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Parents' Guide to

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Reboot offers impressive action, distracting innuendo.

Movie PG-13 2014 101 minutes
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 24 parent reviews

karina C.
karina C. Parent of 6-year-old
August 6, 2023
age 13+

Not the right rating. Should be rated PG 13 at least.

I have no clue how it got a PG rating. Not only are there curse words but a ton of killing violence, kidnapping, and torture. I understood there would be some violence but I expected it to be like the 90s cartoon. This has death throughout including a scene where a villain gets a sword stabbed through the face. Quite gruesome. It’s also very fast and dark. Hard to watch. Had to take my kid out half way through. If it had a higher rating I’d actually like it as an adult. For adults: The humor was great, the music was gold, and Jackie Chan was perfection as daddy splinter. Again this is NOT a family movie despite what the previews say. Again just don’t take your kids to see it.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
1 person found this helpful.
Sara S.
Sara S. Parent of 9 and 10-year-old
August 4, 2023
age 12+

Not for young kids!

I am a fan of TMNT, but this movie did not cut it for me. I took my kids, 9 and 10, and I found this movie to be inappropriate for PG. Super Fly (villian) had plenty of curse words to grace our children's ears with, and it became more frequent as the movie went on. The violence was a bit too much, showing torture and even stabbing with weapons. It is not a movie I recommend for anyone younger than 12 or 13.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
1 person found this helpful.
See all 24 parent reviews

What's the Story?

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES -- yet another incarnation of the legendary sewer-dwelling, pizza-loving reptiles -- takes place in New York City, where a crime wave is unleashed by the evil Shredder (Tohoru Masamune) and his gang of goons, the Foot Clan. Investigating a mysterious vigilante standing up to the Foot Clan, TV reporter April O'Neil (Megan Fox) runs in to not one crime fighter but four: masked talking turtles named Leonardo (performed by Pete Ploszek, voiced by Johnny Knoxville), Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), Donatello (Jeremy Howard), and Raphael (Alan Ritchson). At first, they make her faint, but later they remind her of an old lab experiment conducted by her dead father and Eric Sachs (William Fichtner), a well-known scientist in the city. As April connects the dots, she agrees to help the Turtles (and break a story about the underground heroes), but they all fall prey to Shredder's master plan to control the city. The only way to save New York is to work together.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (24 ):
Kids say (57 ):

Tweens and teens are likely to enjoy this fun live-action reboot. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles combines producer Bay's signature explosive thrills and obsession with Fox's body with the impressively realistic Turtles, thanks to Industrial Light & Magic's performance-capture technology (similar to WETA's technology for Rise of the Planet of the Apes). Younger viewers are unlikely to quibble or care about the various ridiculous plot points or unintentionally funny one-liners -- or the many ways that April is reduced from an all-around awesome character to the object of lust for both the Turtles (specifically Mikey) and her trusted cameraman Vern (Will Arnett).

But adults may wonder what the point is of rebooting the franchise for a younger generation when the animated series is still popular on television and the movie focuses so much more on Fox's hot bod than the funny and sweet relationship between the four Renaissance-named brothers. Sure, there's just enough about the Turtles to get that Mikey's the one who's got a crush on April and Donnie's the smart one who can hack or fix or engineer any piece of electronics, but there's no real soul in this installment. Still, the action scenes are cool enough, and the Turtles' movements are fun to watch. And maybe that's enough. But a "totally tubular" reboot this isn't, and it's sad how much of it relies on April being a babe.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Do you think you have to watch the show or be familiar with the comics to fully appreciate the movie? What are some comparisons?

  • Who's the movie's intended audience? Is it today's kids (and, if so, what age group?) or grown-ups who were kids when the toys were first popular in the '80s?

  • Why are April's body and attractiveness mentioned so frequently? Is it funny or unnecessary? Is April more than her looks?

  • If you aren't familiar with the TV show or the comics, does the movie make you want to check them out?

  • How do the characters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles demonstrate teamwork? Why is this an important character strength?

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