Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 MPAA Rating: PG Entertainment: +2 Content: -1

Parents beware: those pizza-loving turtles living in the New York sewer system are back with more karate kicks than ever. This time their adventure takes the ninja turtles back to feudal Japan in the year 1603. By means of a magic pole, their human friend April (Paige Turco) is accidentally transported back to Japan. At the same time, the son of vicious Warlord Norinaga is sent to the present time. He tells the turtles that they must go back in time to rescue April and save the beautiful rebel leader Mitsu (Vivian Wu). The son of Lord Norinaga, Kinchi (Sab Shimono), wants to marry Mitsu to avert an imminent civil war. Once there, the turtles kick and chop their way into the hearts of the rebels. They battle against both Lord Norinaga and the greedy Englishman Walker (Stuart Wilson), who sells guns to Lord Norinaga. This sequel consists of ninety minutes of predictability with a plot that only threads the various fight scenes together. Children will undoubtedly respond with glee to the excitement generated by the aggressive turtles.

In a movie aimed exclusively at children, it is especially disturbing to hear offensive language. If artistic realism is the reason, why do large wise-cracking turtles kick their way across the screen? One regular profanity and five moderately crude expressions are superfluous and gratuitous. Another disturbing feature is the focus on violence as entertainment. The Ninja Turtles kick uncountable Japanese soldiers in the stomach and face, and with a sense of joy try to find new ways to knock out their victims. Even if it is considered slapstick or cartoon violence, it still sends a message to children that this is acceptable behavior for them. To counter this message, one of the turtles tells a village child that it is only O.K. for adults to fight and then only as a last resort. The rest of the movie, however, flies in the face of this brief disclaimer. The turtles are obviously having fun fighting and kicking other people. The movie contains no nudity or sexual situations and the close ties that the turtles have for each other sends a positive message. An occult element is introduced when the Japanese see the turtles as demons brought back from the ancient past. Also, Japanese religious philosophies are implied in the story. The rough language and the light view of violence give the TURTLES a few karate-chops short of an acceptable rating given its youthful audience.

Preview Reviewer: Greg Wilson
Distributor: New Line Cinema, 575 8th Ave., 16th Floor, NY, NY 10018