Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles

Nickelodeon's all-CGI 2012 series—the umpteenth reboot of the comics-derived, three-decades-old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise—boasts some recognizable names in the vocal cast (Sean Astin, Jason Biggs, a guest bit by Lewis Black) and some savvy gags (a dead-on mockery of the stiff 1970s Saturday-morning Star Trek cartoon scores a hit). But, otherwise this is typical turtle soup, starting with a rushed origin two-part pilot in which—some 15 years after their accidental mutating-goop creation—the four wisecracking humanoid terrapin-ninjas are permitted to emerge from the sewers of NYC, under the guidance of their mutant-rodent martial-arts master Splinter (here looking more like a badger than a rat). Almost immediately they encounter the Kraang, who are Men in Black-style alien brains in exoskeletons, setting into motion a series of fights against assorted super-foes. For those who care about the TMNT mythology, Japanese arch-villain Shredder only makes a token appearance, and late series addition Venus de Milo (a girl ninja turtle) never shows up. For that matter, human heroine April O'Neil isn't terribly prominent either in this new series that is essentially rambunctious male-adolescent stuff. Compiling the first six episodes, extras include “making-of” animatics and a theme song karaoke music video. Sure to be popular, this is a strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (C. Cassady)