Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)'

Written by Scott Edwards

​When times get tough for a person, they usually try to fight it alone, but they don’t have to when they have a family that cares for them. Families are more vital to our survival than most people give them credit for and even if someone is not a family member by blood, it does not mean that they are any less of a brother to you. It is hard to imagine that with so many struggles out there that families and friends do not pull together in a timelier manner, it takes a life changing event to open their eyes and see what is really important.

The streets of New York City have succumbed to a crime wave much worse than they have ever seen.  With the emergence of ‘The Foot’, a gang of countless members pulling off any job that they want to, it seems like there is nothing that the police can do. Doing her research on the group, reporter April O’Neil is calling out the police chief at every turn to try to get some resolution. But only being a reporter and having to work for a living, April is warned that she is treading on thin ice when it comes to this story and she will need to back off before something bad happens to her. Being a strong-willed woman, April continues with her series of stories on the crime wave, but when she is attacked while walking home after her day, she finds that there is someone equipped to battle the unseen forces of ‘The Foot’, but they are not who she expected.

Casey Jones has taken it upon himself to fight the good fight on the streets with so many people being taken advantage of. Wielding his hockey stick and baseball bat, he is a vigilante that brings street justice a new name. Stumbling on a strange character in the middle of the night, Casey sees that he is not the only one worried about the state of the city, but not knowing the story behind his new green compadre, he does not know what to expect. Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael are the underground saviors that everyone in the city needs but will know nothing about since they have been trained in the art of ninja. Also, people would not believe what they are seeing since they are five-foot-tall turtles. Being led by their master Splinter, the young turtles are trying to help protect the people of their city while eating pizza and having fun, but not everything is able to bounce off of their shells. When finding out that they saved April O’Neil from the news, they know that they can get plenty of exposure, but that is not what they need when it comes to their fight. Needing to find out where ‘The Foot’ is operating from to bring them down before more innocent people get hurt, the group of turtles find out that they have been targeted by someone much more dangerous than the kids they have been fighting.

The Shredder has set up his organization in the city and it is running efficiently until he hears word of these turtles that have a familiar fighting style.  Being a master in his home land, The Shredder is a god amongst men when it comes to fighting and will stop at nothing to ensure that his plans are completed. Using the knowledge from his kids on the streets, The Shredder sends a squad to take out the turtles before they get in his way, but not being able to kill them, he accomplishes the next best thing, kidnapping their leaders.  After the turtles first great defeat, they are forced to hide and train to ensure it will not happen again and with their leader’s life on the line, they know that they cannot fail again.

Freaking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, what can I say about this movie?  This was one of my favorite movies growing up because they are all hilarious! Mikey and Donny are best of friends and always trying to one up each other when it comes to jokes, while Leo is trying to be the best ninja of his ability while Raph is just trying to figure out his own life. Who would not want to be part of this family and with the late addition of Casey Jones to the mix, along with April O’Neil, it is hard to believe that anything could go wrong. They have everything going for them when rolling back into the city, but when they have to face Shredder alone, they know that they need just one more member, their leader. This was a ‘kids’ movie and had a storyline that overshadowed the turtles as young Danny and his father are on the outs and the boy joins ‘The Foot’ clan to feel like he belongs. After seeing the treatment that Splinter goes through, and how persistent the old rat really is, he understands how important family really is and gives up on his new life to go back to what he had.  It is a fantastic movie and I believe that it still stands the test of time since it has nothing to do with technology and gives all of us the strong message that if something could happen, it has to do with family and how they react when being put into the sewer, I mean corner. Happy Viewing.

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