'''''Tagline:''' The turtles are back... in time.''
Plot summary
April O'Neil finds a scepter and is sent back in time to feudal Japan, and in her place, a man from feudal Japan comes to present New York City with the same scepter, but from his own time. The turtles take the scepter and travel back in time to save April. When the turtles arrive in feudal Japan, many people in a local village understand English because the village has strong trade relations with England. The turtles fight ''Lord Norinaga'' and the English trader ''Walker'' to stop a war.Plot
In feudal Japan, a man is seen fighting a group of men, who drag him off. In the present, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles perform a little dance number in an abandoned subway station. After which, Raphael decides to destroy their stereos.April O'Neil has been shopping at the flea market in preparation for her upcoming vacation. She brings her friends gifts to cheer them up. Michelangelo is given a lampshade, Donatello is given an old radio, Leonardo is given a book on swords and Raphael is to receive a cowboy hat, but having stormed off earlier, he is never formally given it.
For Splinter, she brings an ancient Japanese scepter. But back in the past, the man who was taken, Kenshin, is being yelled at by his father, Lord Norinaga. He leaves his father's presence and throws priests out of a temple. There, he finds the same scepter and reads the inscription: "Open Wide the Gates of Time". In the present, April is looking at the scepter and it begins to light up and a small bit inside begins to spin. She is then sent back in time and Kensin forward in time. Before he storms off, Walker, an English trader, is introduced.
Upon arrival, April is kidnapped and put in prison. Lord Norinaga wants her to suffer. Back in the present, the turtles are freaking out of this and are dubbed "kappa", which is a water demon in Japan. They make friends with Kenshin and decide to go back in time to get April. They bring Casey back to watch over the lair, and that is well enough, as four Honor Guards are replaced by the turtles.
Back in time, the turtles arrive on horses, and Michelangelo can't ride properly and gets kidnapped. The scepter was also taken with him. The others go to search for April. When they get to a more populated area they are quickly mistaken for Honor Guards. They find themselves in the jail after following one of Walker's thugs.
After a sloppy rescue, involving another captured person (who April deems like Casey), they are all left alone without a clue where to go. Meanwhile, in the present, Kenshin is getting impatient and Casey introduces him, and the Honor Guards, to hockey. An attack on the turtles, again mistaken for the Honor Guards, leads them to Mitsu, leader of the rebellion against Lord Norinaga.
They find that Mitsu's village is being burned to the ground and they go to save it. Two men let Michelangelo out of his prison, thinking him an Honor Guard. He shows them his face and they run away. Michelangelo insists that he is a "beautiful princess in disguise", but he is distracted by swords. Michaelangelo saves a boy named Yoshi from a fire, then Leo helps by performing CPR.
Anguished by the loss of the scepter, the turtles decide to make a new one. Walker continues bargaining with Lord Norinaga over the lord buying guns for gold or silver. Michelangelo wastes no time teaching some of the people about pizza, but when he bites down, he bites the pan and decides it is a frizbee. Ralph gets in touch with his sensitive side as well, through the child Yoshi.
Back in the present, the Honor Guards from the past are challenged to a hockey game by Casey. To his dismay, he finds they think hockey is beating up each other. In the past, the new scepter is completed, only to be dropped by Michelangelo and Raphael. Mitsu informs them that Lord Norinaga has guns and will attack the next day.
After being nice to Yoshi, Raphael receives the original scpeter from him as a gift. They are overjoyed to see it, but angry at Mitsu because they felt she hid it to force them to fight. Mitsu is then kidnapped by the man they saved when they saved April. They go to save her, and after a while of fighting, Leonardo defeats Lord Norinaga, comedically finishing him by cutting his hair.
Walker now has the scepter, and uses it to his advantage. He tries to escape by tossing it off a rooftop, only to forget his precious birds. The turtles catch the scepter, and the very man who betrayed them finished Walker by knocking him into the ocean. The turtles then debate whether to or not to go home. The scepter activates, making their decision harder. They all decide to go, but Michelangelo misses the ride home.
After the other turtles return to the present, the Honor Guard who replaced Michelangelo runs off with the scepter. A flash of light occurs, and Michelangelo comes back. He is depressed, until Splinter puts the lampshade on his head as a joke. Then the turtles end it off with another dance number.
Goofs
*After arriving in Japan, Donatello tries to talk to people. "Ohayo wasabi!" he says. Raphael criticizes him, asking, "Hello, mustard?" But wasabi is a form of Japanese horseradish, not mustard.*A lot of times throughout the movie, the turtles vocalize, but their lips don't move.
*At one point during the climactic battle scene between the rebels and Norinaga's guards, the focus is on the principal characters while the fighting continues in the background. During this, some of the extras can be seen sparring with their weapons noticeably held several inches apart instead of clashing together. Apparently the extras didn't realize they were being filmed at an angle that made their lack of contact obvious.
Reception
The film was criticized by fans of the first and second films who said that it was too cartoony and that the plot was unrealistic and silly (though at the same time, it also has the most combat). Critic Fred Topel called it a ''"Terrible conclusion of the trilogy."''Many fans have praised the movie for its fight scenes, use of weapons, and funny lines (most notably those said by Donatello), and the return of Elias Koteas as Casey Jones and Corey Feldman as Donatello's voice. Some fans state that their only real complaint is the less-realistic costumes and puppetry of the turtles and Splinter.
Peter Laird has gone on to note in interviews that the fourth in the movie series will retcon the third movie out of existence, and base it in the continuity of the first film, and the portions of the second that made sense to him (the TMNT learning their origins and Shredder's death) much like ''Superman Returns'' is based on the first movie and aspects of the second
Box office
Released in 2,087 theatres, the film proved to be very popular at the box office, taking in $12,419,597 on its opening weekend in the United States. The film would gross $42,273,609 in the domestic market, accumulating more than double its budget of $21 million.Trivia
* Although Corey Feldman returned to voice Donatello after doing the original film, he did not return for the first sequel.* The scepter is quite possibily a nod to the "Sacred Sands of Time Scepter" from the original Eastman and Laird's ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' comic series, from the crossover story with Dave Sim's ''Cerebus'' character.
References
<div class="references-small">* Reviews ''Rotten Tomatoes''. Retrieved January 14, 2005.
* Box office information ''Box Office Mojo''. Retrieved January 14, 2005.
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