Doomtomylo
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
slimer8489
Back in 3rd grade, I had just moved to a new town, so I was at the library in that town. I had just been done watching the live-action Ninja Turtles movies for the first time, so I also discovered a little VHS called "3 Ninjas". Of course, after seeing TMNT I, II, and III, I just HAD to watch this movie. And I did.As a kid, I just ate this stuff up. I loved these movies to death. I thought they were the best things ever. I never understood why everybody hated it, but I got older, and I realize why many people hate this movie: It's too unrealistic. But who cares? Not every movie has to be just like real-life. Of course, the 3 Ninjas formula with kids beating the crap out of adults has grown since the release of this movie, but it has gotten way stupid, to the point where the bad guys are bumbling fools who don't fight back. But you don't see that in this movie. It has a pretty dark tone to it. Snyder, the villain isn't just some stupid fool like with things like this nowadays, he's a pretty menacing villain, so that's something that holds up.Another thing that holds up is the action. I love the fight scenes, but it's too bad that a lot of the violence was cut to secure a 'PG' rating. But it's cool now, since the extended cut has surfaced and for some reason only played on movie channels like Showtime.This movie also has some pretty awesome music. It's a shame that an OST for the film's score was never released.Something I don't like about the hate for this movie is how everyone seems to just call this a rip-off of Home Alone and the first live-action TMNT movie just because of the quote from the Boston Globe on the cover of the VHS and DVD. Look, guys, the Boston Globe panned both Home Alone and TMNT, they're not trying to promote it as a rip-off or anything, so calm down.That's my review. Don't look for Citizen Kane in this movie, and don't pass it off as something on the same level as Dora. Just look at it as entertaining fun.And as for the sequels? Well, Knuckle Up and Kick Back were good. Knuckle Up is my favorite because it's action on overdrive, and it doesn't care what the MPAA thinks, because they got a PG-13 rating and took it. Kick Back brought back the same charm that the original had. But High Noon at Mega Mountain was crap. The plot was too silly, but it's fun to watch and laugh at.
bob the moo
The Douglas boys spend their summers and weekends with their grandfather Tanaka, a martial arts expert who, despite his age is still very able and is teaching the boys ninja skills. Their father is an FBI agent, currently trying to capture the criminal giant that is Hugo Snyder. However Snyder is also a former partner of Tanaka and uses this relationship to get close to the his foil's three sons. With Snyder planning a large missile sale to the Middle East, he gets associate Brown to use three lackeys to kidnap the children just in case. However, he doesn't reckon on the skills of the kids and the stupidity of his men.Call me a sucker for punishment but after watching two of the later 3 Ninjas films I figured that I should at least get myself some explanation as to why more than one film had been made. I assumed that the first film must have been good enough to be successful and by extension have made enough money to have justified sequels to a fan-base loyal enough to cover the costs regardless of the product. However watching the first film left me all the more mystified because it turns out that this film series was cheap and poor quality from the very start. The plot is the usual stuff where the boy use their skills to help foil some criminal adults, in this case a criminal that their fed father is chasing. It is predictable fare and all it does is produce some Home Alone style fights.If these were funny and exciting then the film would have its salvation but sadly this is far from the case. The fights are poorly put together with simple moves and nothing in the way of imagination about them. The comedy is basic as well, which is a shame because good physical comedy tends to cover a large age range of viewers but here it is nothing more than simple pratfalls. Turteltaud's direction is a matter of stringing together static shots while the use of music to convey danger or, more often, "wackiness" is just painful. I would lay into the acting of the children but suffice to say that they delver just as much as you would expect. The adults are no better with Wong taking it too serious and McRae and Franco offering nothing. If nothing else at least Kingsley and Swetow have the good taste to be hammy fun.Overall then, few people will be surprised by the quality of this film. It is cheaply done with unimaginative writing and action. The only surprise is that despite this the film managed to churn out some sort of puerile franchise out of these distinctly inauspicious beginning.
