'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows' review

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is the sequel to the 2014 reboot of the classic 1980's franchise. Sporting a new director with Dave Green (Earth to Echo) replacing Jonathan Liebesman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Wrath of the Titans) and featuring a marketing campaign showcasing its fan-pleasing array of characters, Out of the Shadows is set to take aim at fans disappointed with the 2014 predecessor and bring them on board with the newly relaunched franchise. The film follows the four brothers and ally April O'Neil (Megan Fox) on the trail of a sinister plot relating to their nemesis, Shredder (Brian Tee). As they discover more, the turtles must join forces with Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) to ensure the safety of New York .

Fans of the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise may find the new film has a lot to offer them, as the film is littered with new fan-favourite characters. The villainous Shredder is now joined by his henchmen Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE's Sheamus), a mutated warthog and rhino set to give the turtles a physical match. Stephen Amell joins the cast as vigilante Casey Jones with a slightly different background to the one fans will be familiar with. Shredder is quickly revealed to be in leagues with Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett), a being from a different dimension who plans on enslaving our own. Tyler Perry stars as the nefarious scientist, Baxter Stockman. With so many new characters joining the already large cast, you'd be forgiven for worrying that the film could easily collapse under its own weight. This surprisingly doesn't become an issue, as the numerous villains all serve one narrative thread, unlike for example Spider-Man 3 or The Amazing Spider-Man 2, both of which utilized three separate villains with their own narrative that made those films clunky and overstuffed. The one issue it does present, though, is that fans may be disappointed to discover their favourite characters don't get a lot to do. Casey Jones does indeed don his iconic mask, but it's for one sequence that fans will have already seen in the trailers. Krang is technically the main villain, but the film doesn't spend a lot of time with him. The character isn't really set up, either, making his initial appearance early in the film rather jarring. Shredder (he main antagonist from the previous film) returns here with a stronger character, but that's mainly due to the film actually giving the character a strong actor, whereas in the first film when unmasked he was played by an unknown in the shadows. However, this goes to waste as Shredder's role in the film is incredibly minimal. The two characters that really get a chance to shine are Bebop and Rocksteady, as the film utilizes them as the physical lackeys, or "errand boys" as Shredder puts it, to the main villains, allowing them to be the physical presence against which the turtles battle for the majority of the film. The two are stupidly charming, and arguably a highlight of the sequel. 

The first Ninja Turtles film succeeded whenever it allowed the fun of the franchise to leak through and the four titular turtles' personalities shined through the Michael Bay remake filter that some believed plagued the first, with many citing the elevator scene as a highlight of what the film should have focused on. While Bay's grubby thumbprints can still be seen on the sequel, with a scene of Megan Fox using her sexuality to fool a villain feeling in line with his Transformers films, Out of the Shadows gives a lot more focus to the turtles, making for a funner film than the first. Not all of the humour sticks, but enough does to make the film enjoyable. Out of the Shadows also attempts to explore the characters a little deeper than the first, but stumbles as it does. While all four brothers struggle with balancing their obsession for the culture of New York and the people that live their with their inability to blend among us, it is a particular struggle that the character of Michaelangelo struggles with. Mikey is given a strong scene in the film relating to this which is actually touching, but the film doesn't spend any time after it developing it. Rather, the character arcs of the turtles quickly falls into rehashing the problems they faced in the first film which are suddenly solved at a point where they are needed to be rather than coming to a natural conclusion. I feel that with some extra time spent on the script, there is actually a solid story to be told here focusing on the turtles, but in the current revision it gets lost as the action ramps up in the second half of the film. The action was perhaps the strongest advantage that the first film had, but here its somewhat weaker as battles between characters are considerably shorter and there aren't any sequences as memorable as you'd like them to be. The visual effects aren't going to win any awards, but given that the film serves as a live action Saturday morning cartoon they do their job just fine. Steve Jablonsky replaces Brian Tyler as composer, and while the new score isn't quite as good as the last, he at least leaves a treat in the credits for fans of the cartoon. The story of Out of the Shadows isn't really anything special. Shredder, Krang and their villainous company wish to do villainous things for villainous reasons, and the heroic turtles must stop them. But the story is really just there to serve as a catalyst for the main characters, and while you could definitely argue that a stronger story could make a stronger film, it's hard to be too hung up about it when you look at the product as a whole.

In conclusion, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows doesn't really bring much special to the table. A number of characters in the film's impressive roster are unfortunately underdeveloped, the action feels like a step down from the previous installment and the story isn't that great. But where the film succeeds is with the heart and personality of the four core characters and the fun the audience can have with them. The film spends more time with them than its predecessor, and Leo, Donnie, Raph and Mikey are all given discernible and fun personalities that make the film enjoyable enough, which is helped by the fun the film has with the henchmen they oppose, Bebop and Rocksteady. There's enough heart and humour in here to make it a fun ride, even if a lot of other aspects of the film remain largely unpolished.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows  -  6 / 10