Turtles Forever

TURTLES FOREVER (2009)
Written by Rob David, Matthew Drdek & Lloyd Goldfine
Directed by Roy Burdine and Lloyd Goldfine


Turtles Forever has been on one crazy journey. It had it's premier at SDCC and got pretty rave reviews - but since then it had kinda been stuck in limbo. The production company couldn't find a distributor for the DVD and plans for a limited theatrical release fell through AFTER a multitude of fans had bought their tickets.

Then IT happened. The sell of the TMNT to Nickelodeon. This already killed a live-action movie in development (presumably at WB - they released the 2007 CGI flick). And we got the news that uber kid-friendly Nick would be producing a new CG animated series and a new live action movie. However given that these are the people behind such televisual dross as The Penguins of Madagascar I haven't high hopes.

The sale basically meant that now only viacom could release Turtles Forever on DVD - if they could be bothered. So eventually they announced that this would see the light of day on TV - in an edited form. Better than nothing - and the word is that decent ratings may convince Nick to put it out on DVD, so fingers crossed.

So on to the movie itself. Everyone knows the basic story - the 1987 toon Turtles meet the 2K3 Toon Turtles. Along the way we see the two shows versions of Shredder, April and a host of other characters from both continuities. For someone of my age, the whole thing is a massive nostalgia blast. It's a hell of a lot of fun seeing the versions of the characters I grew up with back on the screen. While the 2K3 version is undoubtedly the superior show, in terms of plot, character and animation, there's a charm the '87 guys have that 2K3 just doesn't capture.

A lot of people were worried that bringing the two groups of Ninja Turtles together would feel contrived - but the plot device was right there from the beginning of the earlier cartoon - the Technodrome and it's transdimensional portal. So the story doesn't get bogged down with a lot of boring exposition. Transdimensional Portal - job done. There's not really much too the plot - it's more about how awesome it is to see the two versions of the characters sharing the screen, and their reactions to each other and the worlds they inhabit. There's a lot of very funny stuff in these observations - the story did not dissapoint.

One point, the Original Toon Turtles are just a bit too over the top. Yeah, compared to the 2K3 version the '87 toon was high camp, full of jokes etc. but watch those early episodes again. The Turtles are nowhere near as silly as they appear here, at least not in the first couple of seasons. I suppose the production company are trying to appeal more to what people THINK they remember about the old cartoon rather than giving an accurate representation. But that's a slight misstep. Because when I was kid I didn't think the cartoon was silly, I thought it was awesome, I thought the Turtles were awesome. But it's a minor point, because they keep it just on the right side of respectful - so they remain funny without tarnishing the original characters.

One of the main sources of debate amongst the fanbase was the casting of the '87 Turtles voices. Since all the old actors were union, the production company couldn't use them - so they turned to professional non-union voice actors who could impresonate the originals with a high degree of authenticity.

In most cases it works. Mike and Donny sound right most of the time, there are moments when the voices are... off... but they are minimal. While you can tell it's not the original guys, they're good enough that it's not an annoyance.

Raph is just about perfect, sounding exactly like the Raph I remember. I can't think of any moments where he was off - although perhaps I'm just misremembering. Shredder... well... at times he sounds kinda like '87 Shredder. At others he doesn't. Krang's seems to get worse as he goes along - starting out moderately like the Krang I remember and ending up sounding like a bad impression of the character.

But the worst is Leo. A lot has been made of this, and rightfully so. The new voice actor just doesn't sound a lick like the OT version of the character. He's the worst casting choice here - and if he was the best voice actor they could get for Leo, I shudder to think what the audition process was like.

The best bit of the flick for me though was seeing the original comic book Turtles come to life. Bad-ass Turtles who can and will kill. Their reactions to the other Turtles are incredible, the voices are perfect - just what I imagine in my head when erading the books. Don't know what else to say about them.

This film comes at the best time. 25 years of Turtles, with them off to pastures new. Nick - I don't think I'll follow them there - I think to be honest that for me, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles begin with Issue 1 of the comic and end with this movie. And I'll miss them. But who knows, maybe Nick will do something worthwhile with the TMNT - maybe I'll be inticed back into their world. But for now,

Sayonara Dudes.