Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Bright, shiny and thoroughly nonsensical, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot is a nonetheless surprisingly enjoyable piece of escapist claptrap. For those unfamiliar with either the comic books, the animated television series or the 1990 live action film, the crimefighting turtles were a result of a lab experiment and raised in New York's sewer systems by Splinter (Danny Woodburn, voiced by Tony Shalhoub), a wise rat serving as their father figure.

Trained in the art of ninjutsu, the six-foot-tall quartet comprised of de facto leader Leonardo (Pete Ploszek, voiced by Johnny Knoxville), bad boy Raphael (Alan Ritchson), brainiac Donatello (Jeremy Howard), and fun-loving Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) battle the evil Foot Clan soldiers whose fearsome leader Shredder (Tohoru Masamune) is hellbent on taking over the world. Or at least New York City for a start.

Our heroes in a half-shell are aided by plucky news reporter April O'Neil (Megan Fox), who's tired of doing fluff pieces and keen on reporting grittier material. Despite her boss's (Whoopi Goldberg) skepticism, she enlists the help of loyal cameraman Vern (Will Arnett), who is seriously crushing on her, and her father's former partner Eric Sachs (William Fichtner), a billionaire industrialist dedicated to protecting the city from Shredder and his minions.

Bucking the current superhero inclination to go darker, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles retains its lighthearted roots with Michelangelo a reliable source of comic relief even if the humour is admittedly juvenile. Briskly paced and coloured like a Japanese pop video, the movie is straightforward and simplistic with gaps in logic and plotting that could house the Grand Canyon.

Still, it's hard to begrudge the movie its gleefully over-the-top action sequences. From Shredder and the Foot Clan's ambush of the turtles' underground abode to the dizzying rooftop showdown, the mayhem is well-choreographed and engaging. Best of all, however, is a lengthy chase sequence that starts off with a truck and a few cars before evolving into a free-for-all with the turtles atop and hanging off the sides of tumblewheeling vehicles, surfing on their shells down a steep and snowy mountainside, zigzagging their way around overturned cars and, oh yeah, an avalanche.

Though Fox's scattered energy is a distraction, there's plenty of humour and action to warrant another installment.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman

Written by: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Evan Daugherty; based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman

Starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Danny Woodburn, Tony Shalhoub, Pete Ploszek, Johnny Knoxville, Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard, Noel Fisher, Tohoru Masamune, Whoopi Goldberg