The 2014 reboot of Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles was certainly one of the most controversial films in
recent memory. Pretty much ever since it was first announced, every major bit
of news surrounding it was subjected to major scrutiny from fans of the
franchise. First off, the fact that it was to be produced by Michael Bay made
many fans worry, even though he was only producing it, due to his heavily
derided work on another popular 80’s franchise, Transformers. But then in March 2012, the backlash towards the film
peaked when Bay claimed that the new film would give the Turtles an alien
origin. Thankfully that wasn’t the case and the film ended up maintaining the
Turtles’ traditional origin. However, upon release, the film ended up exactly like
the Transformers films and was
savagely decimated by critics. Though that ultimately didn’t stop the film from
grossing nearly half a billion worldwide. So because of that, we now have a
sequel; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out
of the Shadows. This time around, Dave Green (director of 2014’s
found-footage family film Earth to Echo)
is behind the director’s chair for a sequel that actually showed promise, as
crazy as that might seem to those who were highly critical of the first film.
The primary reason for that was the sense that the film would stick much closer
to the franchise’s roots, partially exemplified by the addition of classic
franchise characters like Bebop and Rocksteady. And ultimately that is very
much the case with this new TMNT film.
Sure, at the end of the day, it’s still very much like its predecessor in terms
of being a rather mindless affair but at the very least it’s a film that I
think fans of the franchise will be far more satisfied with as a whole.
A year after defeating their arch-nemesis the Shredder (now
played by Brian Tee), Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello (portrayed
through motion-capture by Pete Ploszek (who also voices Leonardo this time
around after being replaced by Johnny Knoxville in the first film), Noel
Fisher, Alan Ritchson, and Jeremy Howard, respectively) have continued to
protect the city of New York but are still forced to live in the shadows unsure
of how people will react to them. During this time, the Shredder manages to
escape from prison with the help of the Foot Clan and scientist Dr. Baxter
Stockman (Tyler Perry) and briefly ends up within another dimension where he
meets alien warlord Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett). The two plan to retrieve three
pieces of a portal device that are scattered around the world so that Krang can
unleash his unstoppable war machine, the Technodrome, upon the world. To help
them collect the parts, Shredder enlists two street criminals, Bebop (Gary
Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE’s Sheamus), and uses mutagen provided by
Krang to turn them into a mutant warthog and rhinoceros, respectively. As a
result, the Turtles, along with the help of their friends April O’Neil (Megan
Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), as well as a new ally in former corrections
officer turned street vigilante Casey Jones (Stephen Amell), are pushed to
their limits but end up learning that the mutagen could work in reverse and turn
them into humans, which could mean that they won’t have to live underneath the
streets of New York anymore.
The best thing that I can say about this film is the fact
that, at least when compared to the first film, this very much feels more like
a proper TMNT film. Of course part of
that comes from the addition of some of the franchise’s classic characters like
the mutant duo of Bebop and Rocksteady as well as Shredder’s partner in crime
Krang and his weapon of mass destruction the Technodrome. It should also be
noted that none of these characters have ever appeared in a live-action TMNT film until now, having only appeared
in the franchise’s numerous TV series as well as the comics. But another big
reason why this film sticks closer to the franchise’s roots is that it benefits
from having a much stronger atmosphere than its predecessor. The first TMNT film admittedly tried to be a bit
too serious at times, which definitely didn’t feel right for a franchise called
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This
film, on the other hand, is very much aware of how silly it is and just goes
with it. In fact, it could also be argued that this film has a much brighter
look to it than the first film, especially in terms of the visuals (e.g. the
design of the Turtles). And yes, like the first film, this is admittedly a
pretty damn mindless film. But, to reiterate the point that I made in my review
of the previous film, that’s pretty much this whole franchise in a nutshell. I
mean to put it simply, there’s a scene in this film in which the Turtles are being
pursued down a river in Brazil by a mutant warthog and mutant rhinoceros who
are manning a tank. At this point in a case like this, you just got to do what
this film does and just roll with it.
Like the first film, the Turtles are very much the best part
of the film. The camaraderie between Ploszek, Fisher, Ritchson, and Howard is
quite excellent and they all perfectly capture their characters’ respective
personalities, from Mikey being the fun-loving/pizza-loving surfer dude to Raph
being the aggressive and independent rebel. Even better, compared to the
previous film, they’re given much more focus whereas in the first film the
focus was arguably more on April O’Neil. But this time around, the filmmakers
made the smart choice of relegating the human leads to supporting roles. As
April O’Neil, Megan Fox is, well, about the same as she was in the first film.
It’s by no means a ‘great’ performance by it’s also not the worst thing either
and just like in the first film, it’s good that these newer films have given
her more to do instead of just having her be a damsel in distress. The film
does benefit from a pretty darn great new addition in the form of Green Arrow himself,
Stephen Amell, as Casey Jones, who very much accustoms himself with the general
silliness of the plot. The same can be said for Tyler Perry, who very much chews the scenery as Baxter Stockman, and
the duo of Gary Anthony Williams and Sheamus who, like the Turtles, work off of
each other quite well as the mutant warthog/rhino duo. But while Brian Tee is a
much more memorable Shredder, if only due to the fact that his version of the
character doesn’t spend the entirety of the film behind a mask or in shadows,
without giving much away the character is rather insultingly written out of the
film prior to the beginning of the finale.
I conclude with the same point I made last time in my review
of Alice through the Looking Glass in
that those who weren’t a fan of the previous TMNT film might not like this new film because it’s still just as
mindless as one would expect from a Michael Bay-produced TMNT film. However, I actually think that, despite what critics
might say, it’s very likely that fans of the franchise are going to be much
more satisfied with this film. And that is because, at the very least, this
does feel like a much more proper entry in the franchise, tonally speaking. And
yes, at the end of the day it’s just as silly and stupid as its predecessor.
But of course that’s what you’d expect from this franchise (not just the Bay
produced films) and this time around the filmmakers are very much aware of that
and just roll with it. In short, Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a film that stays much truer to
what fans of the franchise have always loved about it. Sure the first film didn’t
go as far as to pull that ‘alien origin’ concept as was initially reported but
this film definitely benefits from a much more appropriate light-hearted atmosphere.
As a result, this is very much one of those cases of a sequel that is better
than its predecessor. Obviously, for many that’s not really saying much
considering the first film’s predominantly negative reception. Ultimately
though, I think it’s a good thing in this case because, again, this film,
unlike its predecessor, doesn’t try to be something it isn’t. There’s
reportedly one more film in the works so hopefully that one ends up being more
like this one and not the first film.
Rating: 3.5/5
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