If you’re one of the kids who grew up during the golden age of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when they were all that any kid in their right talked about, then this form of nostalgiasploitation is one you’ll have a damn good time with. For anyone hoping to re-live their youth while also looking in to what the current incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are up to, the best form of marketing for all the audiences of this franchise comes in the form of “Turtles Forever,” a reality bending, genre twisting mini-movie that works as a satire on the eighties series, a tribute to the current incarnation and a respectful nod to the classic Turtles.
While the movie does skimp on revealing the true incarnation of the turtles who were less winking toward the camera and popping wise and more about violence and ass kicking, “Turtles Forever” is still a very entertaining and hilarious romp at a cross generational war that discusses the potential for alternate realities and what happens when all Ninja Turtles from all realities suddenly converge to take on their nemesis, some of whom are goofy, and some are just about killing the turtles. The movie could not acquire all of the original voices for the movie, so they instead mimic the old voices behind the Shredder and Leonardo and makes a good excuse for combining all of the turtles in to one world where they’re able to fight alongside one another and stop their foes for a short time.
This idea isn’t exactly new since Scooby Doo did the exact same thing for one of their animated movies bringing together old and new Scooby Doo characters, but “Turtles Forever” is something of a love letter to the entire idea of the Ninja Turtles placing the old turtles in to this new cynical world, allowing them to interact while finding out they can still work together in spite of their vast differences in methods, attitudes, and humor. The art style for the eighties television show is very faithful and shockingly devoted to the original molds allowing for an interesting juxtaposition whenever they’re in the middle of a battle, and it’s pretty funny watching the old turtles pop wise cracks and having fun with their fights while the new turtles look on baffled and wondering if they ever take anything they do seriously. You also have to enjoy Michelangelo laughing hysterically whenever the old Mike and his pals spout one-liners after defeating a foe of theirs.
In one instance Raphael stops in the middle of the fight to tell viewers that he and the turtles shower regularly as modern Raphael and mutant Hun look on confused. You also have to love how the turtles question eighties April on her yellow jumpsuit and the commentary on April always getting in to trouble at least once a day. As with most of these parallel universe stories, the writers find a way to have it all make sense and it does as the old turtles have brought with them vials of mutagen that the modern Turtles foe wants to use for his own personal experiments to build massive monsters to take on the turtles. Meanwhile eighties Shredder wants modern Shredder in to this reality, and once they step foot in the same room, there’s much head bashing and arguing to be had. One surprising element of the movie is that the modern turtles are able to constantly exclaim “What the shell?!” I’m surprised the censors never responded to that.
There is also the obvious conflicts among this shift in which the turtles learn to eventually work with one another in spite of their different approaches toward combat, while the villains are more intent on toppling one another for superiority which inevitably leads to their downfalls. Acting as a finale for the contemporary series, the makers behind this go all out with some incredible homages to past incarnations, and a glimpse at every single Turtle incarnation of all time, including the live action Turtles from the late eighties movie and the CGI turtles from the animated movie. Presumably the final go around for the animated Turtles, this is a great feature length send off for the contemporary Ninja Turtles until the next live action reboot from Platinum Dunes planned for the next three years in to a proposed franchise. For anyone willing to look back with fondness at the heroes in a half shell, this is well worth your time and will offer a laugh or two.