TMNT

They’re lean, green and on the big screen, again. Cowabunga, dudes! Fifteen years after their first cinematic foray, the pizza-loving, sewer-dwelling, crime-fighting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back. However, in stark contrast to the 1990 live-action original (as well as sequels in ’91 and ’93), which relied on animatronics and short guys in foam suits, this CGI-animated update is fluid, kinetic and action-packed. Its dark tone is also closer to Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman’s 1984 comic-book than to the cute computer-game and TV cartoon spin-offs which followed.

In modern New York, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, together with their sewer-rat sensei Splinter, are pitted against multi-billionaire Maximillian J Winters, four re-born stone generals, sundry 3,000-year-old monsters and the turtles’ old ninja rivals the Foot Clan. The turtles’ superfluous human side-kicks serve to complicate an already confusing plot. Even so, Kevin Munroe directs with affection and skill. It’s not exactly Renaissance art, but it is an honourable attempt to revive the turtle-tastic franchise.