Review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) by Thomas D — 09 Jun 2016

Despite being derivative and downright cringe worthy at times, Out of the Shadows improves upon its predecessor in almost every way. With the focus actually on the Turtles this time and one very nice addition to the cast, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed my time in the theater. But make no mistake, there's really nothing new to the premise or execution.

I didn't hate nor love the first Turtles film in 2014, I found it to be a serviceable cable watch. So I wasn't all that enthused about a second one, even with the inclusion of the Green Arrow himself, Stephen Amell. With that said, I undeniably liked this film. Casey Jones, played by Amell, proved to be a much better way of including human characters in a film about 4 mutant turtles. Although, I do believe there was a missed opportunity in the film not making a nod to the other vigilante he plays.

The other main humans, April O'Neil (Megan Fox) and Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett), have slightly less to do, and thankfully so. There's only so many times I can take a lame Will Arnett joke or an out-of-place overly sexualized camera shot of Megan Fox. Isn't this supposed to be a kids film? Luckily, we get 4 well-realized ninja turtles to help us get past all of the inexplicably stupid stuff those characters have do.

Although the CGI isn't at a Dawn of the Planet of the Apes level, it definitely improved since the last outing, as did the Turtles as characters themselves. Yes, the arguments and inner conflicts are all relatively the same as the last, there's no doubt the writers know Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael front to back. The humor, particularly from Leo, is vastly improved and slightly less childish than the first film.

One of the central issues with Out of the Shadows, however, is that there's absolutely nothing new with story. Even worse, I don't think there was even an attempt to create something more innovative. Michael Bay is merely producing here, but doesn't the plot feel a whole lot like Transformers 3? Or Avengers? Man of Steel? Or even the first Turtles film?? The point is that Out of the Shadows does do a lot of good, but it doesn't seem like they even tried to hide its flaws or blatant holes in logic.

+Amell.

+More Turtles the better.

+Humor vastly improved.

-Except with most of the human characters.

-Derivative plot.

-Silly logic fails.

6.3/10.