Like any child of the early 00s I grew up with a selection of shows from both the UK and the US and one of those shows was the animated series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So seeing a new animated movie was screaming out nostalgia for me. So I booked a seat at my local cinema and made my way there to enjoy 100 minutes of animated fun. What I witnessed in the cinema hit me harder than I had expected as a daughter of immigrants, who grew up cautious of those around them because of undue racism. Also, this is not a spoiler free review.
The Visuals
I hate to draw comparisons to the Spider-verse (soon to be) trilogy but the art style was very reminiscent of that to me. It had the watery elements of Gwen’s world but also had a vibe of oil pastels and marker drawings, the entire film felt ripped out of a graphic novel or a comic book. Overall, I loved how tangible it felt, like I could have sat down and doodled a frame of the scene myself.
The colours used were very dynamic and although they famously live in the sewers with their rat dad Master Splinter; the lighting conveyed with bright pops of colour really made the film feel physically lighter than it was – having most it play out at night or in the sewer.
Again, like Across The Spider-verse, there was a beautiful marrying of the animation and live action elements. The movie also confirmed that Pine is the best Chris in Hollywood (I don’t make the rules)
The Story
The story had me crying by the end of the movie. It started off quite fun, jumping straight into the action sharing Super Fly’s villain origin story, but as the movie progressed you realised Super Fly was no more a villain than Master Splinter. Humanity had burned both characters because they were different and both were doing everything they could to keep their family safe. Which I wouldn’t say was villainous.
I would like to say not everything is about race, but as a 23-year-old teenage black girl who watched the struggles her parents went through establishing their life in England, I could only see parallel after parallel to the experiences me and my family went through in the 20 years we’ve lived in the UK. Watching the strife of Splinter trying to help his kids fit in only to be rejected all the way to the final acceptance of the turtles once they got the seal of approval from April. These are things I can imagine many black and other people of colour can relate to.
The plot itself was a fun coming of age and found family moment, with the turtles learning that acceptance starts within. There was a funny through line of the boys constantly failing to accomplish what they need to when the fall back on their ‘formations’ and action plans until they finally learn how to work together. With some fun anime references to solidify their last plan which, with the help of humans and an onslaught of other mutants, finally worked to bring down the big bad. I was happy to witness this story in the box office.
The Characters
I loved the characters. They have all distinct personalities and you can really feel their personal progression as the movie went on. Donatello (Donny) was my favourite, mainly because he was an Army (BTS fan), but he also reminded me of my anime watching, glasses wearing, dweeb of a brother and I think Micah Abbey did a brilliant job voice acting him.
I saw a lot of myself in Leonardo (Leo), voiced by Nicolas Cantu. Although the turtles all got hit by the ooze simultaneously, I could feel the age and maturity and the anxious people pleaser nature in Leo, because I too am the same, and I loved watching him grow out of his proverbial shell after meeting April, and leading his team into victory because of the confidence he gained in himself and his team.
Michelangelo and Raphael were really fun as well. Raphael, played by Brady Noon, having a skater dude personality, and the reprisal of the iconic ‘Cowabunga’ line from the 90s really got me feeling the nostalgia in the theatre and I have always had a blind spot for Michelangelo but, Shamon Brown Jr. really gave the turtle a character for me to grasp at, even if it was dollar store hulk in action.
One thing I think this movie did well is portray teenagers. There were cringe moments, uplifting moments, and rebellious moments. All which showed the modern teenage experience, especially the experience of kids from migrant households, leaning on their community to build a name for themselves in a place their parents fought for them to belong in. You can really see their youth in moments like when Donny was recounting a scene from Attack On Titan, or the countless moments of the boys recording themselves being dumb with their ninja weapons.
As a child I thought I’d be more like April than I am Leo, but alas, here I am relating to a teenage turtle and not the journalist. I care little about the fact that April was a black girl, I just care that Ayo Edebiri did a great job. I’ve seen a lot of buzz online and in the media around her work in The Bear and other projects like the upcoming Bottoms movie, and I was not disappointed. She carried so many emotions and expressions in her voice and I love how her performance really rounded out the character of April O’ Neil. April’s story was about fixing her reputation whilst helping the turtles win the approval of humans, but really, she was just a good friend. I think we can learn a thing or two about facing our fears to support those we care about from her.
Splinter, played by Jackie Chan, reminded me of my parents. Doing everything he can to protect his boys from the prejudice of the real world, but I was happy when he let them go out into the real world, because from experience, that can be hard for some parents when the world has let them down the way it let him down. And it was just good fun when he helped them save New York from Super Fly. I hadn’t even recognised Mr Chan’s voice until the credits went but it makes sense to have a master of martial arts be Splinter.
Last but not least, I want to touch on Super Fly, played by Ice Cube, he was just misguided. He learned the same lesson as Splinter and chose violence. But I couldn’t blame him. When met with hatred and violence, you would either hide or fight back and he was fighting back. I did find myself wishing he would hear the turtles out and stop his plan but he didn’t. Making him a great example of having tunnel vision, now if i was a smarter person I would relate his thought process to PTSD or another mental issue from a trauma based environement, but I am not that smart. However, I did think his design was really cool.
The Pace
At no point did the movie feel like it was dragging. There was always sufficient action on the screen even when it was the turtles just ‘buying’ groceries. This really helped me focus in on the story without getting bored. There was a scene where the boys were trying to get info from a chain of human villains to lead them to Super Fly and the editing was just chefs kiss. Go see the movie to know what I mean, but moments like that had me forgetting it was a kids’ movie with the effort put into making it great.
The Soundtrack
Loved the soundtrack, second best use of No Diggity in film since Pitch perfect. The sound scaping of the movie was just fun and gave the vibe of a 1990s black New Yorker on the DJ stand – I say this as a Black British person but that’s the vibe I got. Also there was an amazing use of Wake Up In The Sky, I literally cannot listen to the song now without thinking of this movie.
This movie was just a lot of fun. Yeah, I found deeper meaning in the movie about mutant turtles fighting a mutant fly, but I recommend people watching it, because it’s a stellar piece of entertainment. You many not find yourself crying at the end like I did, but you will find yourself laughing throughout.
I thought the movie was 5/5 stars.
The NewRxmantic 