-2000s) have the titular heroes straight up lose their final fight against the villain? The Turtles not only lose to Shredder in the final battle, they get fucking bodied by him (when you take the sequels into account they technically never defeat Shredder themselves) and need Splinter to bail them out.
But defeating Shredder isn't really the point of the final battle, the point of the ending is that the four Turtles fight together as a family and refuse to sacrifice each other in the process, which ties together some of the "family" themes I was mentioning earlier.
So yeah, TMNT 1990 is still pretty legit. Is it dated in some of its music and clothing/hairstyle choices? Yeah, but the martial arts, the Turtle effects, and the story as a whole still hold up today I feel.
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