Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Directed By: David Green
When Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird first created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics back in the mid 80's their intention was never to be taken seriously. They came up with the story as an idea of a way to parody some of the most popular comics of the 80's, most notably being Daredevil, and they wore that notion on their sleeve as a badge of honor making some of the most outrageous stories and characters in comic book lore. That means it should go without saying that a movie made about these characters should be equally absurd and out of this world and should embrace the insanity of the source material.
The 2014 film failed to reach that mark for many old school fans (it had no problem locking in the younger crowd) who complained the film focused too much on April and not nearly enough on the Turtles. Complaints were heard apparently because David Greens (Earth to Echo) follow up to the film, Out of the Shadows, goes full on cheese mode and embraces every drop of insanity the Ninja Turtles have to offer. Bringing the Turtles front and center and adding on classic villains Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Sheamus), as well as super villain Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett), and the fan favorite vigilante Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) make this film one giant love letter to the beloved comics and classic cartoons.
It has been a year since the boys stopped Shredder (now played by Brian Tee) from destroying the city and attempting to take over the world, but still they are forced to live underground and only go out into the world at night. They cannot take credit for their heroism in fear of letting the world know they exist but when a new threat comes to earth, one that threatens the entire human race, they are forced out of the shadows and into the light.
In the most literal way I may have ever seen this movie plays like a live action cartoon, so that's about as deep as the plot goes. They don't take time to establish a well thought out story but instead deliver one that is just enough to keep the film moving along. That is completely fine in this case though as the real appeal to this movie and these stories are the characters, and this film fully embraces who those characters are. To do so we as an audience are asked to suspend some of our disbelief and as long as you are able to do that this film is an absolute blast.
This time around the film opens with the turtles running through the city, scaling buildings, and diving through ventilation shafts to find their way to the Knicks game letting us know this time around we will be spending plenty of time with our guys and that they will behave just as we'd hoped they would- silly. We knew from the first film that they understood the turtles so once it was confirmed they would get their screen time the real question became whether or not they could nail Bebop and Rocksteady, and they totally do.
From the moment Bebop first opens his mouth to dish some truly cheese ball dialogue we instantly know they are embracing these characters absurdity. Nothing they say seems like words any real or sensible human would ever utter but it totally works with these guys. Their relationship with each other is as animated as it could get yet it never feels wrong. Tyler Perry also shows up as esteemed scientist Baxter Stockman and his over-the-top hand waving insanity is just a little more welcomed madness to this flick. Stephen Amell also does a great job as the hockey stick wielding Casey Jones, who should play a large part going forward in these films.
Though the movie is a raucous good time it is far from perfect, and most of the scenes with Megan Fox's April O'Neil and Will Arnett's Vernon Fenwick will remind you of that. The two are fine in their roles but with so much more of the weird and supernatural breaking out in this movie going back to the more "human" plot lines just feels kind of unnecessary and boring. This movie proved that these turtles can lead a movie so I think it's time we phase Vernon out and put April in more scenes with the Turtles rather than off "investigating".
If there was one thing the first movie nailed it was the action, that downhill car chase is still one of the coolest sequences I have seen in recent memory. So it doesn't come as any surprise that they are just as fun this second time around. There are a few moments of incohesive action but other than that the scenes are well choreographed and executed. The CG on all of the turtles as well as Bebop, Rocksteady, and Krang are phenomenal and without these characters would have never been possible to bring to screen believably.
David Green came into this franchise and did what he could to continue doing right what they had nailed while fixing as many of the problems that first film had and for the most part he is wildly successful. He took a ridiculous property that is loved by so many and made a film that embraces every little bit of that insanity. I stated earlier that this film plays like a live action cartoon and I couldn't be anymore serious about that. The characters are way larger than life, the dialogue is purposefully corny, and the plot requires us to suspend our disbelief quite a bit, but we have such a good time hanging with these character that it is all welcomed with open arms.
As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!
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