TMNT (2007)

Directed by Kevin Munroe. Starring (voices) Nolan North, James Arnold Taylor, Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mako, Mitchell Whitfield, Zhang Ziyi, Mikey Kelley, Patrick Stewart, Kevin Michael Richardson. [PG]

Mundane animated adventure for the heroes-in-a-half-shell pits the foursome against immortal monsters, stone generals, and a businessman-with-a-secret (voiced by Stewart); no extra slice of pizza for guessing what that secret could possibly be. The obstacle of unconvincing makeup/suits making the turtles look silly in the real world has been removed by embracing computer graphics in the film’s entirety, but the (voice) acting and writing have not improved much since the early-90s outings. Even though the characters are drafted with exaggerated, cartoonish features, the script takes itself too seriously without trying anything original or narratively ambitious (when it does attempt humor, mostly through Michelangelo and Donatello’s dialogue, it almost always lands with a thud). Aside from the mediocre figure design, however, the animation is pretty decent, especially in the city backgrounds and motion rendering, making it all look like a very high-quality television program; still, it falls well short of the mid-range bar for feature film animation. April (Gellar), no longer a news reporter, is greatly underused, as are half the Turtle team! How can a movie involving mutated turtles with ninja skills and ancient monsters feel so…ordinary?

36/100