Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The world's most famous band of terrapin crime-fighters are still around. Their latest cartoon debuted on Nickelodeon in 2012. Now the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back in live-action in their first 3D adventure.

Once again, Leonardo (Pete Ploszek, voice of Johnny Knoxville), Donatello (Jeremy Howard), Raphael (Alan Ritchson) and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (instead of Teenage Alien Ninja Turtles as was once suggested they be).

But seriously, the Terrapin Foursome were once laboratory test subjects. They escape into the New York sewers with fellow test subject Splinter (Danny Woodburn, voice of Tony Shaloub). Splinter teaches them ninjutsu just because he can. Years later, the Turtles take on the Foot, a paramilitary gang terrorizing the city.

News Reporter April O'Neil (Megan Fox) sets out to cover the Foot's reign of terror. As a kid, April saved our heroes from the laboratory. Her father once worked with the seemingly benevolent Eric Sacks (William Fichtner) to create the Mutagen which made our heroes mutants. Sacks is also in league with the Shredder (Tohoru Masamune), the leader of the Foot. The bad guys plan something evil with the Mutagen and only our heroes can thwart it.

Its 101 minute run-time goes by extremely quickly. It's both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it keeps the viewer's attention during every minute. It's a curse because it under-answers certain questions. Why are the Shredder and the Foot a threat? Why do Splinter and the Turtles care about each other that much? If only the film had time to develop concise answers we'd understand enough.

The Mutants were products of motion-capture work rather than animatronic suits. Their designs may need some getting used to, but the animation is fluid and lifelike. It really shows when Splinter takes on the Shredder and performs an amazing array of stunts. Other highlights include a chase down a snow mountain and the final fight with Shredder.

Is it the worst movie in the world? No. It has enough humorous moments to keep this from being dull. But if these Turtles slowed down every once in a while, we might have had a time to develop a most excellent return to the big screen. It's still a decent afternoon matinee.

Cowabunga?!