Where to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
2 Stars
The Turtles continue to live in the shadows and no one knows they were the ones who took down Shredder. Vernon is the one everyone thinks is the one who took Shredder down. April O’Neill does some snooping and learns a scientist named Baxter Stockman is working for Shredder. He plans to break him out while he’s bringing transported. April tells the turtles, who try to stop it but can’t. Stockman tries to teleport Shredder but he some how ends up in another dimension and meets a warlord named Krang who instructs Shredder to assemble a teleportation device he sent to Earth a long time ago. He gives Shredder some mutagen which he uses to transform two criminals who were also in the transport with him, Rock Steady and Bebop, into mutants. They then set out to find the device. April saw the transformation while investigating Stockman. She takes the mutagen and is chased by Shredder’s minions, the Foot Clan. She is saved by a man named Casey Jones who was the one transporting Shredder. The Turtles show up and they try to work together. In the melee, the mutagen ends up with the police. Knowing Shredder will try and get it back, April tries to get it first and she asks Vern to help. Eventually she and Casey are arrested. The Turtles get the mutagen and Donatello analyzes it, learns it could make them human, which he tells Leonardo who tells him to forget it and not to tell the others. But Michelangelo tells Raphael who feels that Leonardo doesn’t respect them.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a disappointing follow-up to the outrageously entertaining reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014). The original was wickedly keen in appealing to fans of the 1980s cartoons and early 90s movies, while also playing to kiddies. This sequel is aimed squarely at the younger demographic. The opening title sequence reintroduces the turtles and their roles in the group, making this movie seem like a reboot of a reboot.
The special effects are outstanding and there are a few very impressively mounted action sequences, an early chase scene that introduces the new turtle van is a highlight, and the glossy ‘look’ of the film courtesy of the work by cinematographer Lula Carvalho is splendid. The story does include fan favorites Krang, Rock Steady and Bebop. And while this is welcomed, it has a lesser impact and charm than the low-fi creates featured in TMNT 2: The Secret of the Ooze.
Directed by: Dave Green
Written by: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Peter Laird
Starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Tyler Perry