Herbert Nininger
Do NOT watch Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or buy it's merchandise, the show has become totally inappropriate and is nothing but bad examples. It promotes brotherly hate, racism, violence, revenge, and very abusive relationships, it defiles everything that was special about it's first two seasons and so is totally unenjoyable. Splinters lessons are overly violent and hypocritical, they made Leo the hothead instead of Raph and he doesn't ever apologize for his excessive yelling, Mikey nearly killed Donnie 3 times and never gets scolded, and there's nothing positive nor any lessons learned to compensate.
S.R. Hunt
I'll admit it, I never watched the 1980's Ninja Turtles show. I was a child of the late 90's early 2000's, so I grew up on the 2003 Turtles. And when I heard of this new show, I face palmed. I think the only episode I watched was "Monkey Brains", and then I forgot about it. Then the season 2 finale came. I watched the season finale and took everything I said back. This isn't just a "hip" and "modern" remake of the Heroes in a Half-Shell, this is a love letter to everyone who grew up with the Turtles. There are references and homages to previous incarnations in every episode. It brings back fan favorite characters, and also characters people forgot about (I had no idea who Rahzar was until he came on the show). And it's not afraid to bring in some Japanese culture, the most Japanese previous shows had was just calling Master Splinter "sensei". The new characters are also really enjoyable. Tigerclaw, Fishface, even Ice Cream Kitty are just so fun and ridiculous. As for the returning characters, they are more developed than ever. Yes, each turtle has their original traits (Donnie does machines, Leo leads, Mikey is a party dude, and Raph is cool but rude), but they expand on that. Leo is a Trekkie (kinda), Donnie has a crush on April, Mikey names the bad guys, and Raph has serious anger management issues, so he talks to his pet turtle Spike. Each Turtle is not only unique in personality, but in appearance, too. For example, Mikey is the shortest out of the four, and has a bright green skin tone with freckles. Donnie is the tallest, has a light green skin tone, and has a gap in his teeth. Raph has the darkest skin tone, and his chest has more damage than the others. Leo has a normal green skin tone, and is the normal looking one (in other words, he has fewer physical flaws). The other returning characters, such as Splinter, Shredder, Karai, Baxter Stockman, and so on are all enjoyable. If you enjoyed anything Ninja Turtles when you were a kid, give this show a watch for a nuclear explosion of nostalgia. If your just looking for an entertaining show for your kids, try this one on for size. BOOYAKASHA!!!!
Mr-Fusion
It might be because the original '87 series no longer holds that spark for me, but the 2012 Nickelodeon TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES series is surprisingly a lot of fun. They've managed to create something completely new while mixing in elements from the original '80s series plus the Henson movie. The voices work terrifically here (Sean Astin and Greg Cipes, in particular) and there are some pretty great guest shots, too. It's a shame every show on TV these days has to be CGI, but it works for this show, the Turtles' character designs, especially. The action scenes are high-energy (with some killer fighting moves), the theme song's good and I like the show's sense of humor. Highly watchable stuff.Also, pizza gyoza!8/10
cloudsurfer
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles probably didn't gain any new fans at the news that Nickelodeon had acquired the franchise -- at least, not from the generation to which the Turtles were born. No doubt there would be a new generation of kids (the 80s children's children) to love the half-shell foursome. But would those who first grew up with the Turtles be able to appreciate the modernization of their beloved ninja heroes?I'm here to say: YES.I am a huge fan of the TMNT franchise. How big a fan? Well, in addition to absorbing the cartoons, movies, comic books, and action figures, I have three brothers of my own, and the four of us exemplify the Turtles' personalities (I'm Leonardo). It's almost ingrained in us to love the Ninja Turtles. Now I have children of my own, and I want them to love the Turtles, too!However, when word came out that Nick had bought the rights to Eastman and Laird's creation, I rolled my eyes with the best of them. Nickelodeon? Really? The idea to me was worse than having heard Disney had acquired Star Wars. But the fantastic creative team behind this computer animated series has established what is, in my opinion, the best rendering of the Turtles to date.We start the series exactly the way it should be started -- with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (This is where most, if not all, comic book films epically fail. Seriously, our culture knows the origin stories of Spider-Man and Superman better than the story of Moses. Give us the heroes first, back-story later!) April O'Neil, Shredder, and the rest of the supporting cast come into the story as we go, but the Turtles are who we care about, and we're in with the brotherhood from the very start.The first, real nemesis becomes the Kraang -- not a single brain in a Frankensteinian ogre's stomach like in the 80s cartoon, but a whole alien race from Dimension X who inhabit android bodies. The Kraang are on earth attempting to perfect their own retromutagen, the same ooze that created the Turtles. In the short-term, the ooze is responsible for many of the baddies the Turtles face from one episode to the next, and in the long-term is a major plot-point for the series as a whole.It's through their battle with the Kraang that the Turtles encounter April O'Neil. She's a teenager in this series, as opposed to the yellow jumpsuit-wearing reporter we're used to, but no one should be put off by that. Whether or not you're aware of it, the first appearance of April in the comics was as a computer programmer for Baxter Stockman. The fact that this series makes her a teenager works quite well, a much better element in her interaction with her teenage turtle friends.Those who are long-time Turtles fans will appreciate subtle nods throughout the series to the Turtles of old. For example, Michelangelo caught humming the old TMNT theme, Casey Jones encountering Raphael in a scene reminiscent of the 1990 film, or Corey Feldman showing up to voice a character. Sometimes the humor is spot-on hilarious, but other times it gets campy, and the mutagenic aspects of the ooze a little over-the-top, if not downright creepy for a kids show. But if you go back to the 80s cartoon (which hasn't aged well), I think you would agree that the humor there is worse, and plot elements much more MacGuffin-like than seamless.The fight scenes are fantastic, what you'd expect to find in a show with "ninja" in the title. The cinematography is expertly well-done, especially for a cartoon. You don't have to get fancy with the direction, but the creators have cut no corners. The animation has a feel of the darkness that made "Batman: The Animated Series" so iconic in style, but still lighthearted and fun. There's a touch of anime which you'll just have to see to understand how well it works. The cast is awesome. Sean Astin makes a great Raphael. And Splinter is the most masterful (pun intended) than any version of him thus far.Some things, I will admit, have taken some getting used to: Rob Paulsen playing the voice of Donatello instead of Raphael, for example. But stuff like that actually indicates that the creators of this series love TMNT, and are respectful of the fans that made it popular. The same cannot be said for the 2014 film, which is a New York sewer style of crap. (That movie, which is also a Nickelodeon production, is exactly why I had my reservations about Viacom taking over the franchise. I've already written a review of that one, so I won't elaborate further.)When my kids first started watching this show, I sat off to the side and huffed that this was not the Turtles I first loved. But once they got me into it, I found myself enjoying the Turtles more than ever before. In this computer animated television series for a new generation, the creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have shown themselves to be excellent story-tellers, and I can't wait to see what's next. Er... I mean, my kids can't wait. But I'll be sitting on the couch with them as they watch.