Review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) by Chris O — 16 Aug 2016

Although largely imperfect, this is a step in the right direction for the franchise.

With Shredder rising up again, the turtles find themselves up against a life changing foe that will ultimately put their desires to the test.

Now, I myself love the turtles. They're some of my favorite characters ever created and in all honesty, the four turtles alone manage to make me laugh, no matter how bad the screenplay may be. I do enjoy the most recent film, and its sequel actually managed to improve upon a variety of things. Although this film is clearly not quality, it doesn't take away from the fact that I had a lot of fun with it.

First off, the four turtles are great, and they're even better than in the first film. The look of the turtles were improved on and there ratios were much more distinctive. Their respective sizes and heights made each turtle unique. Raphael was more buff, Leonardo was the clear leader (balanced), Donatello was more brains, and Michelangelo was the small, energetic little brother. They didn't get a ton more depth added to them, but each one had a distinct personality and look. It made them more relatable and more interesting. Considering I have the humor of a 12 year old, they basically manage to make me laugh every time they talk. I love the turtles and their portrayal in this film was great. I honestly can't wait to see more of them in the future.

Although I had fun with the movie, the screenplay was almost downright awful and cringe worthy. The plot was almost non existent and the dialogue made my head spin. It felt like the writers had all these great ideas with a ton of potential, but they were too lazy to make more sensible or intelligent dialogue. I get that it's a movie for family and kids, but it doesn't excuse the lack of effort put into the narrative or screenplay.

The overall visuals were a mixed bag for me. For the most part, the action scenes looked decently smooth and fluid, and the turtles also looked significantly better. But when they combined that with an over abundance of CGI at times, including the big bad villain, it all kind of fell apart for me. Their excuse could be that they wanted the visuals to look more cartoon like for the kids, but that's really the only thing I can think of.

I like what they did with a lot of the old characters and the new ones (besides the turtles). Megan Fox as April O'Neil was given less attention (a good thing, as the attention shifted toward the turtles), but she contributed more as a character. She had a lot more to do in this movie, if not more than every other human character. I'm glad Will Arnett had a reduced role in this movie, and his place in the film made a lot more sense. He was used better then he had been in the first film and they took him in the right direction. Stephen Amell is a great actor, but I don't like the character of Casey Jones. Although the talent was there, his character felt more bratty and whiny more than anything. Finally, Bebop and Rocksteady were actually kind of funny at first, but their characters slowly got more annoying throughout the film. Although I like their additions, they could've made them less stupid.

This movie just felt like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. I never really watched the old cartoons or read the comics, but I knew that there was a lot more fan service in this film, and it actually worked really well. They brought back some fan favorites, they brought in things like the turtle's garbage truck, and it did a good job of building this world where the turtles reside.

There was even an underlying message that I really liked. Throughout the film, some of the turtles have that underlying desire to be normal and to be human. That desire creates conflict amongst the brothers and it really helps humanize them. They just want to be normal and you can really see that throughout the movie, which helps you grow more attached to them.

In the end, this movie has a ton of problems. It is certainly a fun time for young kids, but there are plenty of reasons as to why this movie isn't quality. However, I still had a ton of fun with the film. It's the Ninja Turtle film that I've been wanting and at heart, I'm still a little kid. Keep that in mind that even though I give this movie a fresh rating, it is not without its struggles.