Brian Tochi works best when he can give a comic character some steadiness and affection. We prefer his Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the narrower, accent-led parts that recur in his live-action comedy work.
Fi1m perspective
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), a joke changes according to which brother delivers it. Brian Tochi’s Leonardo has the steadiness of a leader without losing his place in the comedy. Josh Pais voices Raphael, Corey Feldman voices Donatello and Robbie Rist voices Michelangelo, and the four sound like different personalities rather than variations on the same adolescent gag. We laughed at their exchanges because that distinction gives even the cheekier material some character. Director Steve Barron lets them talk, and those stretches reward the patience required elsewhere.
Tochi’s move from television into film comedy in the 1980s brought more restrictive parts. He plays Toshiro Takashi in Revenge of the Nerds (1984), a poor college comedy whose racial stereotypes and voyeuristic humour make its underdogs hard to support. Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards supply some warmth, but there is too little of it to make the film worth recommending. Tochi’s Tomoko Nogata in Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) belongs to the same broad-comedy phase. The repeated use of distinctive accents and mannerisms in these supporting roles limits how much we get to discover about the characters.
Leonardo offered a more useful balance of responsibility and humour. Tochi returned to the role in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), before further animation work including recurring contributions to Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005). His contribution to the first film is modest but important: the leader sounds as though he likes the brothers he has to lead. That affection keeps the sensible character from becoming merely the one who interrupts the fun.
We would like casting directors to trust him with more of that quiet responsibility. There is nothing wrong with a broad comic part, but it needs more writing than an accent and an entrance. Start with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, provided its scrappy action and stretches of sluggish storytelling are acceptable terms for an evening.
Biography
Brian Tochi, born Brian Keith Tochihara on 2 May 1963 in Los Angeles, California, is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor in the late 1960s, appearing in television series and advertisements.
Tochi is known for his role as Toshiro Takashi in Revenge of the Nerds (1984) and subsequent films in the franchise. He played Cadet (later Lieutenant) Tomoko Nogata in Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986) and Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987), and voiced Leonardo in the first three live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films (1990–1993). His other credits include voice work in animated series and a guest role in Star Trek (1966) as a child, followed by an appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
