TMNT 2 Review

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Review:

What A Mouthful of a Title

BY IAN TAN

Cowabunga!

TMNT 2 – I’ll just call it that – is a better film than the first, but only marginally, which isn’t saying much. This time round, the Turtles face new foes in the (ugly) forms of Krang, a talking brain from another dimension, and Beebop and Rocksteady, two humans turned mutated Rhinoceros and Warthog who have brains more childish than a four-year-old. Additionally, the turtles are struggling with the fact that they always have to save the city of New York in the shadows without any recognition whatsoever, hence the subtitle Out of the Shadows.

There are a number of things this film does better than the first, most notably the overall tone of the film. While the first TMNT (2014) film felt a bit too dark in tone for its own good, TMNT 2 is more brightly lit, is more colorful and more fun than the first. Plus, it never takes itself too seriously, which is appropriate considering that the film is centered around giant talking turtles.

The action, which I thought was entertaining in the first, is pretty good here too. One aeroplane sequence in particular was a lot of fun to watch. The characters are also more likable this time round. Michaelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo are all given a good dose of screen time and character moments that reminisce that of the old cartoons. Their sense of brotherhood and their relationships with one another are executed pretty well by director Dave Green (Earth to Echo), who replaces Jonathan Liebesman for this sequel. Unfortunately, that is the extent of things that are good about this film.

 

Those biceps though

The humans, although an improvement from the first film, still fall short of being compelling or interesting in the slightest. Megan Fox does alright as April O’Neil as she did in the last one, Will Arnett as Vern Fenwick is a significantly less annoying character here than he was in the first film and Stephen Amell is passable as Casey Jones, but underwhelming for those expecting more from the fan-favourite character. As far as humans go, this movie just isn’t bothered to even try to make them interesting or realistic.

 

It's that spinny ball thingy from Battleship! 

The villains in the film were just terrible. None of them are given any real motivation for their dastardly plans to conquer the world and all of them are so poorly written that one might wonder what the writers of the film were thinking when they wrote the script. I understand that they might not have had any motivations in the cartoons either but its hard to buy into them in a live-action film if they really don’t have any reason for doing what they do.

Beebop, Rocksteady and Krang, Krang especially, are disgusting to look at and really got on my nerves. The issue isn’t that the CGI doesn’t look real, but that these creatures, when transferred from the cartoon world to live-action, don’t translate well. Krang looks like an actual living, talking brain with two eyes and tentacles, and was disturbing to look at. The Turtles were fine though, as their designs look more simplified and less cluttered than they did in the first TMNT.

 

Eww

In summary, TMNT 2 is a watchable film made worthwhile solely for the Turtles and some of the action sequences. All other elements of the film fall flat and are rather uninteresting. I did, however, enjoy this movie more than the first due to its lighter, more kid-centric tone, even if it does get a bit too cartoony at times. I wish the villains and human characters were given as much care from the filmmakers as the Turtles were, but alas, I guess we’ll have to wait for TMNT 3 to find out if they’ll finally get it right.

Score: 5.7 out of 10