TMNT [Blu-ray] (DVD) dv 003

From a visual standpoint, this CG feature starring the venerable '80s and '90s superheroes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is nothing short of slam-bang; the computer animation has a scope and look that transcends both the original comics and animated series and the three live-action features that preceded it. Writer/director Kevin Munroe creates a striking animated world for the four heroes in a half-shell to live, play, and fight in, and the action sequences are occasionally breathtaking in their speed and complexity. But where TMNT stumbles is its bland plot, which picks up after the last of the live-action features with all four teen turtles in disarray, and abandons longtime villain Shredder in favor of an industrialist (well voiced by Patrick Stewart) who recruits the Foot Clan (including Karai, played by Zhang Ziyi) to revive thirteen ancient monsters to aid in his world domination scheme. It's a simple and fun story for kids, but longtime Turtles fans will miss the wry humor and smart sense of irony of the original comics (created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who gets an executive producer credit here) in this storyline. Still, for most adolescent audience members, such concerns won't matter a whit in the face of the abundant action. --Paul Gaita