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

From IMDB:

Storyline

As Shredder joins 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.



40 Metascore From metacritic.com

Reviews 67 user | 121 critic

From Rotten Tomatoes:

MOVIE INFO

Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael return to theaters this summer to battle bigger, badder villains, alongside April O'Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), and a newcomer: the hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones (Stephen Amell). After supervillain Shredder (Brian Tee) escapes custody, he joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE Superstar Stephen "Sheamus" Farrelly), to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. As the Turtles prepare to take on Shredder and his new crew, they find themselves facing an even greater evil with similar intentions: the notorious Krang.

Rating: PG-13 (for sci-fi action violence)

Genre: Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

Directed By: Dave Green

Written By: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Josh Applebaum

In Theaters: Jun 3, 2016 Wide

Runtime: 1 hr. 37 min.

Paramount Pictures - Official Site

TOMATOMETER 33%

Average Rating: 4.5/10 | Reviews Counted: 117

Fresh: 39 | Rotten: 78

Critics Consensus: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a slight improvement over its predecessor, but still lacks the wit or anarchic energy of the comics that birthed the franchise.

AUDIENCE SCORE 60% liked it

Average Rating: 3.5/5 | User Ratings: 43,139

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I had no idea that Splinter was voiced by Tony Shalhoub. ©Paramount Pictures

The sequel to a movie that few thought was good...

So I actually saw this movie last week but was way too busy to write about it so here it is. As you know it's the sequel to 2014's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which introduced a new generation and the old ones who grew up with the original franchise to a darker grittier and not so lovable looking turtles. I myself grew up with the original animation franchise. The movie was not only darker in tone and feel but visually as well as you spent the first half of the movie trying to get a look at what the turtles looked like until their adventures took them outdoors during the day at which time some fans were either disgusted, disappointed or trying to figure out what happened to their favorite turtles. Well at least that was what I was thinking while watching it. Not only was it a jarring experience visually but the turtles didn't sound like the turtles I grew with and the story was far from good. In short it wasn't a good movie, but it made enough money that they greenlighted the sequel not that long after. And two years later here it is. 

Well at least they finally gave Michelangelo his pizzas. ©Paramount Pictures

So this sequel picks up where the last one left off but a few years later. Shredder (Brian Tee) is in jail but his minions led by Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) has plans to break him out. As the plan to break him free goes down the truck that Shredder finds himself in is also carrying Bebob (Gary Anthony Williams) and Seamus/Rocksteady (Stephen Farrelly), two thugs being transferred and the trucks co-driver is short fused policeman named Casey Jones (Stephen Amell).

Meet the most annoying character that was never a major character in the cartoons. ©Paramount Pictures

Meanwhile the turtles Leonardo (Pete Ploszek), Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), Donatello (Jeremy Howard) and Raphael (Alan Ritchson) are hanging out until April O'Neil (Megan Fox) calls Donatello to tell him she's on the trail of Stockman and suspects he has plans to free Shredder. 

These two guys do a pretty good job. Didn't know that one of them was a wrestler. ©Paramount Pictures

During Shredder's break out Stockman uses a teleporter that he has yet to test to get Shredder away from the turtles but since it's the first time he loses Shredder. Shredder finds himself in an alternate universe face to face with a creature named Krang (Brad Garrett) who convinces him to work with him to first collect pieces of his teleporter and assemble them, then activate the teleporter to allow himself and his Technodrome to come to earth and finally to conquer the earth. 

I see that they've upped the hockey mask game for Casey Jones. ©Paramount Pictures

So that's it in a nutshell. Also the annoying cameraman Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett) is also back and is famous the world over because since the turtles couldn't take credit for what happened in the first movie the turtles made an agreement with him for him to take it instead. 

This may seem like the most ridiculous thing in the movie but it isn't. ©Paramount Pictures

So here's what I liked about it. 

1. Because I'm finally comfortable with the way the turtles look I could enjoy them more and I think the guys playing them are more comfortable with their roles too.
2. The characters are much closer to the turtles that I grew in terms of character in this one that the last one, that being said they're still not the turtles I grew up with. 
3. The introduction of the other iconic characters Bebop, Rocksteady, Baxter Stockman and of course Krang. Nice to see them included and a nice effort trying to bring them to the big screen. 
4. The story wasn't too bad and felt very much like an episode from the cartoons that I grew up with albeit one that lasted 2 hours. The same thing could be said about the way the turtles joke around.
5. Visually the graphics were good. So was the music. 
6. Liked Amell playing Casey Jones. 

I was actually worried that they were going to do a bad job with these two. ©Paramount Pictures

Things I didn't like.

1. Not impressed with April O'Neil.
2. Annoyed by Vernon.
3. Not sure about Baxter Stockman, still on the fence on that. 
4. Disappointed by Shredder, I mean it's like he wasn't there. Felt like more time was spent on Bebop and Rocksteady.
5. The story wasn't the best but then the leaps it took to explain things were a bit too ridiculous. In the cartoons from the late 80's the came about by exposing two dumb thugs to a mutagen and the animal that they would eventually turn into. In this movie the mutagen is now a purple ooze given to Shredder by Krang. Shredder takes it to Stockman who conveniently has the right machine to extract the ooze from it's alien container and once extracted Shredder shoots it into Bebop and Rocksteady who conveniently turn into a Rhinoceros and a Warthog while Stockman explains that the ooze activates the long dormant gene of our ancestral animal present in all humans. Which even for this franchise I think is taking it too far. 
6. The story also feels like what Zack Snyder did with Batman v Superman or what Bryan Singer did with X-Men: Apocalypse. Too many characters and not enough time dedicated to all of them to make you interested in them, too many things happening in the story that you end up feeling like something was left out on purpose to lead to the next film. 

Krang doesn't look like the Krang in the cartoons and he spends way more time out of the robot than in it. ©Paramount Pictures

The way to enjoy this film is to forget what you grew up with and leave your brain at home and your expectations too. The only thing to bring to the cinema is the kid inside you. Not doing so and you probably won't enjoy it much. It has it's moments but those moments don't really do enough to make this movie a really good one but that being said what with all the 'serious' action movies and comic book movies coming out in the same period this one is lighthearted and fun enough to enjoy in between all the others.

I'm giving this movie a decent 3 out of 5. If you haven't watched it go for the heck of it or don't.

Here's the trailer.