Story
The four brothers Leonardo (voiced by James Arnold Taylor), Donatello (Mitchell Whitfield), Raphael (Nolan North), and Michelangelo (Mikey Kelley) are mutant ninja turtles whose purpose is to work together to fight evil.
The story opens with a 3000-year-old legend. A great warrior goes through a portal to the stars that allows him to live forever. But a nasty consequence is that his army and his generals are turned to stone, and 13 monsters are released on the earth.
The story then moves to the present. People in a South American village are being intimidated and bullied by a group of soldiers who are supposedly protecting them from a ghost in the jungle. The ghost happens to be Leonardo – sent by sensei Master Splinter (Mako) to learn about leadership. Leonardo is secretly fighting the soldiers so that he can help the villagers.
April O’Neil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) arrives in the jungle looking for a rare and ancient stone statue for a rich collector, Max Winters (Patrick Stewart). There she finds her old friend Leonardo. She persuades him to come back with her to reunite with his brothers. They seem to have grown apart as a family and lost their purpose.
In New York, Leonardo finds two of his brothers trying to be good citizens by doing everyday jobs. Raphael sleeps all day but at night he becomes a vigilante and catches criminals. April’s boyfriend Casey Jones (Chris Evans) discovers Raphael’s true identity and occasionally helps him.
In the meantime, April and Casey deliver the statue to Max Winters, who turns out to be the warrior from the opening scenes. He is collecting the stone generals in an attempt to reassemble his military team and rid the earth of the 13 monsters. To achieve his final goal, he needs the help of the turtles.
Themes
Sibling rivalry
Violence
- During an epic battle, the warrior and his generals use swords (no blood seen).
- Soldiers with guns intimidate the villagers, steal from them and push one of the women to the ground.
- Soldiers are attacked by a ‘ghost’ (Leonardo) in the jungle. The scene is quite creepy.
- After fighting some criminals using his chain as a weapon, Raphael rounds them up, ties them up and hangs them upside down on his chain.
- We hear a stone monster come to life and eat a pigeon (this is not seen).
- A big ugly monster fights a black Ninja and the turtles.
- Fierce-looking stone generals wrap up the monster.
- Raphael and Leonardo fight each other using weapons.
- The evil stone generals capture Leonardo and put him in a cage.
- The turtles fight the stone generals in hand-to-hand combat and with swords.
Content that may disturb children
Under 8
This movie contains many monster images and scary music, which could disturb young children.
From 8-13
Some children in this age group could also be disturbed by some scenes, especially the images of the evil stone generals.
Over 13
Children of this age are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this movie.
Sexual references
None of concern
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None of concern
Nudity and sexual activity
In the final scene, April and Casey kiss passionately.
Product placement
None of concern
Coarse language
There is no course language in this movie, although there are put-downs and standard turtle expressions such as ‘Cowabunga!’
Ideas to discuss with your children
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a computer-generated martial arts adventure. It features familiar heroes and is aimed at children.
You could talk with your child about some of the ideas in the movie. For example, not everyone can be a leader and everybody has a part to play in a team. You might also like to talk about the value of teamwork, trust in others and loyalty. You could discuss the view that problems are not always solved by violence.