Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) Review!!

Synopsis – After facing Shredder, who has joined forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman and henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady to take over the world, the Turtles must confront an even greater nemesis: the notorious Krang.

My Take – As a kid growing up in 90s, I was a huge fan of the TMNT franchise. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles began as a dark comic book series in 1984, later spinning off to have its own family friendly cartoon series, toys, video games, followed by a cartoonish film trilogy, a live action TV series & an amazing yet an underrated 2007 animated film. While, the franchise keeps expanding till date, producer Michael Bay went on to reboot the beloved characters to a grittier, and (apparently) realistic Transformers like (understandable as Michael Bay has produced and directed all those financially successful films) take for the 2014 film. While, I was surprisingly content with the film, mainly due to its nostalgic charm, the audience and critical reception was out right negative. Yet, despite the negativity, the film ended up being financially successful with $493.3 million worldwide and of course in Hollywood that calls for a sequel. And to my surprise this film was actually very entertaining. Personally I would have preferred to see this Dave Green directed film released earlier, mainly as this sequel is superior in every dimension. Although its plot is predictable, its characters, humour and action are sufficient enough to carry the movie’s downfalls. Its good to see producer Michael Bay & director Dave Green except the nature of this series, and take the leap to introduce the other crazy characters from a universe we have grown up loving like Bebop, Rocksteady, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and Krang.

The writers have really thrown their eggs into one basket and it worked. So very often, screen time and plot can suffer because of a character introduction and the subsequent make up of their involvement within the walls of the story. However, this did not hinder the film one bit. The characters were introduced and spaced well from each other. While the Turtles were far and away the highlight of the first film, their grittier design and lack of proper development was no doubt a downside. Now, I must admit, where in the first film I honestly could not stand the look and feel of the Turtles, I have begun to come around to, not necessarily enjoying, but tolerating their massive Hulk-like looks, and this is because Leo, Raph, Donny and Mikey are all super fun to watch, with more chemistry developed throughout the cast members and a much more classic Ninja Turtle vibe to the Turtles in this film. Eating pizza, cracking jokes, awesome ninja action and just generally acting like teenagers are all major points in the development of these characters, and with this sequel, there is some more of that old school TMNT feel between the four brothers. Even if there is an alarming lack of literal action scenes involving our favorite mutants, the Turtles are once again the best part of the movie, as they should be. The story follows our titular brothers Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), Donatello (Jeremy Howard), Leonardo (Pete Ploszek) and Raphael (Alan Ritchson) after the events of the first film. During a prison transfer, the notorious Shredder (Brian Tee) and two guns for hire Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Stephen Farrelly) are broken out of custody by the foot clan with the help of famous scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry). Upon forming a partnership with the squid like alien Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett), Shredder sends Bebop & Rocksteady to collect the final pieces to teleport Krang’s war machine known as the technodrome to earth. Operating from the shadows and passing on their credit to ex-camera man Vernon (Will Arnett), the turtles must now step outside & stop Shredder & Krang with the help of investigative reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and officer Casey Jones (Stephen Amell). The sequel seems to have taken note of big complaints fans had about the first and has worked to improve on it. The first writers to the reboot, Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec continue to pen the script here. Replacing Jonathan Liebesman, with Dave Green (Earth to Echo) was definetly a good idea, as this film feels more like a Nickelodeon film. It definitely does have that “Nick” feel to it that I’ve come to associate with the network, at least almost a decade and a half ago – the humor is there. This film actually has that style of humor throughout, while still delivering something almost cynical, jaded and quiet serious in nature of the 90s when the original films were released. Is it possible to get that kind of mixture in the modern era? Perhaps that is the kind of movie that will see the limelight – this one is an example that such a thing can exist. The best way I could explain this movie is perhaps on par with the original “Ghostbusters”. It takes something that might normally be serious, and throws in a touch of humor and turns it into a mixed-bag-of-tricks to deliver a wonderful experience once it is done. The film is silly and flamboyant enough to work as a live-action cartoon movie. It embraces its crazy plot (the story operates in a world where mutant turtles have been taught martial arts by a mutant rat like common). Bebop and Rocksteady were a fun addition. I love how Casey considered whether they would be stupid enough to go to their old hangout after breaking out of the police van and said, “Yeah, they are,” just after I said it. The movie held true to the characters while modernizing them. Their idea to form their own foot clan and move up to “a leg clan” was hysterical, as was their resolve to no longer be errand boys breaking within a minute of their declaration. I love the messages in this movie. Being an outcast sucks. People hate and fear what they don’t know. Mikey’s expression when he said he saw hate in the people’s eyes when the police chief called them monsters was heartbreaking. The Turtles considered being human but learned not to change who you are to fit in. The turtles were the only ones who could save Earth, because their biological makeup allowed them to get close to the Technodrome whereas humans couldn’t. So good they didn’t turn human! The movie taught not to write off anyone based on first impressions. The police and the Turtles gave each other another chance. The Turtles learned people could come to accept them, and the police saw they weren’t monsters. The brothers also learned that appreciating each other’s uniqueness and playing off one another’s strengths is how to save the day, not expecting everyone to be the same. Leo’s frustration and cognitive rigidity was so me, but he came around and learned that lesson too.

There were so many great scenes that were just plain fun, like the Turtles watching the Knicks game – especially the spit balls and pizza. And when they all said what they had that others don’t, and Raph exclaimed, “Garbage truck!” instead of, “Turtle power!” That still makes me laugh out loud. And that TMNT theme at the end that blended the original TV series theme song with “Ninja Rap”. So awesome! Speaking of action sequences, the movie never strays away from the basic Michael Bay blockbuster formula (he’s the producer, of course): over-the-top CGI-heavy destruction, one action set piece after another. If the first TMNT movie offers a fun-filled chase down a snowy mountain, the most adrenaline-pumping action sequence here starts with skydiving and ends with a waterfall jump. The film also takes the liberty in ripping-off previous blockbusters – a retrofitted garbage-slash-war truck (Mad Max), a via inter-dimensional sky portal alien invasion (The Avengers) and a police car chase/prisoner escape scene (The Dark Knight and Fast and Furious). And as if to acknowledge the debt, Raphael mutters to himself, “What would Vin Diesel do?”. The film also suffers a lot of what we can call “convenient circumstances” — unaddressed plot holes are deliberately ignored by forgetting events and characters being conveniently placed at locations to advance the plot without explanation whatsoever. Also, it may be nitpicking but there’s no attempt to explain how these turtles become experts in crafting CIA-level tech. While the movie is action packed from start to finish, sometimes it does feel like you’re endlessly hurtling towards the finish. Shredder in particular suffers from this quite a bit. He never really gets an opportunity to be truly dastardly. Karai does get ‘a’ moment but when you consider her potential as a strong female character as seen previously in the franchise, you get the feeling she’s quite wasted here. The cast is decent for the most part, led by Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, and Alan Ritchson as Mikey, Donny, Leo and Raph respectfully, with Fisher stealing pretty much every scene he’s in as Mikey. Bepop and Rocksteady are in good hands with Gary Anthony Williams and Stephen Farrelly and even the overlord Krang is done quite well by 3-time Emmy winner Brad Garrett. Tyler Perry is surprisingly great as mad scientist Baxter Stockman, charming to watch in his science quests and his hilarious evil laugh. On the other side of the coin, we have some poorly cast actors and poorly written characters. Megan Fox, though undeniably sexy, thankfully, is in less of the film this time around, but when she is, she’s the worst April O’Niel we could have possibly gotten. Her character is horribly developed, and her portrayal is even worse. The always funny Will Arnett plays his part well. Laura Linney is wasted. It’s terribly unfortunate that even though Brian Tee seems perfectly cast as the Shredder he is extremely underused. And I like Stephen Amell (Arrow), but he is no Casey Jones. He seems stiff and unresponsive to the rest of the cast, I wasn’t feeling that old Casey Jones appeal with his portrayal. Elias Koteas encapsulated the essence of Casey in the very first live action picking way back in the early 90’s. It was his feverish, awkward charm and humour that worked well with the lovable vigilante. Amell just didn’t portray that. He wasn’t endearing enough! However, the movie is well worth a scope. Yes, it is ridiculous. Yes, it cannot be taken seriously. Yes, it is about four mutant turtles saving the world from a giant pink piece of chewing gum. But it is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The movie itself does not take its own self seriously. It is alive with humour, fast action, gizmos and gadgets, sci-fi aliens and ships, hot chicks, one liners and all the turtling you can handle. On the whole, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows’ re-wires the franchise to the right direction by delivering what the fans of the franchise deserve. It is better in nearly every way than its predecessor.