The first thing I noticed about this version of TMNT is the fact than none of the heroes in the halfshell had any pupils. To me, no pupils=no souls, just like the characters in that darkened Turtles revamp in the mid-nineties which misstepped and almost spelled the end for the series.
But I sat through a couple of episodes and was came back VERY satisfied with the new version.
I grew up watching the lean, green fighting machines fight a bunch of bumbling and stumbling bad guys, robots, aliens, mutants, oftentimes saving April O'Neill in the nick of times while ending each productive day eating pizza with some gnarly toppings (chocolate chips and anchovies, anyone?) Slapstick humor, groaner puns, and fast-paced action fortified with blood-pumping music was the order of the day, and we all seemed to like it just fine, thanyouverymuch. I still get a kick out of those episodes when I break out the old tapes.
Now, with the original comic book writer Peter Laird providing input, we have a much more serious tone. This time our heroes aren't here to solve Scooby-Doo mysteries and make pizza jokes. This series actually chronicles their day-to-day lives as they live in their underground lair with Master Splinter. The reason they live in the sewers (which should have been obvious) has been really played up this time: they are freaks, monsters. The fact that they are outcasts makes solving various crimes and getting on the six-o-clock news with April O'Neill a pretty difficult thing to accomplish (besides the fact that April is now a former lab assistant and not a news reporter as in the earlier incarnations).
So all their lives the four turtles have been honing their ninjitzu skills under their sensei, when their lives have been turned upside down by the arrival of Shredder, Splinter's arch-nemesis. The other reviewers are right, Bebob and Rocksteady would not have lasted a second under this Shredder. To take him lightly is to dig your own grave. The turtle's struggle to return to their normal lives during their confrontations with Shredder is the running drama binding these new episodes (which helps keep me interested every week since this time I know there will be a climax, instead of hearing "You miserable turtles, I'll get you next time!" after every other unrequited episode in the old series.)
Despite all this, I still would have been bored with this series if the turtles acted as serious as they looked. But to my relief, they retained much of their old personalities of the old series. Leonardo is still the leader, Donatello's still the inventive brain, Raphael is still sarcastic (and this time gruff and tough), and Michaelangelo is, well, you all know Mikey. I do really believe Mike's even more outrageous in this series than in the old one. Because they still retained their personalities, they don't come off as robotic Warriors of Virtue but as "regular" teens who find themselves caught in a bad space of time.
The way the series uses split screens, wide screens, more kick-butt action (screw the Parent Advisory Council!) and took its stories seriously also doesn't hurt the appeal. Add to this the humanity of the characters, and you have yourself a superior product on your hands.
**** out of four stars.
