TMNT

In ancient times, an aztec warlord named Yaotl opens a portal into a parallel universe that grants him immortality and petrifies his four generals: Aguila, Gato, Serpiente, and Mono. The portal also releases thirteen immortal monsters that kill his army and enemies while becoming famous mythical monsters as centuries pass.

In the present, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have grown apart after defeating the Shredder. For training, Master Splinter sends Leonardo to Central America, where he becomes the protector of a village, to which the villagers refer to him as the "Ghost of the Jungle". Donatello works as an IT specialist, Michelangelo works as a birthday party entertainer named "Cowabunga Carl", and Raphael continues to fight crime as a masked vigilante known as the "Nightwatcher", which he keeps a secret. The Turtles' old friend April O'Neil now operates a shipping company that acquires relics for collectors, assisted by her boyfriend, Casey Jones.

After traveling to Central America, April tells Leo that his brothers have drifted apart. She then returns to New York City with a statue for wealthy tycoon Max Winters, who hires Shredder's former second-in-command, Karai and her ninja Foot Clan to search the city for the thirteen monsters. Casey figures out about Raph's double identity and joins him in hunting criminals, while Winters, who is actually Yaotl, reanimates his four stone generals using technology created by his company.

Leo returns to the Turtles' lair, where Splinter forbids crime-fighting until they can work as a team. During training, they disobey Splinter and engage Bigfoot, one of the monsters, who is ultimately captured by the Foot Clan and Yaotl's generals. Splinter scolds the Turtles the next day as the Foot and generals capture more monsters. Later, Raphael and Casey encounter the Vampire Succubor, but are spotted during its capture, and Raph is knocked unconscious after escaping. Casey and April care for him and alert the others, leading to the discovery of Yaotl's identity. Revived, Raph urges action, but Leo insists on Splinter's permission. Frustrated, Raph decides to investigate alone.

Donnie learns the next portal will open at Winters' tower, and Splinter urges Leo to find Raph. Yaotl reveals his plan to break the curse and restore his generals to humanity, but the generals plot to betray him and remain immortal. As the Nightwatcher, Raph defeats the Jersey Devil in a diner, but Leo pursues him and finds out about his identity. Raph overwhelms Leo in battle but he flees in shame upon nearly killing him. The generals capture the weakened Leo to replace the thirteenth beast, prompting Raph to rally his allies to rescue him. As the portal opens, Yaotl discovers his generals' betrayal, as Splinter, the Turtles, Casey, and April fight through the Foot Clan to reach the tower and uncover his true intentions.

Refusing to betray Yaotl, Karai and the Foot Clan join forces with April and Casey to locate the final monster, the Sea Monster, while the Turtles battle the generals and Splinter and Yaotl fend off monsters emerging from the portal. April, Casey, and Karai bring the Sea Monster to the tower, where it collides with the generals. Yaotl saves the Turtles, while the generals are dragged into the portal and turned human before it closes. Karai warns the Turtles to savor their victory, hinting at the Shredder's return, before she and the Foot Clan leave. A mortal Yaotl thanks the team and fades into the afterlife, and his helmet joins Splinter's trophy collection alongside Raph's Nightwatcher helmet and Mikey's Cowabunga Carl mask. Returning to their roles as New York's protectors, Raph reaffirms that the Turtles will always be brothers.

An animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film was first announced in 2000, with John Woo supposedly directing, but the project languished in development hell, and Woo ultimately moved on to other projects. TMNT, executive produced by the characters' co-creator Peter Laird, departs from the previous films' live action style and is the first CG animated film in the series. Writer/director Kevin Munroe said that he wanted to do total CGI instead of live action and CGI turtles because it would be easier for the audience to "suspend disbelief for such an offbeat story" as there would be no break in the reality between CGI and live action. Producer Tom Gray explained that the decision to depart from the live action series was due to escalating budgets for the three films, and with each film making less than its predecessor, a CGI film became a reality. For example, the first film made $135.2 million on a budget of $13.5 million, and the third made $44 million on a budget of $21 million. Orange Sky Golden Harvest's rights to the franchise had expired, and Gray said the question arose there over a CGI TMNT film in 2004.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 36% of 120 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5/10. The website's consensus reads: "TMNT's art direction is splendid, but the plot is non-existent and the dialogue lacks the irony and goofy wit of the earlier Ninja Turtles movies." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 41 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on a scale from A+ to F.

Claudia Puig of USA Today gave a negative review, stating that the film "is trying for a new image. But it takes more than an awkward title attempting to sound cool to overcome its mundane plot and silly dialogue". Michael Ordona of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "despite the doll-like cartoonishness of the human figures, the filmmakers seem to expect us to take this animated romp seriously. Too seriously". Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe called the film "a junk-food pastry. The plot is the wrapper. The action is the oily sponge cake. And the message-family, family, family-is the processed cream filling".

Todd Gilchrist of IGN gave the film a positive review, calling it "a fun, action-filled adventure that will satisfy longtime fans and generate a legion of new ones, whether it be by virtue of simple storytelling, solid CGI, carefully-choreographed action, or just the spirit and energy that only the Turtles can create".

Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post felt that the film "is technically superb and quite enjoyable as long as you don't bang your head against the plot, which will cause hot flashes, premature aging and fallen arches".

TMNT ranked number one at the box office on its opening weekend, beating 300 (the top film of the previous two weeks), The Last Mimzy, Shooter, Pride, The Hills Have Eyes 2, and Reign Over Me. Weekend estimates showed that the film made $25.45 million over the weekend of March 23-25, 2007. The film grossed $95.8 million million worldwide, including $54 million domestically during its 91-day run in the 3,120 North American theaters.