Heroes in a Half Shell...

Back in the late 80s it didn't get much better than Teenage Mutant Ninja (or 'Hero' as it was on this side of the pond) Turtles. Original, action-packed, funny and with a great line of toys!

It's now been almost 20 years since they first appeared (a thought that scares the piss out of me) and I still find myself enjoying their antics, first off in their recent cartoon series and now in the form of the latest movie: TMNT (wonder how long they spent on that title...).

Despite being animated (very much in the style of the Incredibles), the film has more in common with the live-action trilogy than either of the animated series, albeit with better action and bigger names (Patrick Stewart, people!).

The main excuse for the whole thing involves some 3,000 year-old legend, an immortal and a portal that will potentially destroy the Earth, but the main focus of the plot revolves around the Turtles themselves and their fractured relationship following their victory over the Shredder, which is pretty interesting at first, but wares a little thin towards the end.

What doesn't is the action. Despite the animation being very much towards the cartoon style (as opposed to the realistic style companies are going for with the likes of Final Fantasy and Beowulf), the action has a surprising level of realism, particularly in a fight between Raphael and Leonado that gets pretty brutal.

Of course, this is Turtles we're talking about, so there's still plenty of slapstick and silliness, but it only rarely detracts from the action.

As for the characters, nothing's changed. Leonado is still the noble leader (though not quite as annoying as in previous incarnations), Michaelangelo and Donatello are reduced to side-kick roles and Raphael is by some distance the most interesting and (bizarrely) realistic character in the whole film, with Casey Jones a close second. As for April, Splinter and the bad-guys, they're all the usual fare, though Zhang Ziyi does sound rather damned sexy as the new leader of the Foot.