TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

	Distributors:	Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
	Release:	March 23, 2007
	Genre:	Action/Adventure, Animation and Adaptation
	MPAA Rating:	PG for animated action violence, some scary cartoon images and mild language.

I used to watch the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, but by the time the second movie came out in the early 90s, I'd lost interest and lost track of the story.

The only characters I remember are Splinter, the 4 ninja turtles, and April. I know Shredder, but not much of Karai who now leads the Foot Clan.

The story starts with the 4 turtles going on with their Shredder-less, villain-less lives - Leonardo goes to South America for soul searching, Donatello becomes one of those working the computer help lines straight from home, Michaelangelo performs in children's parties as a "mascot", and Raphael leads the life of a vigilante unknown to his master and brothers. Donatello trying to handle a frustrated customer over the phone was funny ... that scene alone reminds us that the turtles have survived to live in the present time.

The back story of an immortal warlord who's at least 3000 years old, and now trying to regain his mortality is good although tales of immortals have been used in a lot of movies. What makes it more interesting though are his four generals who refuse to return to mere mortals. After all, they've spent those 3000 years of immortality in stone while their leader enjoyed his life and amassed a big fortune.

I haven't read any comic book or watched the latest cartoon of this franchise, so I wouldn't know if this story had already been tackled extensively in those media. If not, I think it is a waste to kill Max Winter and get rid of the generals and the other world monsters at the end of the movie.

Too bad the movie had to focus on the turtles working on their relationship with each other. I would have liked to be more familiar with the capabilities of the stone generals... without having to watch a separate cartoon or reading about them in a comic book.

This movie isn't as corny as the previous turtle movies. Didn't mind watching it in the movie house instead of catching it on TV or cable like I did with the other turtle movies.