Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

 

To date, this is still by far the best live action adaptation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. By a mile and then some. 

Why?

I'll tell you why. 

Even though this film is not as gritty as the comic book it is based on, it uses the first storyline ever. This is an origin story, after all. Intrepid reporter April O'Neil is mugged one night and rescued by unseen helpers. There is a massive crimewave in the city and she is convinced an ancient Japanese gang of thieves known as the Foot is behind all this. They want to silence her, but she is rescued by one of our heroes: Raphael. She discovers that the four turtles and their master Splinter live in the sewers and they soon become friends. 

Alas, Splinter is kidnapped and now the turtles need to regroup, especially after a massive attack by the Foot leaves Raphael severely injured. They also join forces with former hockeyplayer Casey Jones and eventually make it back to the city to face the Foot and their leader, the Shredder. But there is a connection to the past, as they all will discover.

See, even though they did bring the story down a notch to make it accessible to kids, it still is pretty gritty. It's also concise, as it should be. No convoluted storylines or surprises (well, not really) and a steady buildup to the climax on top of a building, because of course. But it's the actors that make this one work. Elias Koteas as Casey is great and has for years been the template on how to portray the character in various media. Not bad. Judith Hoag is fun as April, and even though she wouldn't be back to reprise the role, she actually does a better job than her successor in later installments. Okay, sometimes, she feels a little too much like the damsel in distress, but she is feisty and her banter with Casey is actually engaging. 

And now we come to the ultimate reason why this one is so good: the turtles themselves. They have more of the personalities from the cartoons, but it works. But the suits and animatronics are brilliant, no two ways about it. The amount of expression the Henson Studios gave to the heads is wonderful and the seemless integration of the actors inside the suit and the puppeteers makes them feel alive in every sense of the word. The suits look so spot on, as well. What's even more impressive, is the fact that they hired martial artists to actually do the stunts and fighting whilst in the suit. And it is never hokey or stunted, but fluent and believable. Heck, the fight scenes are some of the best parts in the film and you can only marvel at the work and effort it took to bring this convincingly to the screen. 

Also worthy of note, is that the Shredder is a cool villain. He doesn't get a lot to do and I never really understood the addition of his grumpy underling master Tatsu, but the look is more than iconic and feels exceedingly in line with Japanese tradition. His introduction in the hall where the prospects are gathered, is one of the best (if not the best) introductions to a villain in any film. Believe me, it is a slow burning reveal with a buildup that is second to none. 

They nailed it with this one, hit it out of the park and whatever other metaphor you can want. Is it a perfect film? No, some of the jokes are a little childish and even though the animatronics are brilliant, they're not always perfect. But for a film that was released in 1990 to still be this good and enjoyable for young and old, they sure did a lot of things right. 

Cowabunga, dudes and dudettes.