Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie Review

Hey guys, Raphael here at the Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles. Did you say podcast? Dudes, dudettes,

you're listening to a podcast on the Gatecast

Radio Network. Cowabunga! Hello, this is episode

201 of the cinema geeks and I am one of your

cinema geeks optimus solo and joining me today

is the comic concierge Dan. Hello Hello. Hello.

We are nearing the end of this journey. We are

nearing the end of the The ride through the sewers

with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as we've

covered every one of their films up to this point

today We're getting the last of the films that

were made prior to 2023 when they had the new

live or the new, excuse me, animated movie that

came out this year. So this one and one more

and then we'll be through our turtles journey.

And then maybe we'll have a special episode where

we get to do some awards and some prizes or something

of that effect. We'll have to decide what that's

going to be. But today we're covering Rise of

the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the movie,

which was a twenty twenty two. Netflix film based

on the series that was produced by Nickelodeon

that ran from I believe 2018 to 2020 somewhere

in that range. So this was directed by a guy

named Andy Suriano and Ant Ward. And it is obviously

based on these same characters like Peter Laird

and Kevin Eastman. Just to kind of set the stage,

Dan, I had never seen an episode of The Rise

of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series on

Netflix. I had never seen an episode I'd never

I don't even know if I had seen much of the art

or visuals or anything about this series like

I knew it existed kind of. But it definitely

was happening at a time where I was way too consumed

with being a new parent and stuff like that so

I I don't remember this existing but it did and

then they made a movie a couple years later to

kind of. Wrap it up or spin off of the of the

series so have you ever seen any of the actual

Netflix series prior to seeing the movie. I have

not known i have not watched any of the netflix

series i knew the movie came out. I think i have

social media i heard a lot of good things about

it and i watch like the first fifteen minutes

of it and just cuz it's something i never end

up finishing it but yeah i never watch the cartoon

series at all so i was going into this knowing

nothing beyond you know the other movies we've

seen. Gotcha. Okay. Well, let's just get right

into it then so we were basically fresh to this

version of the turtles and kind of just jumping

into this movie without seeing any of the The

lead up to it, but I don't know how many episodes

that series ran but I'm definitely not Was not

gonna be watching all of that prior to this movie

in any type of preparation So we're gonna deal

with the turtles here and they are fighting against

Krang, which is obviously a recurring character

in the franchise. So we're going to have Krang

as kind of the main bad guy and Krang's siblings,

I guess. And then we're going to be dealing with

the four turtles, April O 'Neil, Splinter, Casey

Jones, et cetera, on the good side. There's going

to be time travel involved. There's going to

be like mystic forces and weapons involved. And

it's definitely a different. Feel for the turtles

than anything we've experienced in this journey

so far so what was your initial reaction to rise

of the teenage men and girls the movie which

is a lot to say. Yeah i wouldn't this i didn't

really know really what what to expect i did

see some images i knew. Like the rap was really

big i remember like he was a leader of the turtles

i'm hearing that and you know i heard some things

about it so i expecting it to be different i'm

expecting it to be kind of. I think you're towards

like a younger audience even like something younger

than like the to the end of the turtles forever

or something like that and i think i think it

certainly is geared towards. That audience is

not nearly as comedic of course as like the 80

series no one's when the one we grew up on but

not nearly as i would say a bit more cartoonish.

Than the turtles forever did that universe whatever

you want to call it? um, so I was going in like,

you know, just interested in the seeing it I

like I mentioned I heard pretty good things about

it from The just from social media, which is

why I was first commonly interest. So I was going

into it with different expectations I was ready

to like not understand anything that was going

on since it was a tv movie for a tv series I

had not seen but it's still Teenage Mutant Ninja

Turtles. So I figured like, you know Shouldn't

be that hard to catch up with what's going on

here. And I don't think it necessarily was that

difficult I didn't know about the mystical power

thing I was actually like that seems kind of

strange and look but I'm like, you know what?

I like to see that explored but then it kind

of ends up like not using it in this movie, which

was part of the story so that was interesting

and You know the voice the voice cast were certainly

different right away. You could tell that You

know, this was a different dynamic of the turtles,

especially with Leonardo, who basically this

is Leonardo's movie. And for the most part, like

he is the character that is at the central focus.

It's his journey. It's him kind of becoming the

Leonardo that we know. And it makes sense. It's

rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I guess.

So and I was wondering mostly about the animation,

like how would that look? Because it is a Netflix

show, you know, Netflix. You know who knows like

is it gonna is it gonna be kind of? That you

know like heavily CG not CGI, but like look very

you know Dry and like uninteresting, but I thought

visually it was it did look interesting. I thought

the action scenes really were fast -moving and

crisp I don't I was not expecting like going

into the future and stuff like that. But again,

it's a comic. It's based upon turtles And I definitely

liked it. I think that if I had the back story,

if this was like coming out when I was a kid

or like this was the turtles I grew up on, probably

would have liked it a lot more. But I definitely

seemed to if it was just weird, I guess, in a

way, like just the take on it wasn't what I was

necessarily expecting. It definitely felt like.

It didn't take a breath. It was it would very

much like like it just kept moving all the time

Kept going fast and fast and it was a little

bit exhausting in that manner But you know it

it definitely it to me was a bit more Like it

was a little bit like more Geared toward a younger

audience and I was anticipating like definitely,

you know what I mean? Like it wasn't necessarily

like TMNT the the the theatrical film i think

you know it held a couple more adult themes or

felt like it it more akin to the you know the

the comic book this definitely feel like it was

geared towards a younger audience especially

with this characterization because it really

hammered home like who these characters were

and the development to like 10th degree not necessarily

bad but again it's just it was definitely designed

for Kids like I don't see myself going and watching

the cartoon just cuz it's like, you know, it's

not for me Yeah, I this is interesting like you

bring up a lot of stuff that I'm gonna agree

with but I'll try to put a little bit of a spin

on it I guess but I Visually, I'm fine with it.

Like that's one thing that every time you have

a reboot from a established franchise I think

that's the first thing that gets like Dissected

ad nauseam is the visual aspect the character

design things of that nature. Like people are

just super critical of that whether it's That

they love it. They hate it There doesn't seem

to ever be any in between when something like

that gets a reboot Well, that's like the first

thing you're gonna notice as far as the artwork

and the design and all that Everything visually

and I think visually it's fine. Like I wasn't

too bugged by anything visual now It does obviously

make the turtles all different sizes. So we have

Skinnier bulkier taller shorter, you know, like

they're all different which is something we've

seen a little of through this series So that's

something to get used to the look of splinter

is definitely something that I don't know if

you have to get used to it, but it's definitely

something that's different that I'm not sure.

I'm a huge fan of but we'll get more into that.

Yeah later so so visually though, it's fine as

far as like how it looks I think like you said

the action sequences Like when it's more of like

a specific fight scene work. Well, I don't think

there's anything That's like a drawback from

a visual standpoint voice cast is different,

but I thought they were pretty good actually

Ben Schwartz is Leonardo Omar Miller Raphael

I'm just naming these because we've done it in

every other one Brandon Michael Smith is Michelangelo

Josh Brenner is Donatello Then we have Haley

Joel Osment as Casey Jones Kat Gramm is April

O 'Neill Eric Bozza splinter and then a few other

people spread in Rappals and even has a Minor

role as he does with most turtle stuff if he's

not one of the main turtles, but I thought the

voice cast worked Obviously, it's a different

take on Leonardo That was probably one of the

most jarring things for me was that Leonardo

seems to be, they all have their established

kind of character traits, their established representation

as far as how they're presented to us. We've

seen variations on it through this journey, especially

with Donatello probably the most. We've seen

where sometimes he's just full -on, you know,

into that geek nerd kind of stereotype. Sometimes

they dial back that a little bit. I don't know

if we've seen too many where Leonardo's not like...

Displayed like he is in this one and characterized

like he is this when he comes across a lot more

like a combination of Michelangelo and Raphael

Michelangelo from more of a immaturity standpoint

or a maturity standpoint Raphael with more of

the kind of Be going along to his own drummer

guess whatever you want to call it Whereas Raphael

takes more of a leadership role obviously in

this so the characterization of the turtles is

a little bit different But I don't think that's

necessarily gonna make or break anything for

me My problem is something that you touched on

with this film and it's a trend that I've seen.

I've done a lot of like research on animated

stuff over the years for voice acting related

things and whatnot and there's just like this.

Super big trend or movement it seems in animation

especially probably in the last I don't know

I'd say probably decade where it's this hyper.

Active like no breath no stop just. You can't

blinker you're gonna miss something type of presentation

and that just isn't for me like i don't know

if that just means i'm super old and out of touch

which it probably doesn't kids probably just

like eat this up but it just seems like especially

stuff that's geared towards the younger audience

is like there's this. Feeling that we just have

to keep going like a thousand miles an hour or

we're gonna lose their attention and they're

gonna change the channel i don't know if that's

what the fear is but it's just like i want. to

be able to digest something for just a second

like I want to be able to catch my breath have

some story beats or some character beats that

allow me to just like. Resonate with something

digest something and then move on and this movie

does not give you a split second to stop like

everything is going a thousand miles an hour.

Yeah I think it's what happens when you have

like this is less than 90 minutes and you have

a lot of plot here you know you have a lot of

like you. Go to the future. You have Casey Jones.

You have so there's like a lot to accomplish

in a short amount of time. So you're it's always

on the go and It's I think it can get a little

bit much at times because it's just like okay

Let's just you know, because nothing can nothing

feels like it It like it just feels like you

have a problem and it's resolved or something

comes up like they're one scene with like Donatello

He gets into the the spaceship and like he's

able to control it and like and like all this

could be really cool And it looks it looks visually

great like there's that great in a moment of

him I'm like kind of rising up is with a silhouette

shot like like wow this is really looks great

and but then it like the moment I thought starts

it stops because King in a crank takes over so

doesn't really end up going anywhere and this

is like a lot of things where they could set

something up. And then like it you know it just

kept going from beat the beat the beat that went

into the final climax of that so that so and.

So yeah i think that was part of it there's a

lot of plot here i don't know how it compares

to the cartoon like you said you know we haven't

watched it so i don't know the cartoon series

is any different but. Yeah, I I think there are

some it does seem like with it when it comes

to cartoons now Having kids there either ones

like this that are forever like just take never

stop or ones that are just more quiet and reserved

like right What is it the Amazon show with? I

can't think of the name of it. It's like a stop

-motion animation show How what's like a it's

not gonna work, but then there's But then there's

those TV show the North cartoons I do take their

time like, you know something like Daniel Tiger

or something like that again I've been more educational

but right now to compare that to this would be

different is different But yeah, I get and I

get what you're saying is that was something

where it's like this. I just feel old Yeah, and

but then I yeah, I don't know like there is enough

animation still aimed towards kids that does

More so on a pace that I can keep up with like

even like the Netflix She -Ra Like that's that's

definitely geared towards trying to develop those

characters in that franchise for a younger audience

but I don't feel like the the intense like supersonic

speed like we're just really catering to like

never let them have it even a second to think

about changing to something else I don't know

what like it's just I don't know it's too much

for me but. Yeah and it's just even with the

camera movement like it always it's always on

the move is like every three seconds. I will

say like because we're recording this and at

the time of recording this I've seen the newest

film and I'm not gonna give my thoughts on it

per se but I will say that like that to me does

show like you can still do animation and not

Be that like that, you know hectic style, you

know, Michael Michael Bay would do it a lot You

know, I think there's been like you mentioned

like things like cocoa melon and other things

like that where they purposely do it because

it just like you know, it's also I don't know,

but it seems like it is certainly a choice and

again, again, I'm sure we sound really old doing

this and but I guess they're, you know, they're

just trying to compete with what kids are used

to. So that could also be part of it, too. Right.

I just feel like sometimes we in this happen.

This has happened like every decade that I've

ever watched cartoons and things of that nature.

But there's certain ways that each generation

of cartoon, I feel like, tries to. Cater to an

audience that they don't necessarily 100 % know

Like they assume that they need to do this for

that audience without like there was a lot of

dumbing down stuff in the 80s where it's mm -hmm

They were really like kids just had no brains

like that. We really have to like Spell it out.

We have to really you know, make a super Understandable

and stuff like that where it's like, you know,

we're not all babies like we can we can we can

handle some of it we can fill in the blanks we

don't have to see all of the lines that connect

the dots we can you know in each generation i

feel like does a little bit of something like

that and i feel like at times they think that

this is what they need to do for kids these days

and i don't think that's necessarily 100 true

another thing that really kind of threw me off

is something that you kind of touched on a little

bit was this whole mystical weapons thing and

it seemed like They were trying I don't know

if the people that were like behind this whether

it was the story or the direction like really

were huge into either like Dragon Ball or Doctor

Strange or something of that nature But it seemed

like it was trying to like take these little

bits and things that exist in other Franchises

and bring this in here. Like there's a I think

of like a to be very beginning like that opening

sequence where they kind of like do a whole it

seems to me like something straight out of dragon

ball z or something like that where they just

like power up and just like Send a burst of energy

through whatever it was that they're doing and

then there's obviously with the weapons where

it's like it's almost actually similar to what

you see in brave star back in the 80s where you

have like the holographic extension of the character,

but it More modern would compare to like Doctor

Strange where you see them doing those types

of things and drawing circles with their hands

of energy and all this type of stuff which is

fine in and of itself. It's not anything I've

ever seen in the turtles world. So it kind of

was a bit to get used to at first like what are

we doing with these magical nunchucks and bows

and katanas and size and things like that. So.

I'm not saying that that doesn't like make or

break anything for me but it was something that

definitely threw me off a little bit as far as

like what's going on in this universe of the

turtles. Yeah yeah i also like the there have

been so many different versions and takes on

the turtle so i don't know if there was ever

one that. dealt with the mystics. I mean, like

I mentioned, like the IDW series gets into reincarnation

and stuff like that. So it's not it's not completely

off. I don't I don't think so. But like I said,

I was actually kind of interested in that. So

actually, you know, if you're going to this is

what the fifth turtle series, why not do something

different like that? But then with this part

of the story was that they didn't explore that.

So it's like, oh, that thing I was actually interested

in seeing. And we, you know, we get a little

bit at the end. But but yeah, you know, it's

I guess it kind of I mean, you know adding in

a magical element isn't that far off where they

were, you know I feel like we saw that, you know,

when it in the then you might talk about things

like that kept copying everything else I felt

like in the 90s everything was copying like the

The Power Rangers so everyone got like a morphing

thing like they had the Avengers cartoon and

they would morph into like their different costumes

and stuff like that So I wonder if that's kind

of you know I mean everybody has stuff that they

they grew up liking or you like over the years

of the current insert a little bit whether subconscious

or conscious I get some of that let me talk about

the turtles are definitely different characterizations

of the turtles to different degrees I mean that's

still the turtles are still brothers that really

comes across they still have I feel like a good

mix of humor. Within this like it still feels

you know Obviously everything we've watched is

either gone a little bit more to the serious

side or a little bit more to the comedic side

But it's still two kind of elements that exist

in various degrees in each one of these I thought

they handled the balance fairly well in this

as far as that goes I am interested in your opinion

on both splinter and Casey Jones Splinter is

obviously a much I don't know short shorter heavier

Stocky rat and it seems like he's not I don't

know I don't get that whole master ninja vibe

from him, but so he's definitely portrayed different

Casey Jones comes across as like this very I

don't know baby face like Why he's yeah, but

like much younger more immature whiny version

compared to what I could least compared to what

we've seen in a few of the other things that

we've talked about so far in the series so did

you like splinter Casey Jones in this to the

dislike or did it not really matter to you one

way or the other that they change it up a little

bit. I wasn't a huge fan of Casey Jones I get

what they're doing there like it you don't need

someone but it wasn't. The characterization at

least it was better than the Michael Bay movies.

I would say at least he wasn't a cop I guess

so it made more sense, but I still like I don't

he didn't have that edge to him I still think

the you know, we were just not getting better

than the first movie and I guess we got to move

on from that sponsor I just feel like I had no

opinion of him whatsoever I didn't love the design

but he just didn't seem to have much in here

like he seemed very like it wasn't nearly a That

big a part of the movie I felt like like he wasn't

he was just kind of a It felt like with this

story. They didn't really know what to do with

April or splinter So they just kind of put them

together and we didn't get get much of either

of them So I didn't really I wasn't different

towards both of them basically I guess April

O 'Neil was a little bit of a different depiction

as well They definitely changed a lot in this

series, but I don't think any of it was enough

to like Don't know wreck the series or something

to be like super pissed off which I'm sure there

was a bunch of 80s 90s and boys that were but

I Didn't see necessarily that what do you think

of? Revolving the story around crying and how

they use like the multiple crangs and like are

you a fan of those types of? Storylines within

the total world I am like the whole multiple

crane thing is actually you know, that's been

that is actually from the comics like they've

had different so that's not something that they

Completely changed they had different, you know,

he had right. So that makes sense I liked the

central conflict here of Leonardo trying to be

that leader in his relationship with Raphael.

I think that I really love this depiction of

Raphael because we're so used to him being the

rebel, the guy that gets angry all the time.

But here, it's flipped a bit. And yeah, he's

going against the team in a way, but not necessarily.

But he's more... Like his sacrifice or we know

what have you like he he's trying to do what's

in best of the team like he's He's in conflict

of the team because he's trying to keep them

on the straight and they're on the kind of going

other way Elsewhere so I actually really felt

like that was an interesting dynamic like he

knows what Leonardo can be and he's trying to

Part of it scares him part of it is is him trying

to make him realize who you know that leader

So I that that I enjoyed I I love like this is

a very different Leonardo But, you know, I think

giving him the opportunity to become that character

is kind of is a good choice, because otherwise,

again, you're just kind of you're just telling

the same story over and over again. And I felt

like this series of anything definitely had its

own identity. Yeah, I would agree with that.

I cannot get 100 percent behind some of the dialogue

that's used in this film. Like, I think the writing

was a little juvenile at times, but that's coming

from someone that obviously I get it. This isn't

like something they're trying to make up for

an Oscar or something like that But I don't I

don't know just some of the writing just seemed

like at one point I think crying or somebody

says retrieve our ship the technodrome Like that's

not how you would talk to your other like henchmen.

You would just say like retrieve our ship Or

go get the technodrome like you wouldn't be like

retrieve our ship and then like look at the camera

and say hey Guys, our ship is called the technodrome.

Just so you know, like it just seemed like it

was very forced There's just different things

in there. They did try to have a little bit of

a nod to Eastman and Laird They have a university

called East Laird University, which to me why

wouldn't you call it? Lairdman University, I

think Lairdman is way better than East Laird

It just sounds weird to me, but they did make

the little nod to the creator. So you've got

to like that Was there anything as far as Things

that we haven't had to talk about that you either

liked or disliked about the film engine in general

No, I think like I said, I definitely think if

I went into this watching the series I probably

would enjoyed it more than I did maybe but I

I I think one thing that hammers home is that

like it just shows how versatile the Teenage

Mutant Ninja Turtles are because they have that

formula that we're used to but I do like seeing

it switched up a bit like it's I think it's a

It's a good way of like keeping this, you know

this Franchise fresh every time where it's just

like let's try something a little bit different

And I thought it was successful in that and so

like, you know, it's not something where you

know, I I It's not going to make me rush out

and want to watch the cartoon from beginning

to end But you know at least did not regret watching

this compared to some of the other stuff. We've

watched so far Yeah, I didn't mind the characterization

of the turtles I thought it made an interesting

takes on each turtle and kind of something fun

to kind of see in a different Light, you know,

if you just give us the same exactly an art odonatello,

etc. Every single time that becomes Little bit

boring. So I'd like what they were trying to

do with that I think visually like the look of

it the choreography of some of the action sequences

that works for me The voice cast works for me.

So it does have quite a few positives I don't

think I'm a huge fan of the the way that they

portrayed the mystical powers of the turtles

but overall, I think the main drawback for me

was just the rapid fire like non relentless,

you know, it was just like Yeah, I just can't

deal with that. I guess in an animated things

because I'm old I'm gonna stand on my yard and

yell at the young whippersnappers from like it's

only Overall, I got a really good reception 79

% on Rotten Tomatoes Mostly positive reviews

from all the critics. I looked at got nominated

for a couple different awards including achievement

for character design and an animated feature

production and things of that nature, so Overall

is received very well I Just like I said, it's

just not for me. It's not my turtles. I think

it works probably for a different generation

that's used to this type of depiction when it

comes to their animation, I just sometimes wonder

if it's necessary to To go that route. I just

feel like it I don't know. I'm not a psychologist.

I don't know how it all works. But like I feel

like we already have a Lot of kids that struggle

with attention disorders and things of that nature

and I don't know if Doing something like this

helps them or doing as far as digest something

or if it just Adds to the fact that that's what

they want is the the non -stop Relentless things,

but like I said, I'm not a psychologist. So I'm

talking out of my ass right now. So Any closing

thoughts on rise of the Teenage Mutant Turtles

the movie it's the last time I'm going to say

that no No, like I said, I it was I went in with

limited expectations and by enjoying myself,

like I said, it doesn't overstay its welcome,

which I think we've seen with other films compared,

even though there is a lot of plot here, it doesn't

get caught up with it. It kind of just the benefit

of it, you know, that endless pace is that it

doesn't, you know, it doesn't get like convoluted,

even though like it could easily be because it's

just like, let's move from one thing to the next,

keep it going. And so I thought that was successful.

So, yeah, it's. It's middle of the road for me

like it's one of those movies where it's hard

because it's just like it's kind of just that

happened It was maybe a bit disposable. It was

what I would say because it was a little light

and You know, but I think it certainly is successful

at you know Attracting the audience it's going

for which I definitely think is you know, not

not us which is perfect Yeah, I don't think I'll

be like putting this in anytime soon to rewatch

it and maybe not even in my lifetime, but Not

to say I wouldn't check out the series at some

point to see kind of what else happened before

this and see how they did shredder I'm sure he's

in there somewhere and stuff like that. So It

didn't turn me off the whole thing, but it's

just not something that I'll probably watch again.

So so that does it for the Movies that have been

released prior to 2023 that means we only have

one left to cover and that is the mutant mayhem

from this year Which Dan has already seen I'll

be hopefully seeing soon that way we can get

you guys an episode Covering the newest theatrical

release of the turtles and like I said, we'll

probably close with some sort of Awards or summary

of our little spotlight through the Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtle franchise. So that should be fun.

We'll be discussing some things offline, I'm

sure, for that. So, Dan, if people want to keep

in touch with you and hear more of your thoughts

on comics and different things like that, how

do they do that? Search Comic Concierge. You

can find me pretty much everywhere there. TikTok,

Instagram, Twitter, X, what everyone call it,

Facebook, all that stuff. Yeah, and if you want

to keep in touch with me most of my stuff right

now is happening through the geek showcase a

little behind I need to produce another video

here soon, so keep an eye out for that But if

you like cartoons things of that nature go check

out that channel and let me know what you think

so Also, you can stay in touch with all things

GeekCast related, everything that Steve and Mike

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And you can keep up to date with all of that

type of stuff as well. So that does it for this

episode of the Cinema Geeks. Tune in next time

as we cover the final chapter in our Teenage

Mutant Ninja Turtles series with Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles mutant mayhem.