TMNT

After the defeat of their old arch nemesis Shredder, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have grown apart as a family, depressed and directionless.

Leonardo is off in the South American jungle training to be a better leader; Michelangelo (aka “Cowabunga Carl”) is a party turtle in disguise for hire; Donatello answers an IT helpline; and Raphael has taken to fighting crime as the vigilante Nightwatcher.

Struggling to keep them together, their rat sensei, Master Splinter, becomes worried when strange things begin to brew in New York City and the Turtles remain divided.

This leaves the four heroes to fight a new villain, tech industrialist Max Winters, who is amassing an army of ancient monsters to take over the world. With the help of old allies April O’Neil and Casey Jones, the turtles must overcome their differences, as well as the mysterious Foot Clan, to once again save the world.

The prologue sidesteps a retelling of the Turtles’ origins and focuses on the dispatch of Shredder. While many viewers from the late 80s and early 90s are knowledgeable fans of the original comic and live-action movies, new fans may be disorientated as background information is assumed and skimmed over.

This could be forgiven with a well-developed, captivating or interesting plot-line, however, in this movie that is not the case.

With an often boring story and poor character development, especially of the new villain Max Winters, it is hard to maintain attention. Many fans of the original series will search for something more throughout the film, but it just can’t be found.

The reconciliation of Leonardo and Raphael provides slightly more interest as the emotional core of the film. The focus is on leader Leonardo and angry, independent Raphael, who feels betrayed by his brother’s abandonment. As a result, the humourous antics of Donatello and Michelangelo get passed over.

However, twin lessons in unity and reconciliation can be drawn from the movie. When the Turtles are too busy fi ghting among themselves, they are unable to work together to fi ght the evils of the world. In some ways, this reflects the way Christians should be united in their eff orts to ensure that God can work through us all—to show others His love and combat the real evil in the world.

They also need to learn to forgive each other before reconciliation can take place—without forgiveness we can’t expect unity or to be able to combat bitterness and resentment.

Raphael and Leonardo eventually realise they can’t present a united front against Max Winter’s army of monsters if they keep at each other’s throats. Diff erences aside, they’re still members of the same family (odd as it may be—how many families do you know that are made of ninjas who are mutant turtles?).

Unfortunately, Christians sometimes forget these lessons and are too busy attacking each other to remember we’re all part of the family of God. If we’re going to be the most eff ective force for good in the world, we need to forgive others (hard as it may be), reconcile with them and share God’s goodness with those around us.