Sarah Michelle Gellar

“TMNT”-or “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” for those, like me, who hate the new name and refuse to accept it-tries to revive the green crime-fighting team. Sadly, it just ends up leaving audiences wishing they were still back in the early ‘90s, when the Ninja Turtles were actually good.

This new film takes place after the third live-action film and opens with the turtles leading separate lives. They are thrown back together when an immortal billionaire, Max Winters (Patrick Stewart), hatches a plan to unleash monsters in New York City. The turtles must reunite to destroy this new evil with allies Casey Jones (Chris Evans) and April O’Neal (Sarah Michelle Gellar).

“TMNT” has major flaws that prevent it from being the great film we all know it should be. First, the movie does not seem to know who its target audience is.

The 20-somethings watching this film for nostalgia dislike the filmmakers’ decision to create cartoon monsters intended for children rather than include Shredder, the Turtles’ classic archenemy. But comments about relationships would go right over the heads of anyone younger than 12, making it clear that children were not the intended audience. Director Kevin Munroe should have geared the film toward one age group instead of trying to be inclusive with this retelling.

The second major flaw was the animation, done a la “Shrek” or “Toy Story.” But the characters are too dark to be created with computer-generated imagery-it would be like making “Batman” with CGI. Munroe needed live-action or a cartoon like the ‘90s series to captivate viewers.

“TMNT” is just a movie trying to capitalize on its cult following, but also trying to reinvent itself to reach a younger audience with storylines and animation that conflict.

I would only recommend this film to someone who was a fan of the comics, TV show or movies. The nostalgic memories might be worth the price of admission.