Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"In the spring of 1984, a strange new comic book sat beside cash registers in select shops, too big to fit in the racks, and too weird to ignore. Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles presented a completely original breed of super hero. It was too bizarre, too crazy. It broke all the rules and should never have worked."

Filmology Rating: 2.5 out of 4

I decided to watch this film to prepare myself for watching the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. Since I was born in 1992 I missed most, if not all, of the Turtle hysteria that hit the world. I remember my older cousin talking nonstop about the Ninja Turtles and I found myself unimpressed because I rather just watch my Batman animated cartoon show. He however wanted to watch the animated Turtles show and needless to say he won out. So after watching some of the cartoon in my early years I didn't grow to jump on the Turtles bandwagon. I was hoping this documentary, "Turtle Power", might help me appreciate not only the fans of the property but how these characters came to be American icons.

Being an avid comic book reader and someone who tries to have a understanding of the history of the medium I knew the names Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird before the film started. I heard the great tales of how they gathered all the money they had to create the comic "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". The first printing sold out and if you find a good rated comic of it today you will find yourself either extremely lucky or out of thousands of dollars. I like how the film had interviews with the creators. That is easily the films best part; if you want to know how and why the characters were created why not just it from the horses mouth.

Things that were rather uninteresting or bland about the film were the way that the film is edited and the story told. Having the title cards for each topic being talked about was unnecessary, most of the time topics being talked about in other segments relate back to other topics that have already been talked about like the toys or the animated show so I think the breakdown in segments was pointless. I also wish the film could have had the two creators together for an interview at some point. I'm assuming something dramatic happened between the two and if my assumption is correct I would have liked the film to talk about that.

I also wish the film would have talked about the two other cartoon shows that have came out since the 1987 series. While I get that is the show that the makers of the documentary are most familiar with you cannot call your documentary the "Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" without covering all of the topics relating to those characters/brand. You completely miss the second two films in the original trilogy making me ask the question: Does the film only want to focus on the good? Why not talk about some the bad areas that happened with the brand?

Sadly this film did not give me a grand appreciation for the brand or make me want to rush out to see the new film. The film basically told me things I already knew from talks at conventions or talks with my cousin. So if I didn't enjoy the way the film was edited together and didn't enjoy or get much new knowledge out of watching the film can I recommend the film? The simple answer should be no but I'm going to make it a yes. TMNT is growing to a new audience and one that does not know the history of the property and I think if they want a quick look at how the Turtles they love came to be they should definitely look at this film.

Rating: Rent It

-Jonny G