Movie Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Movie Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)                                                                            7-22-19

New York has been through rough times lately: People throughout the city have been burglarized by teenage boys known as the Foot Clan, and news reporter April O’Neil (Judith Hoag) has trouble getting her boss to believe her. After almost getting robbed by the Foot, April gets rescued by four human-sized turtles: Leonardo (Brian Tochi), Michelangelo (Robbie Rist), Donatello (Corey Feldman), and Raphael (Josh Pais). These turtles live in the sewers, love pizza, and have been practicing ninjitsu for 15 years. When Splinter (Kevin Clash), a rat who serves as the turtles’ mentor, gets kidnapped by Shredder (David McCharen), leader of the Foot, the turtles, April, and hockey player Casey Jones (Elias Koteas) head to a farm in the country, but soon, the turtles have to return to New York to rescue Splinter and defeat Shredder.

The strengths in this underrated flick lie in its gorgeous sets, a memorable score from John de Prez, an intriguing albeit corny story that sticks faithfully to its original source material, and incredible animatronics from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop that bring the turtles to life that, in my eyes, still hold up very well.

Jim Henson with the Turtles themselves.

I also like how they gave Raphael (the turtle with the red bandana) a more developed personality. In the original 80s cartoon, Raphael was a prankster, even though Mikey was their resident class clown. In this film, Raphael was changed to a turtle who was anti-social, ill-tempered, and cynical. This is a trait that defined Raph in later incarnations of TMNT.

Raph picking his teeth with his sai (weapon of choice).

Casey Jones is also an interesting character: He’s a hockey player who became a vigilante after his career ended because of an injury. He is also a bit stubborn like Raphael.

Casey about to teach Raph 'a lesson' after he accidently let some thieves escape.

In conclusion, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a movie that probably won’t please everyone, but it makes me smile whenever I watch it. It’s also a favorite of internet sensation James Rolf.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5.

However, I do have a warning for the parents reading this review if they end up watching this movie with their kids: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) has some strong language, violent moments, and alcohol use.