Nostalgia at its highest level, Jim Henson brought life the four mean green fighting machine, the Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles. The rest is history folks, so now as I look back at the original film it is crystal clear to me that this is the most legit and authentic interpretation to date. Each of the four named after famous renaissance painters, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael have their own individuality. This first outing was dark, gritty and in the words of Tina Turner simply the best dude!
Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird intended their mutant hero's to be a parody of some of their favourite comics, a huge influence was the ones mapped out by Frank Miller such as The Dark Knight returns and Sin City. This being the case leaves me feeling that this movie is the closest to how they imagined Ninja Turtles, as it is certainly the darkest portrayal to date. The sequel acknowledges Jim Henson in memory of, and the incredible job he did, this is even more significant considering nowadays often the cgi doesn't measure up to the realism of the physical form. Most famous for working on the puppets of the muppets, Henson was something of a pioneer amongst his peers/colleagues, today these movies have still manage to hold up and stand the test of time. Much like Stan Winston made his mark on films like Terminator, Alien and Jurassic park Jim Henson certainly put his stamp on the family genre.
As much as Henson was at the heart of the overall look of the characters, the costume designs etc, Bobby Herbeck and Todd W Langen brought emotional depth and humour combined. Putting their heads together they chiseled more three dimensional relatable characters from comic to screen. Raphael, with a hot-headed ready for action take no nonsense attitude, Leonardo the fearless leader with more constructive approach, Donatello the articulate problem solver and Michelangelo, the pizza eating wise-cracking party animal.
Trust me if you are going to give four talking Turtles a go this is the one to watch, with believable performances in a fantasy comic world from supporting characters such as Casey Jones and April O' Neil. Steve Barron manages to bring Kevin Eastman and Peter Lairds vision to life, with his approach this even the older audiences might find some redeeming quality's within this world.
Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird intended their mutant hero's to be a parody of some of their favourite comics, a huge influence was the ones mapped out by Frank Miller such as The Dark Knight returns and Sin City. This being the case leaves me feeling that this movie is the closest to how they imagined Ninja Turtles, as it is certainly the darkest portrayal to date. The sequel acknowledges Jim Henson in memory of, and the incredible job he did, this is even more significant considering nowadays often the cgi doesn't measure up to the realism of the physical form. Most famous for working on the puppets of the muppets, Henson was something of a pioneer amongst his peers/colleagues, today these movies have still manage to hold up and stand the test of time. Much like Stan Winston made his mark on films like Terminator, Alien and Jurassic park Jim Henson certainly put his stamp on the family genre.
As much as Henson was at the heart of the overall look of the characters, the costume designs etc, Bobby Herbeck and Todd W Langen brought emotional depth and humour combined. Putting their heads together they chiseled more three dimensional relatable characters from comic to screen. Raphael, with a hot-headed ready for action take no nonsense attitude, Leonardo the fearless leader with more constructive approach, Donatello the articulate problem solver and Michelangelo, the pizza eating wise-cracking party animal.
Trust me if you are going to give four talking Turtles a go this is the one to watch, with believable performances in a fantasy comic world from supporting characters such as Casey Jones and April O' Neil. Steve Barron manages to bring Kevin Eastman and Peter Lairds vision to life, with his approach this even the older audiences might find some redeeming quality's within this world.