Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

For my very first review, I’m taking it back old school with one of my all time childhood favorites. Clearly a classic in its own time. The first in a three-peat of Ninja Turtle movies is a coming of age tale that includes the origin of how the Turtles came to be. It introduces all the main characters contained in the animated series that ran from 1987 into the nineties. Creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird are on the writing team for the live action version which used (at the time) state of the art puppeteering costumes from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop company to bring our “Heroes on a Half Shell” to life. Watching them again as an adult now doesnt bring the exact amazement of all the Ninjitsu choreographed stunt fighting as it did as a kid. Especially after Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Jason Statham and many Matrix films later, but it is amazing to think how the stunt doubles pull it off while in those costumes. In their first adventure, director Steve Barron kept it simple pitting the pizza craving reptiles against their arch-nemesis The Shredder, an old enemy of their sensei and teacher Master Splinter.
 They also befriend reporter April O’Neil and hockey loving vigilante Casey Jones. Although Corey Feldman, who plays the voice of genius Donatello, is the only real established actor at the time to star in the flick, us kids really didn’t care. I remember karate play fighting with my friends and brother forever after these movies. Though the Turtles are mentored by a rat and call the sewers under New York City their home, this movie is far from trash. If you havent already seen it, go rent it. If you have, rent it anyway and introduce a childhood memory to your son, daughter, niece or nephew and have a shell of a good time. I give this classic “5 out of 5 shells”. Cowabunga!

“It looked sorta like a big turtle…in a trench coat”