BRIEF STORYLINE: Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady are in the city to steal a rare new form of mutagen created by Oswald Dren, a graduate student. Accidentally, the mutagen, is spilled on a film reel and characters from a movie come to life, including the hero of the film, Rondo, who is not too far an impersoantion of "Rambo". The turtles scope the streets to find the actor of the character Rondo to help get rid of the movie monsters, however, the actor is a wimp...
Can the turtles turn the Rondo actor, who knows how to destroy the monsters, as told in the movie, from scaredy coward, to man of steel? Can they stop Shredder and company at the same time?
TMNT REVIEW HQ COMMENTS: Good idea for an episode that doesn't pay off, due to bad editing and a lousy Rambo rip-off character.
It does start off well, as the turtles in the lair talk about the new Rondo movie in cinemas, with some nice humour from Raphael, who "would rather wait for the video", instead of going to the cinema. The first scene we see of Krang and Shredder in the Technodrome making their plans again isn't up to much, but lightened up by Shredder's cheeky remark to Krang that he has no spine, which Krang does not react nicely calling it a "cheap shot".
One of the few good scenes is the action of Shredder, Rocksteady and Bebop invading the lab for the rare form of mutagen. It all ends in funny fashion, as the first movie character to come alive are a Tom and Jerry-esque duo of Cheesy and Sleazy, with Bebop and Rocksteady praising their violent but silly exploits.
The action in the cinema with the turtles and Bebop and Rocksteady, however, is slow and slapstick. However, it is the beginning of the good idea, of the movie monsters coming alive. Raphael tries to taunt them on the rooftop and get their attention with "Hey, big and ugly!".
We find out the real life actor who play Rondo is nothing like a hero is like a wimp. Amusing for the first few seconds, but his dialogue is unfunny throughout. However, there is something true about this, some actors are not like the hardmen they portray in films (i.e. Bruce Willis).
Some nice wordplay goes on from Raphael, who couldn't resist saying Rondo lives in a condo! On the action front, the scene where the movie Rondo, and the bad monsters are brought alive, is unimpressive. However, in the final fight, in which the turtles fend off the movie monsters, is well done, and a good variety of classic villains/monsters you might know, are involved, like Dracula and the Mummy.
The ending is very entertaining, and the episode ends in the setting of the Technodrome, which is an unusual event. It involves the return of Cheesy and Sleazy, which causes chaos in the Technodrome, with Bebop and Rocksteady having an accident in the midst of it all.
"RONDO IN NEW YORK" GETS A: 2/5 RATING.
