Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie is a continuation of the series of the same name. The film follows a mysterious stranger named Casey Jones who arrives from the future to warn the mutant brothers of an impending invasion of the most dangerous alien force in the galaxy—the Krang.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot Summary
In the year 2044, the world has ended and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles attempt to reverse the apocalypse caused by the powerful alien force Krang. They send their student Casey Jones back in time to get the key and stop the doorway that releases the Krang.
The Foot Clan, worshippers of the Krang, are responsible for stealing the key and freeing it. In the fight for the key, the Turtles lose their mystic powers. When Casey meets the younger Turtles, the Krang has already taken the key and have started unleashing destruction onto the planet.
The Turtles, along with Casey, their friend, April O’Neil, and their dad, Splinter, team up to save the world. But soon Casey realises that the Turtles he is working with are nothing like the ones he has known most of his life, especially his master, Leonardo.
Leo is reckless and impulsive, and has little regard for what his teammates have to say. Raphael, the older brother, struggles with the heavy responsibility of keeping the team safe while Leo takes immature and rash decisions that land them in trouble.
But everything changes when Raphael gets kidnapped by the Krang and the responsibility falls on Leo’s shoulders to lead the team to save the world and rescue Raph at the same time.
While stuck in another situation resulting from Leo’s impulsive actions, Casey confronts Leo about his irrational and selfish decisions. He tells him how the future Leonardo always listens to his team and that is what he taught to Casey. Leo is stunned upon hearing this. He reflects on his behaviour for a long time and then gets his team in order with a newfound resolve.
All of them brainstorm and come up with a plan to get the key from the Krang, force them back to the other side of the portal where they came from, and save Raph. When they reach the site of action, Raph has been transformed into a half-alien, blood-thirsty monster who doesn’t even recognize his brothers.
Raph and Leo have a big fighting match where Raph keeps trying to kill Leo until he apologizes for his behaviour and conveys his empathy for Raph as the team leader. At this point, Leo’s words get through to Raph and he breaks out of the biochemical trap he had been put in by the Krang leader.
While the rest of the team fights the Krang army, Leo takes the leader to the prison realm and battles to keep him there. Realizing that the Krang is too powerful, he orders Casey to shut the portal door behind him. In this way, Leo and the Krang both get stuck in the prison realm.
Distraught, Mikey and Donnie use all their might to try and save Leo when their mystic powers return. Once their powers are restored, they rescue Leo while ensuring that the Krang stays on the correct side of the gateway.
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie ending explained in detail:
Do the Turtles save the world?
The Turtles are able to change the future and save the world from the wrath of the Krang. In Casey’s original timeline, Raph never got kidnapped.
But since this happens in the present timeline, changing the future is possible and a new time branch is created. In the new future, the Turtles along with Casey, April and Splinter defeat the Krang and send him to the prison realm where he had been exiled many years ago, thus avoiding the apocalypse.
Does Leo save Raph?
After Raph gets kidnapped by the Krang, the Krang leader invades Raph’s mind and changes his chemistry in such a way that he becomes half-alien and loses his humanity.
However, deep inside he was still Raphael, the oldest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. When Leo comes to rescue Raph, they get into a long-drawn weapons battle that Raph probably would have won by killing Leo because of his Krang super-strength, but at the last moment, Leo’s words get through to him and the old Raph is back.
This way, Leo is able to save Raph who had sacrificed himself to the Krang in order to save his family.
Who is Cassandra Jones?
Cassandra Jones is an adversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Like April, she is a human but differs in that she is a Foot Clan recruiter. Casey is also a human and he comes from the future — the year 2044, to be precise.
At the end of the film, April’s phone beeps and when she checks her phone, she sees that Cassandra Jones is all over the internet for her work with the Foot Clan. At this point, Casey exclaims that Cassandra Jones is his mother.
In the present timeline however, Casey hasn’t been born yet. Since the future has been changed, this leaves Casey in a weird place. Even more awkward is the fact that he and his mother will most probably have to fight against each other.
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