More used to series and movies live actionLicense Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles did not yet have its reference animated film. TMNT: Ninja Turtles and its computer-generated images are too rooted in their time, and neither Batman and the Ninja Turtles neither The Fate of the Ninja Turtles, the movie were not intended to reach a large audience. So hopes were high around Ninja Turtles: Teenage YearsOr Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem in Englisha collaboration between directors Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears and producers Paramount Animation, Nickelodeon And Point Gray Pictures (company of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg) for the cinema.
It’s hard to resist this Ninja Turtles: Teenage Years, as it doesn’t look like much of what animation cinema has offered in the past.
Ninja Turtles: Teenage Years returns as its name suggests on the adolescence of Leonardo, Raphael, michelangelo And Donatelloturtles adopted by this good old protective rat of Splinter while all this beautiful people were exposed to a strange anthropomorphizing green fluid. Not advised to approach humans by their fearful father and brought up in kung fu to defend themselves against threats from the outside world, they will inevitably want to emancipate themselves when they cross paths with the clumsy high school student and apprentice journalist. April O’Neal. She will help them stop the mutant fly superflyfor the sole purpose of gaining sympathy from New Yorkers and try to live a teenage life like the others.
This initiatory story like we have seen so many others will remain quite classic and will also take time to “take off” without ever really reaching an exhilarating level of intensity. We have the a family show with certainly a villain with radical demands, but above all a general public morality, without actually any stakes or storyline elements as dark as the gritty aesthetic let on. The many mutants rejected by society will be remembered more than the history that binds them, whether by their motivations, their crossed personality or their broken-faced appearance.
Because yes, where Ninja Turtles: Teenage Years really manages to pull out of the game, it’s thanks to its gloomy and dirty universe, like the sewers where pariah turtles regularly evolve. Whether through his characters with asymmetrical and sometimes disturbing faces, his decors with broken lines and his deliberately rough visual effects, as if still in the sketch state, he exudes a unique atmosphere, both uncomfortable and so pleasant to contemplate. The soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is in line with this line, with sometimes energetic, sometimes disturbing electronic pieces, which are unfortunately too little noticed. Even the use of the classic What’s Up of 4 No Blondes in version dancing during an action sequence falls a little flat, set back even before having carried away the spectator.
This atmosphere, coupled with modern animation techniques and many staging ideas, especially during some fights honoring martial arts films, give rise to beautiful graphic moments. These delightful passages, however, rub shoulders with more boating moments, such as a car chase and a final fight which would have benefited from proposing more striking plans. Humor is also an important component of the franchise, there is plenty in this version, whether through visual gags for the youngest or effective valves for the older ones. There are, however, a few more crass jokes that remind Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have a say in this, and laughable puns that could almost have been avoided, but are perhaps unique to the version. French.
Moreover, this VF is rather sympathetic, although a little smooth on the side of the turtles, often confined to their role of leader fayot, entertainer of gallery, brawler and nerd on duty. Gerard Darmon and Fianso are very good at Splinter And superflybut difficult to think of anything other than what it gives with Jackie Chan and Ice Cube at the helm in English. The same goes for adapted valves, Frenchified references or certain jokes that miss their target, all potentially even funnier in their original version. Special mention, however, to Jérôme Niel, perfect in Mondo Geckothe coolest lizard in New York who steals the show from other secondary mutants, including the very indented bebop And Rocksteady.
Hard to resist this Ninja Turtles: Teenage Yearsso much it doesn’t look like much of what animation cinema has offered in the past. Visually grimy, sometimes almost a little too much for the youngest audience, it offers us a unique vision of the New York of the Ninja Turtlesheroes in the making and losing their bearings at the heart of a story with expected strings, but inevitably effective, well helped by a cast of characters as endearing as they are repulsive. Its brevity, its intensity and its comic tone do not in any case allow to be bored, even if we would have liked to have even more great moments to remember before the sequel, already confirmed by the producers and teased during the scene post-credit.
Note : 3 out of 5 stars
Ninja Turtles: Teenage Years hits theaters in France on August 9. The official artbook of the film is available from €37.90 on Amazon.com.
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