Review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) by Jason M — 19 Jun 2016

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

Initial Reaction: And into your heart.

Main Characters.

Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphel: Four mutated turtles played by Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard, Noel Fisher and Alan Ritchson.

April O'Neil: She's a reporter played by Megan Fox.

Plot Summary.

When Shredder's friends try to break him out of prison (and with the Turtles trying to stop him), something goes wrong with the escape plan.

Shredder is sent to another dimension where he meets up with an alien race called the Krang. The Krang want Shredder to collect three artifacts in order for them to open a portal and invade earth.

To help with the plan, Krang offers up some goop called Mutagen. This stuff turns ordinary creatures into powerful mutated animals. And Shredder uses it on two goons, Rocksteady and Bebop. The Mutagen turns one into a rhino and the other into a warthog.

With that done, he sends the two goons to collect the pieces of the device that opens the portal. It's something the Turtles have to step in and stop - if they can.

SCORING.

Main Characters.

I like the four turtles because each one has a personality with them. Leo's the leader, Donnie's the geeky scientist, Raph is the tough guy and Mikey's the oddball.

But April just doesn't do much in this film other than look good. SCORE: 5.

Supporting Cast.

Rocksteady and Bebop are great as two guys who are not very smart. But the main villains - Shredder and Krang - do very little in the film. And Shredder hardly fights off the turtles in this film. SCORE: 3.

Plot.

The film's got a plot that does it's job - but there's nothing about it that makes it stand out. SCORE: 5.

Originality.

This film does pay homage to the cartoon show(s) - by bringing back several characters and iconic things from the shows.

But the "open portal to let aliens invade earth" is getting really stale - and this film doesn't add anything new to that genre. SCORE: 3.

Violence Factor.

I know the turtles are super heroes and can take a pounding - but there's one guy named Casey Jones who's supposed to be an average cop. But he takes a huge hit from Rocksteady and Bebop and gets up without any injuries. Nope - not buying that. SCORE: 3.

Other Moral Issues.

This film is supposed to be about seeing everyone for what they are and not what they look like. But this message is jumbled about so much that it doesn't really resonate with me. SCORE: 4.

Final Score (out of 60): 23 % Score: 38.33%.

It's got some great action in it, but the main plot feels tired and overused.