REVIEW: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Outshines Predecessor
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is the perfect follow up to 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Out of the Shadows follows the four turtle brothers, Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael, and their human friends, April O’Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), and Casey Jones (Stephen Amell), as they try and stop super-villain Krang from taking over the world. Brian Tee returns as the turtles’ foe, Shredder for this installment and is joined on the villain side by newcomers Tyler Perry as mad scientist Baxter Stockman, Gary Anthony Williams as Bebop and WWE Superstar Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly as Rocksteady.
Unlike the first film, this film is all about the turtles. This film focuses on the turtles’ unity as brothers and whether they have what it takes to stay a united front or if they will let their differences be their ultimate demise. Fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, young and old, will enjoy this film.
The great action scenes and good use of motion capture CGI allowed the crew to find a way to bring the turtles to life without losing their human side. The use of motion capture gave Pete Ploszek (Leonardo), Alan Ritchson (Raphael), Noel Fisher (Michelangelo) and Jeremy Howard (Donatello) the ability to be more than just the voices of their characters. They were able to bring to life the turtles emotions and mannerisms, providing a much needed quality to help the audience relate to the crime-fighting turtles.
This sequel has more comedy than its predecessor. The addition of henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady really brought the laughs to the movie. The chemistry between Gary Anthony Williams and Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly is one of the highlights of the movie. These two, even in their transformation forms, found a way to make every scene they’re in unique and funny.
Another newcomer to the movie was Arrow’s Stephen Amell. Stephen plays the hockey mask vigilante Casey Jones and fans of the character will not be disappointed. The character plays a major part in this movie and Stephen was a great casting choice for the character. He does the majority of his own stunts in the movie, which allowed him to make the character his own and the chemistry between him and Megan Fox’s April O’Neil leave you wondering if the writers will be capitalizing on it in the future.
Out of the Shadows is a great movie to take the kids to now that Summer vacation is right around the corner. If you are a TMNT fan you should go see it too. The movie is very reminiscent of 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, so if you liked that one, you will probably like this one as well.
Grade: B