Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 Film Review

There have been an awful lot of movies featuring the heroes in a half shell some animated , some live action , some direct to DVD and most theatrical. While yes there was one made for TV animated movie as well they all have one thing in common and that's the fact that they will never ever be able to top just how good the first film is as the film that i'm going to be reviewing for you all today is just the perfect blend of the comics and the cartoon and so then join me as I review the movie that sees the turtles make there way to the big screen with the film in question being called simply just "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when Splinter is kidnapped and there home is destroyed the Turtles and there new friends Casey Jones and April O'Neil have to face a new foe in the form of The Shredder. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this films plot being so good that the 2012 TMNT show just straight up copied it for a bunch of episodes with the plot of this film being a good example of the film being able to mix the more mature tone of the comics and the more goofier moments of the cartoon as this is a plot that really couldn't work as an episode of the show as it takes itself two seriously for the show but at the same time tho there are more then enough goofy moments in the films plots that does feel right at home with the more goofy moments of the show and is a good example of a film that's able to not only copy what Batman did with it's first Tim Burton film by sticking to the original tone of the comics but also adapting that tone to not only fit the characters and there personalities but to also what the films kid audience would expect from a Turtles production and heck this films plot is just so good that it keeps you hooked from the very beginning and while yes there are some faults with the plot of the film they are very few and far between with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining ad as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Brian Tochi as The Voice Of Leonardo , Josh Pais as The Voice Of Raphael and Corey Feldman as The Voice Of Donatello. Also starring in this film is Robbie Rist as The Voice Of Michelangelo , Kevin Clash as The Voice Of Splinter , David McCharen as The Voice Of Oroku Saki / The Shredder , Michael McConnohie as The Voice Of Tatsu , Judith Hoag as April O'Neil , Elias Koteas as Casey Jones , Jay Patterson as Charles Pennington , Michael Turney as Danny Pennington , Raymond Serra as Chief Sterns , Toshishiro Obata as Tatsu , Sam Rockwell as Head Thug and James Saito as Oroku Saki / The Shredder.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With all of this films actors both voice actors and on camera actors turning in some really good performances which is really shocking given that alot of this films actors were and in some cases still are a bunch of unknown actors and yet here they are in this small indy film turning in some really good performances so much so that for that for many they simply are these characters and who alot of people think of when people think of the Turtles in live action and yet while the acting is overall really good there are still some pretty performances like the fact that Michael Turney who despite him turning in solid performance in alot of scenes overall just isn't that good in this film with it being clear as day that the best actor in this film is easily any one of the actors that voicing the turtles themselves as they are quite obviously having alot of fun playing there respective characters with the same thing also being true Judith Hoag and Elias Koteas as well as they really did understand that this film allows you to have fun with your performances and all of them do exactly that with the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just the say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

One of the many things that alot of people can agree that this film does better then the 2014 film is the Turtles origin. As instead of learning it from a book here Splinter learnt it from a his master by copying what he was doing and then tought the turtles which is something that's actually true to the cartoon as well and guess what it's something that works really well as it explains how all of them Splinter included knew ninjitsu in a way that actually makes sense and is true to the art of the ninja as this is something that you don't learn in a day or week as it takes for one person to learn this skill and that's something that Splinter already had before his master was attacked by Oroku Saki and so all he had to do was teach the turtles stuff that he already knew instead of learning it all from scratch and while the puppets for the baby turtles might have aged like milk the idea itself is still something that works really well so much so that it's shocking that alot of the other TMNT movies both live action and not really didn't stick with this idea and instead tried to come up something that just doesn't work as heck even Mutant Mayhem which had a slightly better take on it by having Splinter learn martial arts from watching old Kung Fu movies which granted is still slightly better then the 2014 take on the origin still doesn't match this films take on it as here it is something that does make alot of sense and something that actually works not only for the film but for the characters as well and it's something that does prove that if something isn't broken like this take on the origin then you don't try to fix it.

While this film does borrow alot from the cartoon like the turtles having different coloured masks and there personalities. This film also borrows alot from the comics as well by having a more darker and mature tone and while on paper that might sound like it would clash with the the more goofier elements taken from the cartoon instead what it does is create somethin that even Hollywood studios today are still trying to learn and please everybody as this is a film that fans of the original comics loved and what fans of the original cartoon loved as it had elements that they both knew and loved from both of them only now it was done on the big screen and was actually explored and delved into in a way that doesn't feel patronizing with the best example of this being the scene where Donny and Mikey are talking in sewer as Donny asks Mikey what he thought about what Splinter said about what him not being around for much longer only for Mikey to laugh it off with a joke and yet in thee forest when they find out that Splinter is still alive it's Mikey that's crying the hardest as he was so afraid of loosing his father this is something that is very easy to miss on a first viewing but when you know that it's there it's something that can't un-notice and heck even the film really had scenes changed where Mikey was originally the one yelling Splinter thus showing showing his deep sadness and anger at the thought of loosing his father and this is something that you don't really see in alot of the modern Turtles movies and shows as there all more focused on being like the cartoons that there forgetting to be more mature just like the original comics where and still are.

If there's one thing that this film gets really wrong it's the romance between April and Casey as neither of them have any kind of romantic chemistry with each other. Which from a character point of view does somewhat makes sense as they do only just meet each other before all of them are forced to leave the city with it being there where they pend at the very least a week together but even then neither of them have romantic chemistry with each other with it coming off as them more being like brother and sister then they are potential love interests which while it's not a big issue as there romance doesn't effect the plot of the film in anyway shape or form it is something that should have been fixed as it is something that does go with the films more grounded approach and given just how well both characters are written in this film it is something that does make sense for them to fall in love with each other but given there lack of romantic chemistry with each other it is something that does let the romance down a bit with it not really being helped by the fact that the two of them don't share a moment together where you can straight up tell that there falling for each other with it all being done in dialog form when doing it slightly with just a look or two from either character would not only have worked well for this film it would have worked better because of the fact that we the audience would have been given the chance to see that development more naturally where as with it all happening in the films dialog it comes across more as being forced almost as if the makers of this film where forced to have a romance in there for whatever reason and so they just went with the laziest way possible about it.

While this film does go down the usual TMNT film route by giving us The Shredder as the main villain here tho since this was the first TMNT film it is kind of forgivable. While this films take on the character isn't the best one overall as while he is still threatening his costume is just bit to goofy in live action to take him seriously as a villain but to be fair tho his costume is ten times better then the Turtles costumes from We Wish You A Turtle Christmas but what sets this version of the character apart from all of the others is the fact that Casey Jones just straight up kills him at the end which is such a dark ending for this character and while it is something that does match with this films more gritty tone it's not something that meshes well with either the Casey Jones character if the character of The Shredder as Casey Jones would never do something that cruel yes he would beat up thugs but that's all he'd do he wouldn't kill them and The Shredder would never allow himself to fall of the roof top as while yes he does have a huge ego which was what blinded him in that moment in the film he's also the type of character who would think two steps ahead so he would have been prepared for that possibility as he's all about making sure that he survives to fight another day but on the plus side tho this is perhaps the creepiest and most threatening version of the character in live action as we straight up see him beat up members of The Foot Clan just for looking at him wrong with him even taunting the Turtles be pretending that Splinter is dead and when you add in the fact that the film gives him this cool entrance with some creepy music it really does make him out to be a really threatening villain altho he is let down by the fact that he really doesn't have a plan and is basically just doing thins because the plot demands that he do them.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirty three minuets and thirty four seconds. Which is pretty much the exact grand total running time that you' expect a film like this one and to this films credit it really does have the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time but at the same time tho this film really doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as this film really does delve that much into what it is that makes the Turtles as it's only Raph that gets some one of one time with Splinter that does reveal more of his softer side which is nice and a great scene but the film does nothing with it and it would have been nice if the film did show what Splinter is like with all of his sons as that would then make the scene where he is kidnapped all the more impactful and the films human story with Charles and Danny just isn't that interesting which fair enough might be the point as you don't go a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie to see the human side characters but at the same time you got to make there part of the film interesting to watch as well as neither Charles nor Danny are that interesting as characters and while April herself does get some personality as we see she is spunky and is willing to fight for what she wants and what she believes to be right we also don't see that in a negative light all that much and how she has to overcome that to become a better character but to be fair tho this film knows that it's a comic book movie and isn't afraid to be anything but that and in time where comic book movies weren't be taken all that seriously apart from Batman and Superman the very fact that this film had a decent running time and still told a good story within it is miracle in of itself but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With this film making great use of the fact that the turtles are literally just men in suite by having them by played by people that actually know how to do martial arts and so when you see Mikey go and do move on either a Foot Clan solider or on Shredder himself there's actually someone who knows how to do it for real doing it and it's stuff like that that does make the action in this film just so much cool to see as while yes granted the both the 2014 film and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of the Shadows have better effects during there action scenes your never ever going to top somebody doing something for real as it makes the action scene on the whole just that much better to watch with the best action in the whole film being the entire third act as it will always be just so cool watching the turtles take on a bunch of Foot Clan soldiers and having them all go up against The Shredder one on one and having them get beat was a great way to show us the audience just how strong he is whilst also making us question if the turtles are going to make it out of this fight alive with the only thing that's wrong about the fight is the fact that it's Splinter that finishes him off and not one of the turtles which yes granted does make sense from a storyline perspective but at the same time tho you do kind of want want to see the turtles beat Shredder with the rest of this films action being really good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this film is still just as good now as it was back in nineteen ninety and is easily the best live action TMNT movie that's ever been made as it not only got the turtles themselves down perfectly but it got almost everything down perfectly including the still really good looking turtles costumes as well which is something that really cannot be said for ALOT of live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles media from the nineties in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the image that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great the official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fandom wiki page this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from the really great the official Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles fandom wiki page are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid the official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fandom wiki page really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.