TMNT 2003 series review

TMNT 2003 series review 

 

Intro: Am I the only one annoyed that this series isn't on DVD or won an Emmy? 

TMNT 2003 series review: This series is about four mutated turtles and a rat living under the sewers of New York City where they learn martial arts. One day they meet one of the humans that's in trouble, so they offer to help this person. Since then, the Turtles have been going to the surface more often to either explore it or fight crime. 

This is the best Ninja Turtles series so far. (that's an unfair statement because I haven't seen the recent Ninja Turtles show.) It borrows elements from the comics, the 80's cartoon and the 1990s movie. This cartoon is more serious than its predecessor and more story driven. I can understand why fans of the 80's cartoon don't like this one, I mean this show has done things that I thought were a little far-fetched. I like that the Turtles have a different personality. 

Leonardo is the leader of the team and kiss up I mean teacher's pet. The problem I have with him is that he outshines the other turtles, that's an issue because it undermines the conflict he has with Raphael. 

Speak of Raphael he is the hot head of the group. The problem with Raphael is the character flaw of him being a hot head got resolved way too fast. Also, they don't do anything with his anger I mean they could have made him rebellious to the point where he second guess master Splinter that would have been interesting. If Raphael learned how to control his anger, he would be a better fighter.  

Donatello is the smart one in the group. 

Michelangelo is the comic relief. That hard to say considering that everyone finds him annoying. He has a similar problem that Raphael has as far as he can be a better fighter if he took his training seriously. 

Master Splinter is the Turtles Mentor/father figure. He has the same problem I have with mentors in kung fu films and that is cryptic wisdom. Come on you can't take for granted that they will understand what you mean by what you said later on. Also, if I was one of the Turtles, I wouldn't consider Master Splinter a father figure because there are moments where he contradicted himself, he rarely loosens up and he's one-sided. The Splinter in the 1990's movie is more of a father figure than this one.  

April O' Neil is like her comic book counterpart as far as being a scientist instead of a reporter like she was in the 1980's show. She's also like a big sister to the turtles. Besides helping the turtles she doesn't do much in this series. 

Casey Jones is an Allie and friend to the Turtles. Just like April, he doesn't serve much of a purpose in this series. 

Now let's talk about the villains. 

Shredder is the leader of the Foot clan organization, he's a mysterious and ruthless villain. My grievance with him is that there's too much of him in this series. I know he has a connection with Splinter and the turtles however I would like to see other villains stand out. (Well, there is one villain that's almost as scary as the Shredder but I digress.) Also, I don't like how he treats one of his subordinates. 

Hun is the Shredder's right-hand man and leader of a street gang called the purple dragons. He also connected to Casey Jones. 

Karai is one of the shredder subordinates. What makes her interesting is that she is torn between her loyalty to the shredder and her honor. 

Baxter Stockman is the brains of Shredder's organization. He's the most sympathetic villain in this series, I'm not just saying that because of how the Shredder treats him. The reason why is because of how the Shredder treats him. This bugs me because he didn't do this to any of his other subordinates. 

The problems I have with this series is that it lasted seven seasons, it should have ended on season five. You'll see why when you watch this series. I have grievances with seasons 4,6 and 7. Season four feels like filler for the most part, besides Leo's arc and continuing a plot point from season two nothing interesting happened in that season. Leo's arc in season four would have been better if it played out differently. Season 6 feels like a step backward compared to the past five seasons. Season 6 is more kid-friendly. That's kind of insulting to the views. Season 7 also has this problem however it wasn't as bad as the previous season. Also, it bugs me that two other characters from the 80's show are not in this one.  

Overall, this is an excellent series that I would recommend if you thought the '80s cartoon is too silly for your taste.