Review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) by Chris M — 30 Aug 2009

First of all I like this film. Maybe it's the turtle fan in me, or maybe it's because it reminds me of my childhood. The third film in the series gets loads of negative comments however this one seems to get off quite lightly.

The movie is nowhere near as dark as the original, alot of slapstick humour and annoying sound effects have also been added. The voice cast is nowhere near as good and it's hard to take the new April O'Neil seriously as a hardarsed reporter. Still She is quite a nice addition, and fits the damsel in distress role, but she is just nowhere near as convincing or as good a choice as the April in the original.

Unlike the first this really feels like a family film. The Shredder's death in the original has not been ignored but instead toned down and implies that he didn't get crushed, just his helmet did... erm ok. The two additional mutants look ok, and as for foes work quite well, but something about them makes you think that they are just trying to replace the cringeworthy Rocksteady and Bebop of the animated show.

The Super Shredder at the end was also a wasted opportunity. No explaination for how his armour grows too but then alot of the film didn't make sense. It seems a bit pointless that he mutates and kills himself..??

Still the film is very enjoyable, as the turtles always are.

Just a shame that all of Master Splinter's teachings about staying in the shadow, and how to be a proper stealth Ninja have been forgotten and the action all seems to take place in broad daylight... and last but not least Vanilla Ice, well it was 1991 but still... fighting at a nightclub is one thing but why did the film makers feel it appropriate to make the turtles break out into a dance routine?!

This film really is little more than a cash in but it's the turtles so can be forgiven.

As a child this film was amazing, nowadays I still enjoy it, but just because it reminds me of simple times.