Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Into Dimension X!”

Leatherhead tips off the Turtles, but gets captured in the process. Find out what happens when the Turtles finally invade Dimension X after the jump.

Spoilers Below

Last week, we had an homage to Big Trouble in Little China in “A Chinatown Love Story.” This week the homages continue with “Into Dimension X!” When you sit down to watch “Into Dimension X,” it’s like you stepped back into a 1950’s sci-fi B-movie. The sounds and the premise of Dimension X just hearken back to the times of gaudy and outlandish science fiction tropes, and Dimension X had all of that in droves.

Dimension X was basically Bizarro-land for the Turtles. Before they made the trip, Mikey was just screwing up everything, including the TV, VCR, and a tape of Super Robo Mecha Force Five.  When Donnie accidentially opened as portal to Dimension X while working on his Turtle-Mech, Mikey was originally supposed to stay there. That didn’t last too long, because Mikey jumped in before Donnie, Leo, and Raph could make a plan. So, of course, that means that the team had to find and save Mikey. Or, did they?

That’s what I mean by Bizarro-land. The team made their way in, but it was Mikey who saved them from almost certain doom. That few seconds of a lead that Mikey had was a few months in Dimension X, causing a temporal differential. That few months of a lead did Mikey a lot of good, because Mikey figured out how things worked in Dimension X, leaving the newcomers at a very big disadvantage.  Yes, something that I don’t think ever happened, finally happened after 27 years! Mikey took over for an otherwise dumbfounded and inept Turtles squad!

With Mikey’s newfound leadership and Dimension X knowledge, the Turtles made their way to Krang HQ, where they save Leatherhead, and uncover a Krang invasion. Again, everyone but Mikey were having problems doing their thing, and Mikey saved the day. Donnie could only change the shape of all of the portals, but couldn’t shut them down. Mikey takes over, and goes completely random on the control panel. He gets every portal closed, and gives the team 30 seconds to get out. As Mikey comes out of the portal, he realizes Donnie still needs a power source, and grabs a crystal, which causes a chain reaction, blowing up the Krang HQ in the process.

I have no problems with turning shows on their heads for an episode or two, especially when the show’s goofball can lead a team for a change. You can tell that the writers really care about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, because it’s the little nuances that they carry throughout each episode. Even the animators put the work in, with the exclamation points when a character is surprised, the Turtles’s eyes going all white when they’re getting stealthy, and the stars when a character gets dazed. It’s like watching a GOOD motion comic, not that bullshit that Marvel puts on DVD from time to time.

This incarnation of TMNT gets there. It’s funny, and is easy to follow. Nothing is too over the top, and this actually has a cohesive plot. Check it out now on Nick.com now.