TMNT (film)

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For the 1990 film, see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film).
TMNT

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Kevin Munroe
Produced by Kyle Clark
Thomas K. Gray
Galen Walker
Steve Lumley
Paul Wang
Written by Kevin Munroe
Based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by
Kevin Eastman
Peter Laird
Narrated by Laurence Fishburne
Starring Chris Evans
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Mako
Kevin Smith
Patrick Stewart
Zhang Ziyi
Mitchell Whitfield
James Arnold Taylor
Mikey Kelley
Nolan North
Music by Klaus Badelt
Cinematography Steve Lumley
Editing by John Damien Ryan
Studio Imagi Animation Studios
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures (United States)
The Weinstein Company (International)
Release date(s) March 23, 2007 (2007-03-23)
Running time 87 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $34 million[1][2]
Box office $95,608,995

TMNT (also known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4) is a 2007 American computer-animated action film based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. This is the fourth and final installment in the original film series. The film sees the Turtles grow apart after their defeat of The Shredder. Meanwhile, strange things are happening in New York City. An army of ancient creatures threatens to take over the world and the Turtles must unite again to save it.

It is the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film made with Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) by Imagi Animation Studios. The previous films in the series were all live-action. It is the first film in the franchise in 14 years. Chronologically, the film takes place after the original films.[3][4] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released on March 23, 2007, in a number of Eastern European and Asian countries,[5] on March 23, 2007, in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, and April 5, 2007, in Australia as well as subsequently in numerous other countries. It was the #1 film in the U.S. on its opening weekend, bringing in $25.45 million. It made its television debut on Cartoon Network on November 1, 2009.

The film features the four Turtles (Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo) as well as Casey Jones and April O'Neil. The main villains are Max Winters, the Stone Generals, Karai, and the Foot Clan. Voices are provided by Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Stewart, Zhang Ziyi, and Laurence Fishburne, who provides narration. It is also the last film starring Mako.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Three thousand years ago, a warlord named Yaotl and his four generals discover a portal opening into a parallel universe which is said to have a great power. The warlord becomes immortal from the power, but his four generals are turned to stone. The portal releases 13 immortal monsters that destroy Yaotl's army as well as his enemies.

In the present, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have grown apart. After defeating the Shredder, Master Splinter has sent Leonardo to Central America for training. Donatello works as an IT specialist, Michelangelo works as a birthday party entertainer called "Cowabunga Carl" and Raphael fights crime at night as the vigilante "Nightwatcher".

April O'Neil operates a company that locates and acquires relics for collectors with the help of her boyfriend, Casey Jones. During a business trip to Central America, April tells Leonardo that the turtles have drifted apart. April returns to New York with a statue for her client, Max Winters, the CEO of a financial empire. Leo stows away on a plane and also returns. April and Casey deliver the statue to Winters. Winters hires Karai and the Foot Clan to search the city for the 13 beasts before the portal opens again. Raph encounters Casey, who reveals his knowledge of Raph's double identity and joins him in hunting criminals. Winters reanimates his generals with advanced technology, but they remain made of stone.

Leo returns to the sewer, meeting Splinter. Splinter forbids the Turtles from fighting until they can act as a team again. While training, the Turtles encounter one of the thirteen beasts battling the Foot Clan. The Turtles engage the beast, going against Leo and Splinter's orders, and are defeated after the monster is captured. When Raphael visits Casey, they encounter one of the monsters and witness its capture by the Foot and the Stone Generals. The Generals spot them and Raph is knocked unconscious. When a police helicopter forces one of the generals to flee, Casey takes Raph back to the apartment while April calls the Turtles for help. While examining Raph, they learn the identities of Winters and his Generals from April. After being revived, Raph suggests they pursue Winters. Leo forbids him to go until Splinter gives out the order and Raph goes out to investigate alone.

Leo, Donny and Mikey return to their sewer home to plan their next move, where Donny discovers the reopening of the portal will be directly over Winters' tower. Splinter tells Leo that his team is incomplete, and that he knows what he must do. 11 monsters have been captured, and General Aguila questions Winters' actions. Thinking their leader intends to betray them, the Generals conspire to betray Winters, wanting to remain immortal. Raph encounters one of the remaining monsters but drives it off. Leo fights Raph, but when he breaks Leo's sword, Raph is forced to leave. The Stone Generals seize Leo, intending to substitute him for the thirteenth missing beast.

Raph decides to make amends by rescuing Leo. Splinter and the Turtles, accompanied by Casey and April, travel to Winters' tower. As the portal opens, Winters discovers the treachery of his generals, and the Turtles, along with April, Casey and Splinter, get inside the tower. Winters is knocked out by his generals, but he quickly regains consciousness. He reveals the truth to the heroes: he wants to return the monsters to the portal so that he will be free of his curse of immortality. The Generals reveal that they wish to preserve their immortality, but also to use the portal to bring in more monsters to conquer the world. Having refused to betray Winters in exchange for immortality, April, Casey and the Foot Clan work together, searching for the final monster while the Turtles fight the Generals. Splinter and Winters fight off numerous monsters emerging from the portal. April, Casey and Karai arrive at the tower with the thirteenth monster. The monster crashes into the Stone Generals, dragging them into the portal before it closes.

Karai warns them to enjoy their victory while it lasts, claiming they will soon contend with a familiar foe. She and the rest of the Foot Clan depart. Winters, now mortal, honors the Turtles and Splinter, thanking them for fulfilling his wish before disappearing. Splinter places Winter's helmet among his trophy collection, as well as Raphael's "Nightwatcher" helmet and Michelangelo's turtle costume.

[edit] Cast

Actor Greg Baldwin is credited only for providing "additional voices", but he also performed a substantial portion of Splinter's dialogue, despite Mako Iwamatsu being the only actor credited for that role. Baldwin had already mimicked Iwamatsu's voice when he took up the late actor's role as "Iroh" in the concurrently-produced cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender, and used this precedent to successfully lobby to join the cast of TMNT as Splinter following Iwamatsu's death. [6] Other additional voices were provided by Dee Bradley Baker, Jeff Bennett, Jim Cummings, Grey DeLisle, Crispin Freeman, Chris Edgerly, Kim Mai Guest, Jennifer Hale, Jess Harnell, Phil LaMarr, Paul Michael Robinson, Tara Strong, and Billy West.

[edit] Production

The first of three films released in the TMNT franchise by New Line Cinema in the early 1990s was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Subsequently, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was released in 1991, and finally Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III in 1993. A CGI TMNT movie was first announced in 2000, with John Woo supposedly at the helm. That movie languished in development hell, and Woo ultimately moved on to other projects.[7] TMNT, executive produced by Peter Laird, Gary Richardson, and Frederick U. Fierst, departs from the previous films' live action style, and is the first TMNT film to be CGI. Writer/Director Kevin Munroe, who had previously worked with video games, comics, and television animation said that he wanted to do total CGI instead of live action and CGI turtles because it would be easier for the audience to "suspend disbelief for such an offbeat story" as there would be no break in the reality between CGI and live action.[8] Producer Tom Gray explained that the decision to depart from the live action franchise was due to escalating budgets for the three films, and with each film making less than its predecessor, a CGI film became a reality.[9] For example the first film made $135.2 million on a budget of $13.5 million, and the third made $44 million on a budget of $21 million.[9] Golden Harvest's rights expired, and Gray, at an animation company, said the question arose there over a CGI TMNT film in 2004.[9]

Munroe stated in terms of the story line that ideas were floated as extreme as the Turtles being in space, but eventually it just came back to New York City, and the theme of the family that had fallen apart.[9] When developing the screenplay, Munroe wanted to take on a less lighthearted tone or "less Cowabunga" and place an emphasis on dark elements as shown in the original comics to appeal to the mature audience. "I had a very specific tone because mixing that sort of action and comedy is a very specific thing. Most people were just coming and wanting to make it too funny. I think that version of the movie could do really well, but we wanted to do something where it sort of pushes the envelope a little bit more and says that animation is more than just comedic animals bumping into each other and farting!"[10] Munroe said that in design and in the rendering of the animation, he was after the feel of a comic book.[9]

Development and pre-production for TMNT began in June 2005 [11] at Imagi's Los Angeles facility and then the state-of-the-art CG animation were produced in Hong Kong, followed by post-production in Hollywood.[11] In designing the New York backdrop, art director/concept artist Simon Murton stylized the familiar Manhattan skyline and urban landscapes to make them appear uniquely "TMNT." "We began with cinematic cues from certain black-and-white films from the 1940s and '50s," notes Murton. "I really wanted to push the lighting and the environments to create the look and feel of an alternate reality."[12] The animators that worked on the fight sequences were inspired by Hong Kong action films. Animation director Kim Ooi explains since it was in CG, they were able to "push and stylize beyond the limits of live action."[12] Imagi used Maya with Pixar’s RenderMan for the production pipeline’s back-end.[1]

The cast is new compared to the older films. Jim Cummings and Frank Welker (who voiced Tokka and Rahzar in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze) are the only past TMNT actors to appear in this film. Cummings has previously contributed voice-work in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. TMNT was Mako Iwamatsu's last film prior to his death. Mako was announced as the voice of Splinter at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2006. He then died the next day.[13] A dedication to Mako appears at the end of the film's credits.[14] This is the second TMNT film to include a dedication, the other being Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, which was dedicated to Jim Henson.

[edit] Promotion

The first teaser-poster featured the logo of the 2003 TV series, which was eventually abandoned and then recovered in 2004. In addition to the main poster, there were several others including individual ones for each turtle.

At the 2006 Comic-Con, the TMNT panel screened an exclusive preview that contained a Splinter voice-over with shots of monsters, jungles, foot ninjas, facial tests, concept designs, muscle tests, dynamic fight tests, and some comedic scenes.[15] Also, a sneak peek booklet containing storyboards, environment designs, and character designs by comic artist Jeff Matsuda was distributed.

The teaser-trailer was released in July 2006 and was attached to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It starts out with the camera moving above the buildings on a dark night. When it finally stops moving, the Turtles open their eyes and all that can be seen is the whites of their eyes against the dark background. Then, the Turtles start maneuvering across the tops of the buildings, finally jumping down and landing in a dark alleyway. As each one lands, they perform kata with their respective weapon. After Leonardo finishes with his kata, Michelangelo can be seen falling into a dumpster. As Donatello opens the dumpster, Michelangelo says "I'm okay." A police siren is heard and then the car pulls up. The officer shines his light down the alley, but the Turtles have already disappeared. The camera pans down the alley to show a manhole cover being slid back into place, with the name "TMNT" on it. The movie's full trailer was attached on December 15 to the films Eragon and Unaccompanied Minors. It is currently available on Apple Trailers, MTV.com, and Yahoo! Movies. It also debuted on the G4 show Attack of the Show!.

On February 26, two television spots debuted and began airing. Later, two more TV spots, geared specifically toward the young children demographic aired on 4Kids TV, the channel that broadcast the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series).

In February 2007, Warner Bros. began an online campaign by creating a MySpace page for each of the Turtles . Within a week before the release date, several clips were unveiled through various websites.

The McDonald's fast-food chain promoted TMNT, having eight toys to collect with the purchase of a Happy Meal. There is a novelization based on the film.

The film was originally set for release domestically (USA and Canada) on March 30, 2007, which would have been the seventeenth anniversary of the release of the first film. The March 30 date was advertised in the teaser trailer and early posters, but the release was moved up to March 23, 2007.

[edit] Video game

  • TMNT is the video game version of the 2007 CGI movie. It was released three days before the actual movie's release.[16] Ubisoft secured the rights and released the games on March 20. Ubisoft won the rights from Konami, who had produced all the previous games.[17] The game is available for PlayStation 2, PSP, PC, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, GameCube, Wii, and Xbox 360 game systems. Reviews for the games ranged from horrible to mediocre to exemplary, due to the vastly different games produced. The home console games were identical, and given bad to mediocre ratings; the PSP and Nintendo DS games were identical to each other but not the home console versions, and were given abysmal ratings; and the Game Boy Advance version was entirely separate, but received good ratings in contrast to the other versions. It was lauded for its excellent use of the side-scrolling beat-'em-up style, which evoked nostalgia for older games in the series such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. There is no multi-player mode in the GBA version. "The TMNT movie is all about the emotions associated with family and teenage angst," said Nick Harper, the game's creative director. "We've taken that philosophy and turned it into gameplay mechanics that will be fun and challenging.[18] The game features collaborative team-ups between the Turtles. The game also features single-player campaigns for the brothers.
  • TMNT: Power Of Four is the mobile game version of the 2007 CGI movie. It is produced by uclick and developed by Overloaded.

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Music from the Motion Picture

[edit] Reception

[edit] Critical response

TMNT received generally mixed reviews from film critics. SuperHeroHype.com posted a review for TMNT with an overall score of 7/10, stating the film had a good balance of dark aspects and kid-friendliness. IGN.com also gave it 7/10, calling it "by far, the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie yet." The film received an 8/10 from reviewers on JoBlo.com, CHUD, and Moviesonline. Despite minor problems with the overall design of the human characters, they praise the film for its unique animation style and top notch voice acting. Comic and animation related websites like Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, and Toon Zone were also favorable in their reviews. As of August 31, 2011, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 33% based on 116 reviews.[19] Critics generally pointed to lack of originality as the film's main flaw. Richard Roeper expressed this in his review, saying, "I guess if you read the comic strip and you played the video games and you watched the TV show and dug the earlier movies, you’ll dig this new version. For me, I didn’t do any of that stuff."

[edit] Box office

TMNT ranked number one at the box office on its opening weekend, beating out 300 (the top film of the previous two weeks), The Last Mimzy, Shooter, Pride, The Hills Have Eyes 2, and Reign Over Me. Weekend estimates showed that the film made $25.45 million over the weekend of March 23-25, 2007. The film grossed over $95 million worldwide during its 91 day run in theaters.[5]

[edit] Awards

In 2008, it has been nominated for the Annie Award and Sean Song for the Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

[edit] Home media

TMNT was released on August 7, 2007, for DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc.[20]

In 2009, a quadrilogy with all four TMNT films was released to celebrate the 25th anniversary. It is also available on Blu-ray.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Joe Strike (2007-03-23). "TMNT: The Turtles More Animated in CG". Animation World Network. http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=3219&page=1. Retrieved 2007-03-23. 
  2. ^ Martin A. Grove (2007-03-31). "$35 million budget puts TMNT on road to profits". Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/features/columns/e3ic8a667db1a35f3a0a110d1408938c54d. Retrieved 2007-03-31. 
  3. ^ Film review: TMNT - Review - Culture Shock - www.atomicmpc.com.au
  4. ^ TMNT (2007) : HollywoodJesus.com : Movie Reviews, Trailers and Spiritual Commentary
  5. ^ a b "TMNT (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=tmntcg.htm. 
  6. ^ Baldwin implicitly confirms his role as Splinter while answering fans' questions at an Avatar forum
  7. ^ Brian Linder (2001-06-30). "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Real Deal". IGN. News Corporation. http://movies.ign.com/articles/301/301029p1.html. Retrieved 2007-03-11. 
  8. ^ Anthony Breznican (2006-12-20). "Slow to return, teen Turtles are back!". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2006-12-20-ninja-turtles-cover_x.htm. Retrieved 2007-03-21. 
  9. ^ a b c d e Heather Newgen (2007-01-25). "TMNT Studio Visit!". Super Hero Hype. http://www.superherohype.com/news/tmntnews.php?id=5133. Retrieved 2007-03-21. 
  10. ^ Martin A. Grove (2007-03-20). "Turtles live again in CGI spinoff TMNT". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2007-03-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20070326164821/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/features/columns/e3i1e1961ef9c286a58c4bf6b958b5f3880. Retrieved 2007-03-25. 
  11. ^ a b "Imagi Media Kit" (PDF). Imagi.com.hk. http://imagi.com.hk/corporate/pdf/MediaKit.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-21. [dead link]
  12. ^ a b "TMNT Production Notes" (PDF). MovieWeb. http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/3042/notes.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-17. [dead link]
  13. ^ "More Sign Up for "Ninja Turtles"". WorstPreviews. 2006-12-22. http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=1853. Retrieved 2006-12-30. 
  14. ^ Anne Neumann (2007-03-06). "Kevin Munroe on TMNT". Super Hero Hype. http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=5296. Retrieved 2007-03-21. 
  15. ^ Omar Aviles (2006-07-25). "CON: WB Animation". Joblo. http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=12201. Retrieved 2007-03-24. 
  16. ^ Li C. Kuo (2006-12-20). "First Details on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". GameSpy. http://gba.gamespy.com/gameboy-advance/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-2007/751917p1.html. Retrieved 2006-12-29. 
  17. ^ Brendan Sinclair (2007-01-11). "Ubisoft gets turtle power". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6142209.html. Retrieved 2007-01-11. 
  18. ^ Brendan Sinclair (2006-12-26). "Ubisoft's Ninja Turtles emerge from the shadows". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6163457.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6163457. Retrieved 2006-12-29. 
  19. ^ "TMNT - Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tmnt_2007/. Retrieved August 31, 2011. 
  20. ^ http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

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