Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - in this case, the one from 1990 - is an action/comedy/martial arts/family film starring Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Toshishiro Obata, Sam Rockwell, James Saito, and the voices of Brian Tochi, Corey Feldman, Robert Rist, Josh Pais, Kevin Clash, Michael McConnohie (bet he's not voicing someone Japanese!), and David McCharen (him either!)
New York is under a crime wave consisting of teenagers stealing whatever they can get their grubby hands on, passing stolen wallets back and forth a dozen times, and then giving stolen goods to dudes in black pajamas and goggles. Ace reporter April O'Neil (Hoag) has talked to some folks in Little Tokyo and learned about the story of the "Foot Clan," a band of thieves that did similar things back in Japan, but no one takes her seriously because, presumably, the name is too silly to believe.
But then April gets jumped by a gang of thugs and who should step in but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! They beat up the thugs and retreat back to their sewer lair and their giant rat mentor, Splinter (Clash), but April, being the snoop that she is, continues getting into trouble and this time Raphael (Pais, both in-suit and voice) saves her and brings her back to the sewers.
Things go bad, Splinter is kidnapped, the Turtles hide out with April until the Foot comes calling, her home burns, they escape with the help of Casey Jones (Koteas), a sports-equipment wielding vigilante, they hang out at April's family farm until they can ninja hard enough to learn that Splinter is still alive, they eventually wind up in a climactic battle with the Foot, until the leader of the Foot, Shredder (Saito, voiced by McCharen - dammit!) kicks their shells, and Splinter drops him off a building into a garbage truck, which Casey promptly uses to murder him.
Typing it all out now, I'm struck by how there are a lot of twists and turns in this movie, and a lot of characters to keep track of. I haven't even mention Tatsu (Obata, voiced by McConnohie - dammit), Shredder's lieutenant, the Borgnine-esque police chief (Raymond Serra), or that baby Sam Rockwell plays one of the head teens in the Foot Clan.
There are some quibbles I have with this movie. I think having Splinter be the one to beat Shredder at the end, without even much of a fight, was a weird choice. I think having Casey just straight-up murder him was a bit of a tonal shift (though it's kind of in-keeping with, say, the practice of Disney movies of the era ending with the villains getting brutally dead). The performances and the references are highly 90s ("Aw, Kodak moment" isn't something that's stayed relevant).
But they manage to make each of the turtles distinct without drifting into caricature. Leonardo (David Forman in-suit, Tochi voice) is earnest and honorable, but not a huge stick in the mud the way those kinds of characters often are. Raphael isn't just "cool but crude" (as the cartoon would have it), but actually dealing with anger issues and trying to deal with them rather that just being a dick. Michelangelo (Michelan Sisti in-suit, Rist voice) isn't just a vaguely surfer-ish guy, but is actually kind of immature and uses humor to deflect. Donatello (Leif Tilden in suit, Feldman voice)...well, OK, he's a little flatter. He's depicted as smart, but he kind of just winds up as Michelangelo's sidekick because he's not the gadgeteer he'd become later.
Elias Koteas is always fun to watch, even when he's bonding with giant turtles. Judith Hoag was, I think well cast as April. She comes across as capable and driven; she gets damseled a bit, but that's probably to be expected considering the era and the type of movie it is. I still have issues with white dudes voicing the Japanese characters, but again, 1990.
I used to watch the cartoon, but I haven't seen any of the more recent movies and I'm led to believe that's a wise choice. Better, I think, to just let this very weird little movie be what it is.
My Grade: B
Rewatch Value: Medium
Next up: The Thing (2011)
No comments:
Post a Comment