By Dustin Cabeal

As a lifelong fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, most people expect me to be tired of the franchise or, worse yet, hate every new iteration of the franchise. And while I have been that person for other franchises, I have found it to be a waste of energy and passion. There is, in fact, only one iteration of the TMNT that I have not enjoyed or consumed, and that was the terrible Michael Bay live-action films. There was no greater joy for me than the sequel succeeding in ending the live-action reboot. The one lasting effect that the Bay live-action films have had is the infusion of hip-hop into the franchise, or rather, a more mainstream approach to hip-hop/rap, having moved away from songs about the Turtles or Ninjas… for the most part.

To get it out of the way, I just love the Ninja Turtles. I love seeing what they’ll do with them, how they’ll tweak them and change them, and for some reason, it doesn't corrupt my childhood memories of the animated series and pretending to be Donatello with my three friends making out the rest of the Turtles. It was an amazing feeling to watch this new version with my sons and see them enjoy what’s already their second Ninja Turtle franchise.