This is the one. The film that I watched so often, the tape wore out. A movie I still have a soft spot for 25 years after I first watched it. Is it nostalgia? Am I some smooth-brained man-child that can't grow up? Yes. Most definitely. But also, TMNT is a blast.

The theme of fatherhood and familial duty has a strong undercurrent for what is ostensibly a children's movie. It's not deep or anything. The good guys are good, and the bad guys are bad. But when most films today barely have a coherent theme or lose the thread halfway through, it's refreshing to see a kids' movie from the 90s do it well. 

Today, movies are so embarrassed by their source material that they're constantly mugging the camera in disbelief, letting us know they're above it all. But here's a movie that adapted its source material with respect, embraced the goofiness and had earnest fun doing it.

B+

Cowabunga, my dudes.