A petty crime wave has hit New York City, valuable possessions pinched by the troubled youth and given to their towering master and his army of foot soldiers. Shredder (Saito) is the man behind it all, a steel-plated evil-type who's only opposition, it seems, comes from beneath New York's streets: a group of slang-talking, pizza-eating human sized mutant turtles occupy the sewers, well trained in the Ninja ways taught by their ageing teacher Splinter, a giant rat. The turtles take to the streets when Splinter is napped, and kick butt in the only slapstick way they know how. There's also a love/hate set up with TV reporter April (Hoag) and martial arts enthusiast Kacey (Koteas), but such things are by the by in a harmless kiddies adventure. Jim Henson's Creature Shop work their usual magic with the animatronics, and the dubbed turtles retain a certain amount of attitude and charm, lacking in character what they more than gain in mere presence. The result pays off, an endearing live action debut for those spunky comic book heroes. Cowabunga, etc
Review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
