Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

 

Oh childhood… so many things that filled my life completely and are now forgotten. I was at a buddy’s place watching old movies and noticed he had the original ninja turtles movie on tape, it was then i realised it must have been 20 years since i last watched it. I was very eager to see if it held up now considering how my tastes have changed in such a long time.

I have memories of shots, music cues, and lines of dialog that i still recall on a regular basis and considering how lots of things from our childhoods don’t hold up, I had hoped this would.

 

THE STORY

Four mutated turtles and a rat use their ninja skills to battle the foot clan’s crime wave in the big apple, yes it’s as ridiculous as it reads.

 

THE GOOD

I think the real reason why i still like the movie is that it forgoes overly kiddy plotting and instead really puts effort into developing an emotional and serious tone. Particularly the film focuses on different father son relationships; now anyone who knows me (or reads this blog) knows that i’m a sucker for them, and this film has three. The central of which is Splinter’s fatherly guidance and wisdom to his children, and honestly the scene between Raphael and Splinter has to be one of the most touching scenes put to screen between a man in a rubber suit and a hairy rat puppet (honestly i tear up every time i see it).

The second is between the Shredder and the Foot Clan recruits and how instead of guidance, wisdom, and understanding all his sons get is reprisals, fear, surrogation, and immaturity. The third is a variation of the first; some sons rebel against a father’s guidance, and come to understand its value when understanding allows them to see the error of their immature thinking. I must say that this has to be one of the movies that shaped me into liking father son interactions in the first place.

I’m also quite glad that the film makers decided to go the opposite route with the look of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The sewers, turtles, and various other places the film goes are all grimy, swathed in shadow, and showing their age. While there’s nothing wrong with giving a movie a colourful aesthetic, considering the source material and intended audience it could have easily been too kiddy for me to take seriously now, unlike say… Turtles III…

 

holy shit

 

Don’t get me wrong though, this is a serious product of the 90’s were dealing with. However the look of the film is done well enough to not call too much notice to itself (unlike Scarface).

Jim Henson designed the creature effects and whats on display is reflective of his mastery of traditional SFX, while the turtle’s lip movements are by and large unconvincing the various masks are at the very least very expressive (with the exception of Splinter’s puppet as it is universally great), and coupled with good voice acting make moments like this and this (god i tear up during that one too) don’t come off as silly. The fights themselves (while nothing too special) are at the very least well practiced, and the fact that the stunt men in the costumes move as well as they do considering the rubber suits and helmets makes them at least notable.

Lastly i want to mention that while the subplot of Casey Jones and April’s romance is pretty paint by the numbers it gets one thing crucially right: it establishes a hint of attraction between the two before they start fighting. Scarface and The Empire Strikes Back fail miserably at convincing me that although the two lovebirds are at each others throats when they interact they like each other in spite of it. That’s because there is never a scene that shows both of them liking each other in private. I have no idea why so many films fail in this, but here we have a “she likes me, despite her hating me” romance that i find works.

All this coupled with a decent score wraps this little movie quite nicely i’d say.

 

THE BAD

I’m sure there are tons of problems here like the turtle rap, however i can’t see any that are really worth mentioning here as they would distract from what i really want to talk about, and that is: Casey Jones.

 

he found something to hit somebody with here…

 

It never struck me how much of a maniac he is until i saw it with an adult mind. He is literally a psycho, in a hockey mask, running around at night beating people up with various bludgeons. He is what Batman would be if he had no money, and if he actually existed. As it’s clear that Jones has a lot of anger for being injured and having to give up playing professionally. This isn’t really a bad thing though, Elias Koteas gives Jones a nice guy charisma that hides his psychosis enough to make him likable, he’s just a really bizarre character to me nowadays.

 

THE UGLY

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is no masterpiece. Its drama is simple but it has a sincerity in its approach that i can’t help but be touched by, and it does enough right by me to still be worth an occasional watch now and again. Especially if i feel nostalgic for my childhood, and i’m personally very happy that this piece of it still manages to stand the test of time (unlike other movies…)

 

OUT OF FIVE

PS

in case anyone gives a shit: Raphael is my favorite.

RAGING BULL

the poster sucks, this is better

This is one of those films that i was absolutely obsessed about in my high school years, watching bits and pieces of it and dissecting and analysing every shot and scene. Then all of a sudden i realise that it had been 6 years since i had watched it last.

I figured the time was right to check it out again.

 

THE STORY

We follow the rise and fall of Jake “The Raging Bull” Lamotta as he destroys himself and others with his unstable nature.

 

THE GOOD

God damn, is Scorsese good. Despite my serious troubles with the film it remains so addictable and irresistibly watchable that i tend to forget my problems with it until it’s over. From the brutal fast-moving boxing matches to the slow and brutal out of the ring confrontations, Scorsese paces and shoots all of his scenes to achieve a perfect balance of mood between each of them (particularly his use of sound).

It’s not a hard thing to forget that Deniro was once a great actor. If ever in doubt of that this is certainly one of his many films that will reaffirm ones faith in him. Joe Pesci, gives his definitive version of the nasally smart ass with a violent temper that he plays in all of Scorsese movies here, as his more stable demeanour serves as a great contrast for the director to use.

 

THE BAD

I have a feeling that this is one of those films that joins the ranks of The Empire Strikes Back, in being untouchable and immune to criticism. Young Manuel would most certainly have agreed, and called me an idiot who just doesn’t “get it”. Well considering the amount of time its been since i last watched the film, i’m amazed at how much i’ve changed.

For starters, i was swept up so completely by this film’s style and power i was blinded to the fact that Lamotta was a vicious person that i really wouldn’t want anything to do with. Nowhere is it written that main characters have to be likable, but it really makes the film a bit of a chore to sit through when i can’t stand watching what the film is focusing on.

I “get it” that the film is supposed to explore what makes Lamotta tick, and juxtapose his boxing prowess with his out of the ring insecurities to show the dichotomy of this particular man. That still doesn’t make him very interesting though, i simply see him as a vicious, paranoid wife beater who got his shot then lost it because he lost his heart. There is nothing mysterious about Lamotta to me, as his strength in the ring is due to his rage, and his problems in life are due to his crippling paranoia and insecurities. There’s almost nothing endearing about him to me. This reaches its head when he beats his hands to a bloody pulp on his prison cell doors and i’m just wondering why i should really care.

The film’s third act is so rushed that it is completely bewildering, and gives me the impression Scorsese wasn’t very interested in how Lamotta apparently changed his ways. The jump in time and situation from 1951-1956 is so large and skips out on so many things that when his wife suddenly leaves him i’m left in confusion as to why. It’s left to me to assume that he still beats his wife in the meantime, but considering that the last time we saw them in 1951 and the interview in 1956 they seemed happy together it just comes out of left field.

Then there’s the final scene, i get it, he’s realises he was an awful person and is trying to change in light of his new found self awareness. I’m sorry 2 hours of story showing this man to be a vile person is not washed away by him reciting Brando in front of a mirror (get it? Self reflection?!?!) and a 30 second bible quote.

 

THE UGLY

I suppose with what i’ve written above i should just hand in my filmy card here. After all what idiot would say anything bad about Raging Fucking Bull? Well, i’ve said it before and i will continue to say it: i’m not going to lie to myself, Raging Bull is not a pick of mine for greatest films ever made.

However, i’m going to take a step back from things here, if you reading this are curious about the film i do recommend that you watch it. Its got performances, style, and substance up the wazoo and there’s absolutely nothing wrong in saying that it is a great piece of cinema. It just doesn’t do it for me.

 

*** OUT OF FIVE