The turtles are back with a Michael Bay re-imagining featuring a fresh take. After the joke that was Transformers 4 I was sceptical of what was going to become of the turtles, and nothing could be worse than the animated movie which came out in 2007.

The story focuses on the evil Shredder and his Foot Clan trying to create a virus which they will release on New York City, and corrupt Eric Sacks selling the cure to make lots of money. The only thing that stands in their way is the turtles.

The turtles have been hiding underground and are eager to explore the streets, and help the citizens of the city. Eventually they are photographed by April O’Neil (played by Megan Fox who everyone thought had a barmy with Bay). She learns their secret and eventually finds out she has more in common with the turtles than she thinks.

The turtles this time round are no longer small normal sized, but instead Bay has decided to make them into huge steroid loaded reptiles with their own personal looks, Donatello for example is loaded with gadgets while Michelangelo carries a skateboard. It’s an interesting way the characters defining traits have also been used to dress them essentially, something which wasn’t really done previously.

Shredder though has been really taken to the next level. He looks like a genuine ninja monster who should be feared and definitely lives up to the name compared to all the previous incarnations. When he gets fully armoured up and completely destroys splinter, the turtles see how much of foe he is, completely brutal and with no mercy – how a villain should be.

TMNT is a great effort from Michael Bay. He has taken what made the cartoons and comics fun and brought them to the current generation, much like what he did at the start of Transformers. I only hope it doesn’t go into the same decline in terms of plot and acting.