THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
If there is anything we learn from comic books, heroes can come from all shapes and sizes. No title has been more creative with that term than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.PLOT
Based on the comic book series original created by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird, the 1990 film takes place in New York City and follows reporter April O'Neil reporting on an crime wave enveloping the city. One night, she gets attacked by a group of thieves but is quickly saved by a group of unseen vigilantes. Her rescuers happen to be four mutated turtles that were exposed to radioactive ooze 15 years prior. They have been raised in the sewers by a rat named Splinter who was also exposed to the ooze and has taught them ninjutsu. The turtles are named after iconic painters and have been given specific weapons and colored masks. The names are: Leonardo who wears a blue mask and wields two swords, Raphael who wears a red mask and wields two sais, Donatello who wears purple and wields a staff, and Michelangelo who wears an orange mask and wields two nunchucks. The group of their first night out doing battle, except Raph who lost a sai. Wanting to burn off steam, he goes out to a movie wearing a hat and trench coat to keep his cover. However on the way back home, he encounters a human vigilante named Casey Jones who fights brutally in comparison to him and his brothers. The next day, April continues her investigation on the crime wave and reveals on television it is from the work of the Foot Clan. After this report, she gets attacked again by Foot Soldiers. Thankfully, Raph was nearby to save her again, regaining his sai in the process. He takes her to his home to recover and when she wakes up, she meets his family and is explained of their origins. They do escort her home, but this gives the opportunity for the Foot to abduct Splinter after following Raph. When the turtles find out what happened to their father, they hide in April's apartment until they find him. They do hide from her boss Charles Pennington (Jay Patterson), but Mikey spotted by his son Danny. This leads to him running away from his father and joining the Foot by revealing the turtles' whereabouts to the clan's leader, the Shredder. He chooses to do this as the Shredder deems them as threat to foil his plan to take over NYC. As the turtles wait the next day for an update, Raph and Leo debate over leadership to the point where the former heads to the roof to blow off steam. This would only make him vulnerable enough to be attacked by Foot soldiers. The rest of his brothers defend themselves and get aided by Casey who saw Raph get attacked from afar. The protagonists are able to retreat on a bad note as the battle burnt April's apartment to the ground. Due to this, they take shelter at April's old family home. Eventually, Leo would be able to contact Splinter via astral projection. And when he teaches his brothers to do the same, they become inspired to come home. When they convince April & Casey to return to the sewer, they find Danny hiding as well, whose been guilt stricken of his actions he doesn't share. He ends up going back to the Foot's hideout to express his personal conflict towards Splinter. As he finds solace, the rat share his life before mutation: His owner was a ninja named Hamato Yoshi who he learned ninjutsu from. He rivaled with another ninja named Oroku Saki over the love of a woman named Tang Shen and when they fled to NYC, Saki followed and killed them both. Splinter did retaliate by scratching the face, but Saki would end his impact by slicing his ear and leaving him for dead. Splinter even implies that Shredder is Saki due to the Foot wearing his symbols. When Shredder finds Danny back, he takes drawings he took from April confirming the return of the turtles. He sends Foot soldiers back to the sewers to finish them while ordering his lieutenant Tatsu (Toshishiro Obata) to kill Splinter. Luckily, Casey followed Danny and is able to defeat the lieutenant while also convincing the other Foot members to defect. The turtles do defend themselves in the sewers and are able to take the fight onto the streets, only for them to face Shredder for the first time on a rooftop. Saki is able to overpower them and almost kills Leo until Splinter appears. He Is able to defeat his old rival off of momentum and causes him to drop into a garbage truck. Once landing, Casey crushes him with a trash compactor. As the police arrive to investigate the Foot, April and Casey share a celebratory kiss, whereas the film ends with the turtles celebrate their victory with their father. THOUGHTS
I was a fan of this franchise due to the multiple animated shows that have came out. And off of enjoying those stories, I already knew what I was in for. I found it understandable for the first film and its sequels to be done in live action because it would've been too easy to stick with animation. And while we would later get animated films of this brand, respect has to be shown of what was done here. Overall, I do believe director Steve Barron succeeded in giving us a real good time with solid editing to make the fight scenes as watchable as possible. The obvious strength goes to the costumes and puppeteering that bring Splinter and the turtles to life. And it is through these characters where the heart of the story is created. The turtles and Splinter have equally taught me to never back down, never consume yourself with anger and always consider the benefit of a team. Each turtle is so lovable because they're so different from one another. Raphael really gets the most out of this story and works pretty well. From the voice alone, Josh Pais makes him so interesting for being the most temperamental. He acts such because he always wants to prove himself to be the best at what he does. Since he's a teen, it makes sense for him to always put himself in such pressure. Lucky for him, he has a family who always reminds him he doesn't have to do that to be respected. It's really hard to not like Splinter because Kevin Clash portrays him as the calmest and wisest of the family. With that mindset, he is able to teach his sons to take life one step at a time but must be prepared for danger one step at a time. His heart was broken when he lost his master, but he never let that tragedy defined him. He proved it by keeping his sons in check. He never probably never thought twice about encountering Saki again, but he sure put his skills to good use by knocking him off the building which definitely put him at peace at that point. Going back to the rest of the turtles, Michelangelo has to be everybody's favorite because Robbie Rist shows us he's the most free-spirited and doesn't overthink at all of anything that comes his way. It can echo he's deeply afraid of the worst, but not even he lets that get to him. So he sets himself up with great distractions that include pizza and pop culture. Donatello doesn't show off his brains here since he's regularly depicted as tech wiz. That was honestly refreshing because Corey Feldman showed he's willing to chill as well. The banter in which he and Mikey come up with random words and puns they think sound cool backs up the claim. Now, I can't saying 'Cowabunga' these days. Every team has a leader and while Splinter is a mentor to the turtles, Leonardo is the one who truly tries to step up as a leader to his brothers. Brian Tochi shows him to be the most modest which is exactly what a leader has to be to prepare for anything. It definitely worked in the long run because he never doubted reuniting with their father. The fact that the turtles have been able to make friends with humans proves how acceptance is less complicated than people make it to be. We quickly fall for April because Judith Hoag shows her as one who can match the easy going energy the turtles can be about, but will always embrace the importance of justice. She knew the danger of exposing the existence of the Foot, but kept on anyway because her action to be informative was her way to protect the city. Her efforts may not be as effective as to what the turtles do, but remain important to notice because her passion reflects how the heroes feel. Like heroes, friends come from unexpected places. So it makes sense for the turtles to befriend a vigilante like Casey. He differs from them because Elias Koteas portrays him as a guy who's more arrogant and doesn't prefer holding back. What he's got in common with the turtles is that he's got the heart to defend the city and that's where they get along. It always throws me off on why he got to kiss April in the ned because they hardly knew each other. The more I think about it, my conclusion comes from how they gave each other a chance because they both saw how big their hearts were. With that being said, I didn't mind them being together in later iterations. It's easy to look at Danny as pointless of a character because he was made for the movie, but I do believe Michael Turney did his best in making something big for him. Since he was also a teen, you know he was rebelling because he was seeking acceptance. He didn't think he was getting it from his strict dad, so he went to Shredder and wrongfully thought he got it from him. The longer he stayed with the Foot, the sooner he realized he misplaced himself. Luckily, him finding solace with Splinter was his way to redeem himself. There's been a whole lot of villains out there in the enriched history of comic books, so you can't not expect Shredder to make his own set of impact. While James Saito embodies him as the stand-in, David McCharen uses his voice to assure he was a force to be reckoned with. Credit has to be given when/where due because he was a power hungry figure and knew he'd get it if he took over a city like NYC. Had his Foot army gotten stronger under his command, he likely would've done it. The fact that his recruits were mixed with teens proved exactly how manipulative he was which is arguably scarier than his combative skills. Knowing he'd still have a Foot army in his absence proved how much of an effect he had on people. This is a movie I have no shame in enjoying, but even I admit there's things that haven't aged well overtime. Going from the top, I'm sure I'm not the only one who wondered how did the cops show up so fast? If there was a time jump of waiting for the cops to arrive minutes instead of seconds after the turtles kicked ass, I wish that was clarified. And why exactly does April keep the sai? It doesn't seem she's anticipating to see her rescuer again, so she's lucky the cops didn't notice and confiscate it from her. I don't know about you, but ain't it crazy how oblivious the public is when Raph goes out at night to see Critters at the theater. I know everyone in the screening room wouldn't pay attention, but it blows my mind people don't put much of a notice when seeing a turtle in a hat and a coat. Even if this is happening at night, his head is too big to ignore. Also, what was the point in keeping Splinter alive? Shredder didn't realize he was Yoshi's pet until the climax and knows he ain't gonna spill possible whereabouts of the turtles, so he should've just killed him to lure them out. And what are the odds for Casey to be the only one to stop Raph from afar? Raph is the only one playing with fire for putting himself out there at every given moment, it's ridiculous how Casey is the only civilian to spot him in broad daylight. I know the plot elevates when April gets fired, but why should it still be possible for the voicemail to go off when the electricity got severed at the apartment? I would've not minded April finding out before the apartment fight. And I'm feeling pretty salty about how multiple buildings were used to be portrayed as April's apartment/boutique store because it's so obvious there were at least three of them shown. I would've kept my shut if it was subtle. On top of that, what was Danny gain by keeping April's pictures she drew of the turtles? That was more confusing than the pictures being inspired by moments she wasn't even present for. It is an unexpectedly smart moment for Tatsu to have the Foot recruits by his side to watch him kill Splinter, because it later gives the opportunity for them to defect. The problem is that none of them even try to fight Casey and it's ridiculous how fast of a decision they chose to defect. I know kids & teens do that a lot, but it's so sudden. Other than that, it's still a fun movie. In short, 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a classic action comedy for teaching viewers how fun it is to be a hero. If you're a comic book fan, it would surprise it's taken you this long to see this film already.
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