TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (2016)

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (2016)

Tagline:  Raise some shell.

(Action, Adventure, Comedy) [PG-13]

Guys, nobody move! Don't move... there is a giant rat back there.

In this one, the turtles are still lurking in the shadows as Shedder is being transported from one detention facility to another. April O’Neil is working on a case where she discovers that Baxter Stockman (played by Tyler Perry) is working on a teleportation device to free Shredder. Instead of being transported to Baxter’s lab, he is instead transported to another dimension where he meets an alien named Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett). Krang tells him where a device is hidden on earth in 3 parts that can teleport Krang back to earth along with his machine of destruction known as the Technodrone. Meanwhile, Shredder tests a mutagen that Krang gives him on two criminals known as Bebop (played by Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (played by Stephen Farrelly). Can Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo defeat not only Shedder but a giant mutant warthog, rhino, and Krang? 

First off, I love that they got most of the gang back together for this second installment in the series. It seems like they were swinging for the fences here, but didn’t even double its budget at the box office. It’s like that means we are never getting a 3rd Michael Bay-produced turtle film (unless he does something with GAMERA someday?).

Megan Fox as April O’ Neil has come into her own by now in this role and I was happy to see Will Arnett back as Vernon even in a limited capacity. Newcomers included Stephen Amell as Casey Jones. I liked Amell in the part, but he had his trademark mask and hockey stick for far too little of this movie. Laura Linney (known for CONGO) added some star power along with Tyler Perry (known for the MADEA series and basically being one of the most successful people in Hollywood), but this movie really didn’t need it. 

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS is by far the best NINJA turtles movie ever made. Nothing even remotely comes close. I get some of the complaints about the storyline being over the top, but the comics and every TV show involving the turtles are over the top. I felt the chances this movie took were all really incredible and we're really aimed at fans that might have disliked the first movie for some damn reason. Yes, we still have those crazy turtle face designs, but anyone that saw the first film is probably over it by now. The production crew did decide to make them a lighter green this time around. I do wish they had stuck with the same suit that Shredder had in the first movie, but it makes sense that it would have been scrapped after he went to jail. 

Aside from the opening sequence where April changes into a schoolgirl outfit, the script on this thing is just really a blast, and not nearly as cringy in some parts as the first installment. I am guessing the schoolgirl outfit thing was thrown in to tout the fact that Megan Fox was in this movie, but it came across as strangely awkward given the rest of the setting. If anything, they should have given April her yellow jacket back. Who the crap has her yellow jacket? Where is that thing?

Cinematically this movie was big, over the top and just freakin nuts and the pacing is solid. In other words, I absolutely loved it. I also really liked all the nods to the comics and TV shows. 

For me, this is a 6 out of 7. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

A look around the series...

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

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