#stevebarron

Anybody my age is hard pressed to not be a casual Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan... most, however, are downright obsessed with the sewer-dwelling, pizza-eating, ninjitsu-skilled mutant amphibians.  Debates about your favorite turtle could theoretically last forever, but when it comes to the best film, there’s one clear cut winner in my book, and that is the 1990 classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

New York City is in the midst of a crime wave, but reporter April O’Neal (Judith Hoag) has a feeling that there is more to it than standard petty crime.  Her investigations uncover the presence of the Foot Clan, a seemingly mysterious organization with roots to ancient Japan that has recruited the corrupted youth of New York to do their criminal bidding.  April’s investigation not only gets her in hot water with her boss Charles Pennington (Jay Patterson) and Police Chief Sterns (Raymond Serra), but April finds herself the target of the Foot Clan.  Luckily, during an assault, she is rescued by Raphael (Josh Pais), a mutant turtle with ninjitsu fighting skills.  April is knocked out during the battle, and when she comes to, she finds herself deep in the sewer in Raphael’s lair, along with his brothers Leonardo (Brian Tochi), Donatello (Corey Feldman), Michelangelo (Robbie Rist) and their master Splinter (Kevin Clash), a human-sized rat.  Naturally, April is shocked, but the turtles win her over.  Little do they know, however, that the Foot Clan trailed the turtles to their lair, and during a visit to April’s home, the Foot kidnap Splinter.  The Foot also ambush Raphael, April and the turtles, but with the help of the rogue Casey Jones (Elias Koteas), they are able to escape.  With Splinter held captive by the Foot and their mysterious leader, The Shredder (David McCharen), the turtles must overcome their biggest challenge yet in order to keep their family in tact.

Even though the Ninja Turtles were well on their way to becoming the larger than life cartoons we know them as today, this film embraces their darker origins, and by proxy, New York City as a character in its own right.  I remember being genuinely shocked at Raphael yelling ‘Damn!’ multiple times in the movie, as I was not accustomed to my childhood heroes cursing (outside of Bart Simpson).  The grittiness of the turtles and their environment, as well as April’s real life looks (and the shock of Casey Jones and his nearly villain look, saved by his personality) instilled an idea of the hero in the shadows for me much better than Batman ever did.  Their focus on their art stood in stark contrast to the greediness of the Foot Clan, making the film come off closer to something like Taxi Driver than a movie based on a comic book, but for a teenage audience (and an audience that it did not pander to, at least until the sequel).

The way that the film drives home the importance of family without being too heavy-handed or hokey is a testament to how strong the storytelling is.  Most people were already familiar with the origin of the turtles, Splinter and The Shredder by the time the film was released, but the connection between Splinter and the turtles really shines in this film.  By comparison, the fractured family that is the Foot Clan serves as a direct negative comparison against the turtles and crew, even with misfits like April O’Neal and Casey Jones joining the ranks of the turtles.  Watching real people with real problems come together and band with mutant creatures with real problems is surprisingly heartwarming.  

The puppet work done to make the turtles become believable fighters is a testament to both their design and the choreography.  Even with the choice to make the fighting a bit more on the cartoonish side, the combination of the puppetry and the selling of the action by the stuntment dressed Foot Clan members works perfectly.  Despite its dark tone, this film is consistently funny, a balance that no other Ninja Turtles film has been able to match (in my opinion).  The score is the perfect in-between of TV/episodic serial repetition (with that signature stinger) and enough film-based score beats to really drive home the emotional moments.  The costume design is on point, varying away from the source material when it works, and staying true to the source material when it can.

Despite her lack of signature yellow jumpsuit, I really enjoyed Judith Hoag as April O’Neal, mostly due to her no-nonsense attitude and her ability to actually display a sense of caring about those close to her... call it a humanity, if you will.  By contrast, I loved Elias Koteas for every opposite reason : his brashness, crassness and inability to read the room were all pitch-perfect for Casey Jones.  The voice casting of the turtles is also on point : Brian Tochi provides the frustration of Leonardo trying to lead, Josh Pais crystalized what Raphael was to me via his anger and quick temper, Robbie Rist provided nonstop levity as Michaelangelo, and Corey Feldman made crowd favorite Donatello incredibly easy to relate to with his ‘dude-ness’.  Michael Turney was sufficient as troubled teenager Danny, which makes the smaller casting of Sam Rockwell and Skeet Ulrich slightly funny, in hindsight.  Appearances by Jay Patterson and Raymond Serra round out the texture of New York, while the villains come to life via solid actor/voice pairings (James Saito and David McCharen for The Shredder, and Toshishiro Obata with Michael McConnohie as Tatsu, respectively).

Commuter (1981)

4 years later, Michael Patterson's distinctive style would reach the mainstream, drawing the special effect sequences for A-ha's "Take On Me" video, assisted by Candace Reckinger and directed by Steve Barron