TMNT (2007)

Director:

Kevin Munroe

Writers:

Kevin Munroe (written by)
Peter Laird (characters) ...

Release Date:

23 March 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

Raising Shell In 2007

Plot:

The continued adventures of the four adolescent mutated turtles gifted in the art of the ninja, as they attempt to stop a mysterious evil that threatens to end the world.

Plot Keywords:

Turtle | New York City | Ninja | Monster | Martial Arts

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Nov. 24	7:00 PM	TOON
Wed. Nov. 25	5:00 PM	TOON
Sat. Nov. 28	8:00 PM	TOON

Cast

Nolan North	...	Raphael / Nightwatcher (voice)
James Arnold Taylor	...	Leonardo (voice)
Mitchell Whitfield	...	Donatello (voice)
Mikey Kelley	...	Michelangelo (voice)
Mako	...	Splinter (voice)
Sarah Michelle Gellar	...	April O'Neil (voice)
Chris Evans	...	Casey (voice)
Patrick Stewart	...	Winters (voice)
Ziyi Zhang	...	Karai (voice)
Laurence Fishburne	...	Narrator (voice)
Kevin Smith	...	Diner Cook (voice)
John Di Maggio	...	Colonel Santino (voice)
Paula Mattioli	...	General Serpiente (voice)
Kevin Michael Richardson	...	General Aguila / Additional Voices (voice)
Fred Tatasciore	...	General Gato (voice)

Also Known As:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (USA) (long title)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV (USA) (working title)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Immortal (USA) (working title)
Las Tortugas ninja (Argentina) (Colombia) (Peru) (Venezuela) [es]
As Tartarugas Ninja - O Retorno (Brazil) [pt]
Helononintzakia (Greece) [el]
Les tortues ninja (France) [fr]
Mutant Turtles (Japan: English title) [en]
Nindza kornjace (Serbia) [sr]
Ninja kaplumbagalar (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
TMNT - Tini nindzsa teknöcök (Hungary) [hu]
TMNT - Tortugas ninja jóvenes mutantes (Spain) [es]
TMNT - Tortugues ninja joves mutants (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
TMNT, les tortues ninja (France) [fr]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Germany) [de]
Teini-ikäiset mutanttininjakilpikonnat (Finland) [fi]
Teismelised ninjakilpkonnad (Estonia) [et]
Tortues ninja (Canada: French title) [fr]
Wojownicze zólwie ninja (Poland) [pl]

MPAA:

Rated PG for animated action violence, some scary cartoon images and mild language.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

Hong Kong | USA

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Ireland:PG | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:6 | Finland:K-11 | Hong Kong:I | Canada:G (Quebec) | Australia:PG | USA:PG (certificate #43348) | Malaysia:U | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:6 | Argentina:Atp | Brazil:Livre | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Norway:7 | Sweden:7 | Denmark:7 | South Korea:All | South Africa:PG | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U | Portugal:M/6 | Peru:PT | New Zealand:PG

Company:

Imagi Animation Studios

Trivia:

During Raphael's finishing lines, the phrase "we strike hard and fade away into the night" was used. That was also the ending line in the first TMNT comic.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michelangelo enters the Turtle's lair, he throws his skateboard to the ground near the front entrance before descending down a stairway. When he goes to sit on the couch, his skateboard reappears laying on the floor by the platform but earlier shots has clearly shown it was not there before.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Four turtles. Four brothers. Genetically reborn in the sewers of New York. Named after the Renaissance masters and trained as ninjas.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Shia LaBeouf/Avril Lavigne (#32.17)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Red Flag

Welcome Back Green Dudes

Greetings again from the darkness. Reinventing a once popular franchise is always a bit of a gamble since the built-in audience will be very critical to changes and building a new audience can be extremely difficult. The secret usually lies in the ability to recapture the good parts from the original and add modern touches in order to attract new viewers.

Director Kevin Munroe delivers some witty one-liners and a couple of nice fight scenes all wrapped up in a terrific new animation style that lends itself very well to the dark side of sewers and big cities. Additionally, some complicated interaction between Leonardo and Rafael add a dimension not normally seen with the Turtles. All the necessary elements are there: the fight scenes (in keeping with the PG rating) are action packed, but with very little real violence; the bad guys are bent on world domination, even though the familiar Shredder is gone; the Turtle brothers struggle at times, but of course come together as a team when necessary; and the funny one-liners will make all ages giggle.

The downsides are the opening stage-setting scene, which will be a bit boring and hard to follow for the youngsters and the lack of any type of catchy music for the characters. Michaelangelo remains the fun-loving one, but he and Donnatello are pretty minor characters, and a big complaint is the lack of edge to Casey Jones. Instead of a hockey mask, he should probably dress as the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man. Still, none of that takes away from a fun film with a beautiful look.

Voice acting is pretty well done by the likes of Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Stewart, Mako, Kevin Smith and Ziyi Zhang. So take the kids and if you were once a Turtle fan, you should treat yourself to the fine new version. Cowabunga!!