TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Stars: Voices: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Chris Evans, Patrick Stewart. Lawrence Fishburne, Zhang Ziyi, Kevin Smith, Mitchell Whitfield, James Arnold Taylor, Mikey Kelley, Nolan North, Mako

Director: Kevin Munroe

Our lean, mean, green, half-shell heroes are back - in CGI-animated form. And this new adventure is actually an improvement on the live-action films of the early 1990s since, although its story makes no sense (what else is new?), some of the visuals are stunning, including a breathtaking skateboard sequence and a rainswept rooftop battle.

Thirteen monsters descend on New York and the teen turtles. Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo and Michelangelo, who have become something of twentysomething slackers, have to sharpen their turtle claws and liven their ideas up. Shell up boys, the world needs saving again.

The movie isn't likely to make any new converts (and how many of today's kids even remember these reptilian roustabouts?). And its violence is a shade too tough for tender tots. But Turtle fans will enjoy both the revival of their heroes and the sight of April, voiced by Gellar (the voicing is fine - what a shame it has as much relevance to mouth movement as an old Thunderbirds puppet movie) transformed from annoyingly wimpish reporter to butt-kicking ninja warrior.

David Quinlan

USA/Hong Kong 2007. UK Distributor: Warner Brothers. Technicolor.
87 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: PG.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 23 Mar 2007