Four turtles-turned-superheroes must defend New York City against an immortal enemy bent on conquering the world. The four heroes known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are living in a time of transition. Having defeated their biggest enemy, their mentor, Master Splinter, sends the group's stoic leader, Leonardo, to Central America to learn how to become the best leader for the group possible. However, he's taken his sweet time coming back, and the feisty Raphael, sick and tired of waiting for their "leader," has set out on his own as a masked avenger named Nightwatcher. The other two Ninja Turtles have settled into normal lives: the nerdy Donatello works on computers, and the goofy Michelangelo works at children's birthday parties. Leonardo comes back, at the urging of their friend, news reporter April O'Neil, but he and Raphael clash, as Raphael is still resentful over Leonardo's lengthy disappearance. There's little time to dwell on the past, however: an immortal figure named Yaotl has located his four generals, turned to stone thousands of years ago, and has figured out how to bring them back to life. Together, they plan on gathering around a portal to another dimension which will unleash a series of monsters upon Earth, giving them the power to rule the planet. Raphael wants to storm out after Yaotl, but Leonardo wants to wait until they have more information, compelling Raphael to go out on his own. Master Splinter tells Leonardo to track him down, and the two show down... but when their fight results in Leonardo's swords getting broken and him getting captured by Yaotl, Raphael, feeling guilty, tracks him down to rescue him. Meanwhile, Yaotl reveals that he actually wants to get rid of his immortality, which turns his four generals against him. Yaotl joins Splinter in fighting the monsters that emerge from the portal, while the four Ninja Turtles take on the four generals and try to bring them down. Finally, they're able to toss the last monster back into the portal, and it drags the four generals with it-- the portal closes, New York is saved, and the Ninja Turtles are once again reunited to protect the city.
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Best part of story, including ending:
It's got a rather generic story, dull animation, and it's all pretty humorless-- this may be the worst movie in this series' history.
Best scene in story:
Leonardo fighting Raphael is a pretty compelling turn of events, brother fighting brother-- and the action is the best of the film.
Opinion about the main character:
Leonardo comes across pretty whiny in this film-- hesitant, constantly worried he's doing the wrong thing. He's not the greatest hero for most of the flick.
