Cert 12A
112 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate action violence
Is it really 20 years since my son used to dart around our house shouting "cowabunga" and claiming that everything was "awesome"?
As I recall, the cartoon series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles took over our TV set when Master W fell out of love with the Power Rangers.
Now a new generation are getting their kicks from watching the shelled super-heroes at the cinema and I have to admit the translation from small to big screen and from animation to real life (plus a large helping of CGI) has been pretty effective.
I took in the pizza-addicted turtles after one of the last meetings of my career as a newspaper editor took place at the offices of the Burton Mail.
Cineworld is next door so I popped in to join two other people for an hour and a half of fast paced entertainment which did not tax my brain for a nano-second.
The premise of TMNT has not changed - the turtles are still hidden away in the sewers where they are mentored by a giant rat called Splinter.
They fight crime without the approval of the police and their nemesis is a villain called Shredder (Brian Tee).
Among the updates are their name abbreviations - Mikey (Noel Fisher), Donnie (Jeremy Howard), Leo (Pete Ploszek) and Rafa (Alan Ritchson) have individual areas of brilliance but often clash over what is right and wrong.
The turtles have moved on in terms of technology and so the special effects throughout the film are dazzling.
In essence, it is a case of misunderstood but well-meaning turtles with glamorous accompaniment (in the shape of Megan Fox) against fiendish bad guys, led by prison escapee Shredder and a mad scientist (Tyler Perry).
Laura Linney plays a chief of police who takes some convincing that the turtles are good guys and not monsters.
Oh, and there is plot surrounding world domination - which is par for the course for any super hero movie.
Back in the day, Master W would have lapped it up so much I reckon we would have gone back for a second helping.
I shall not indulge in that but thought Dave Green's film ticked the box of those who don't want to try too hard at the movies.
Reasons to watch: Turtles' fans will lap it up
Reasons to avoid: nothing much new being offered here
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 6.5/10
Star tweet
I've made-it Maw!! @Starbucks barista in Tampa signed #Rocksteady on my iced tea cup... My #OscarMoment #TMNT2
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