All Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movies Ranked

Walt Disney Studios courtesy Everett Collection

(Photo by New Line Cinema courtesy Everett Collection)

Cowabunga! We’re ranking the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, starting with the original! The story of Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, and their sensei Splinter was a hit back in 1990, as audiences were drawn to the movie’s relatively gritty and realistic ninjitsu-practicing half-shelled heroes, in line with the Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird comic book. One year after, at the height of Turtle mania, came sequel Secret of the Ooze, which replaced April O’Neil with a new actress, brought back Shredder, and went to great lengths to tone down the weapon-based violence. One more sequel in 1993 sent the Turtles back in time, a box office under-performer that closed the book on the original movie trilogy.

But the franchise stuck around, through video games, comics, action figures, and numerous television series. Seems like there’s always a market for brash, active reptiles for young people to latch onto. This has led to film revivals throughout the years, including an animated film in 2007, and a Michael Bay-produced reboot in 2014. As the franchise celebrates over 35 years of unlikely and phenomenal success, we’re ranking all the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies by Tomatometer!

Adjusted Score: 27.83%

Critics Consensus: Neither entertaining enough to recommend nor remarkably awful, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may bear the distinction of being the dullest movie ever made about talking bipedal reptiles.

Synopsis: The city needs heroes. Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an… [More]

Adjusted Score: 24.868%

Critics Consensus: It’s a case of one sequel too many for the heroes in a half shell, with a tired time-travel plot gimmick failing to save the franchise from rapidly diminishing returns.

Synopsis: This third film in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series finds the half-shelled ninjas traveling back in time to 17th-century… [More]

Adjusted Score: 37.814%

Critics Consensus: Not only is the movie’s juvenile dialogue unbearable for adults, but the turtles’ dopey and casual attitude towards physical violence makes them poor kids’ role models.

Synopsis: The crime-fighting Turtles — Michaelangelo (Michelan Sisti), Donatello (Leif Tilden), Raphael (Kenn Troum), and Leonardo (Mark Caso) — return in… [More]

Adjusted Score: 38.512%

Critics Consensus: TMNT’s art direction is splendid, but the plot is non-existent and the dialogue lacks the irony and goofy wit of the earlier Ninja Turtles movies.

Synopsis: The stars have aligned in an ominous sign, and as a legion of malevolent monsters descends upon New York City… [More]

Adjusted Score: 43.258%

Critics Consensus: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a slight improvement over its predecessor, but still lacks the wit or anarchic energy of the comics that birthed the franchise.

Synopsis: Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael return to theaters this summer to battle bigger, badder villains, alongside April O’Neil (Megan Fox),… [More]

Adjusted Score: 43.376%

Critics Consensus: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is exactly as advertised: one-liners, brawls, and general silliness. Good for the young at heart, irritating for everyone else.

Synopsis: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie is the live-action, feature film adaptation of the cult comic book and the popular… [More]