Review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) by Jason R — 14 Oct 2017

I'll preface by saying that I've seen the first four Transformers movies and the first one of these as well. I've watched a fair amount of Michael Bay in my time. This is a spectacular level of awful even by Bay standards. The Turtle personas are horribly underdeveloped, and their looks have not improved from the first film either. The dialogue is plodding and in dire need of editing, and none of the secondary characters contributes anything of real note.

As with Transformers, the humans are more of the story than they should be. The CGI characters are why the movie is being made, and they don't get nearly enough time to justify the expense of creating them. Don't get me wrong, it's spectacular to see Bebop and Rocksteady, and the design works, but there's a lot left on the table.

This wouldn't be so bad if they were interesting. Stephen Amell, who is familiar with the vigilante role, who lauded the script on his Facebook, is underutilized to the point of being a waste. Casey Jones was a great part of the original TMNT film in 1990, played by Elias Koteas as a layered character with a great sense of humor that bonds with the Turtles. Amell's version doesn't get to that level, and it's unfortunate.

Megan Fox continues to do what she does best; look pretty and be shocked by things, but April O'Neil is a missed mark yet again, and Tyler Perry doesn't quite nail the mad scientist motif necessary for Baxter. An evil laugh would have done wonders for him.

And then there's Krang. Krang looks about as right as possible for a CGI version of a disembodied brain, but he is far removed from his original characterization. He isn't diabolical, he's a brain-shaped bully.

As such, just like with Transformers, Bay's team misses out on some great characters and settings, creates CGI issues and failed plotlines, and the whole thing falls flat as a result.