‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows’ Review

Director: Dave Green

Writers: Josh Applebaum & Andre Nemec

Cast: Pete Ploszek, Noel Fisher, Alan Ritchson, Jeremy Howard, Megan Fox, Stephen Amell, Will Arnett, Laura Linney, Tyler Perry, Brian Tee, Sheamus, Gary Anthony Williams, Brittany Ishibashi, and Brad Garrett

Synopsis: As Shredder joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman and henchmen Bebop and Rocksteady to take over the world, the Turtles must confront an even greater nemesis: the notorious Krang.

 

*Reviewer Note: This will be a spoiler free review.*

 

I’m going to be honest with you guys; I did not like the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that came out in 2014. So my excitement for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows was very low to nothing at all. However, being a Turtles fan, I sucked it up and went, and while I did enjoy myself more this time around, saying that this film was better than the first isn’t really saying much since the first film wasn’t that great overall. Not only that, and this is something I just want to get out of the way, the film also felt like a reboot at times with sequel elements. There is obviously a new Shredder actor and the film treats the new actor in Brian Tee was the same actor from the first film, which was not the case. There are other things, but I won’t mention them here. That might be nitpicky to some, but it’s something that needs to be bought up.

Out of the Shadows follows our four brothers Leonardo (Ploszek), Michelangelo (Fisher), Raphael (Ritchson), and Donatello (Howard) as they continue to protect New York from threats from the shadows. However, their old enemy Shredder (Tee), who is about to go to a maximum security prison, is freed from the Foot Clan and scientists Baxter Stockman (Perry). Shredder is not alone this time, as he hires two hired muscles in Bebop (Williams) and Rocksteady (Sheamus) to help him out with the Turtles, by transforming them into wild animals, as he plans to help the alien Krang (voiced by Garrett) to conquer the world.

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows has a pretty simple story structure: heroes trying to stop the bad guys. Which is fine considering this new franchise is more geared and targeted for kids. That’s not saying it’s a bad thing, some of the humor will bring a smirk to your face or make you giggle, but overall just keep that in mind. Actually, something I noticed, the action is toned down a lot from the last film. Sure there are big action sequences, but nothing like the avalanche sequence – one of the better sequences from the last film – but they’re a little on the light side this time around.

To add more, the final act feels almost like a beat-for-beat repeat of the last final act. The final fight is over-filled with CGI and almost zero weapon combat. That’s right, the turtles barely use their weapons throughout the whole film, and that’s something I noticed after walking out of the theater. It’s pretty disappointing, but I’m holding anything against the film, but come on! People want to see the Turtles use their weapons in a fight. Not only that, some things happen way too conveniently more than once, and it’s a bit heavy handed at times, which takes the enjoyment out just a tad.

However, the one thing I will say is better this time around is the dynamic between the Turtles. We see the toll it takes on them and how they feel about having to always be hidden from the world. They want to be accepted, but they know they can never be with the way they look. No matter how many times they defend and save the city, they city and the people of New York will never know who really saves them. That being said, we get more Turtle screen time than the last time, which is where the focus should be. The other part that makes his better is the motion capture performances by the actors and the fact that they bring their own motives and physicality to the roles.

With that said, the humans take a backseat and play more of the supporting roles. I was never a fan of Megan Fox as April O’Neil, and I still don’t buy it. Will Arnett returns as former cameraman, not famous public figure, Vernon Fenwick and is as funny as ever. New member to the Turtle crew is Casey Jones, played by Stephen Amell, who really does own the role, but doesn’t have enough to do. Tyler Perry’s Baxter Stockman is socially awkward and a bit weird, which was surprisingly enjoyable to watch. Laura Linney is surprisingly, and shamefully, wasted as her high ranking chief Rebecca Vincent that doesn’t really do anything really.

When it comes to the villains, they are okay to disappointing. Brian Tee plays Shredder, doesn’t do anything worthwhile, at all. He gets a cool outfit, but that’s it. Brittany Ishibashi plays Karai, but is never referred by name and literally does nothing other than stand in the back or next to Shredder. Gary Anthony Williams and WWE superstar Sheamus who play Bebop and Rocksteady look like they were having a ton of fun playing goofballs before and after they get mutated. As for Krang, his character appears near the beginning of the film and literally disappears until the final ten minutes of the film. The character is pretty wasted here and seemed like they just introduced him for the sake of having another famous and fan-favorite villain

All in all, if you can get past the fact that the film is geared more toward a younger crowd then Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows can be for you. It does have its good moments, and remember this is coming from a guy that wasn’t really excited for this, but there are things that build up that make it a flawed film. One of them being that it thinks you didn’t watch the last film, so you won’t notice the casting changes.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

3.5 out of 5

Worst/Disappointing/Least-Liked Movies of the Year

It’s the end of the year, so you know what that means? Time to put lists together. Since you probably read the title, you know that this list will contain movies that I thought were disappointing, worst, and movies that I liked the least.

Please take into account that this is my list and reflects my personal opinion. Obviously if you feel different that is completely fine! I won’t really label them considering they are in this post so you can assume I didn’t think highly of them.

 

“Honorable” Mentions:

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones: The Paranormal Activity movies have taken a slump recently. I’ve was a fan of the first three movies but the last two have been lacking in any sort of quality. I had some hope for The Marked Ones because it was billed as a Latino spin-off that was its own story but had major connections to the actual series. While the movie was that, it still left something to be desired and failed to execute on its premise.

 

Sex Tape: I didn’t go in thinking Sex Tape was going to be great. I did hope that I would at least laugh a lot. Of course, both of those were slight right. Sex Tape had few good laughs but overall it wasn’t that funny and Cameron Diaz and Jason Segal’s characters weren’t entirely likeable.

 

 

Least-Liked/Disappointing/Worst

As Above, So Below: There is not a lot to like about As Above, So Below, but even the likeable things could not outweigh everything that was wrong with it. The found footage aspect is probably the best use of the gimmick in a while. Also, all found footage movies tend to be horror movies and this was promoted as one, but As Above, So Below doesn’t really feel like a horror movie until it needs to be. This isn’t a bad thing but the shift in tones didn’t help. Another plus – if that’s what you want to call it – is this does have at least a more likeable lead for the most part.

 

Brick Mansions: Another remake that had people up in arms, Brick Mansions is a remake from the French movie District B13 that was produced by mega action producer Luc Besson. The American remake was also produced by Besson and even stars original cast member David Belle (also, the co-founder of Parkour) playing essentially the same character. So what went wrong?

Besides Americanizing it (setting in Detroit) the movie doesn’t have the same charm as the original did, which really did hurt it. This was also Paul Walker’s last completed film (as he hadn’t even finished Fast & Furious 7, when this came out) which made the movie a little more special. But unfortunately it wasn’t really that good and was another forgettable movie.

 

Robocop: When it was first announced that Robocop was getting the remake treatment, everyone went up in arms, and arguably, rightly so. Paul Verhoeven’s original Robocop was a satire but made complete sense and still holds its own today. The remake didn’t have a lot of things going for it. Of course, one of the things is they changed the suit and his “origin,” but it tried to be its own thing which I did appreciate.

However, there was a standout scene that involved Alex/Robocop (Joel Kinnaman) taking out a full warehouse of baddies in the dark. Even a scene where he finds out there was some people he thought were brothers in blue had betrayed him. But these moments of potential were yanked away by poor decisions and some flat characters and arc that went nowhere. Poor move.

 

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For: A sequel that came a little too late. When the first Sin City came out, it was cool, and the special effects made the movie more of an experience. However, times have changed, special effects have changed and even gotten better. So when A Dame to Kill For came out it felt like, as a reviewer put it, “visiting an old friend.” It isn’t that bad of a movie, but after waiting so long, the movie has lost some charm and was kind of boring in some occasions. The only thing to come out of it is seeing Eva Green playing a femme fatale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt chewing up his scenery, and Powers Boothe showing he is the perfect bad guy.

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Michael Bay produced this mix of motion capture-CGI and live-action about our favorite heroes-in-a-half-shell. Unfortunately, everything I loved about Ninja Turtles wasn’t there, at least not really. The movie felt more catered to kids, which isn’t a bad thing and at least they are going to get that market, but you really shouldn’t forget about the older crowd. The best thing for me was the heavy marketed mountain slide action sequence, which even seeing it in theaters was just a tad underwhelming and a fight scene between Shredder and Master Splinter. Then there is Megan Fox as April O’Neal. She wasn’t terrible, but she wasn’t good either.

 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Now before you think I’m on the bandwagon of hating on ASM2, you’d be wrong. Some of movie was good, Andrew Garfield is a great Peter Parker/Spider-Man and his relationship with Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy is what made the movies more than worthwhile. However, ASM2 suffered from too much world building. Instead of really focusing on this movie and dropping just a few tidbits on future villains or tease things to come, it decide to shove them in front of our faces and forget about their own movie.

 

Transcendence: A great cast in Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, even Johnny Depp (although I’m not his biggest fan, sorry) in one movie, so what went wrong? The movie had a great concept but loses steam real fast. It asks interesting/thought provoking questions but at the end of the day, it was kind of forgettable and ended up going nowhere.

 

Transformers: Age of Extinction: I haven’t been a fan of the Transformers series since the first one, and even then, that movie was only okay. Even when they filmed Dark of the Moon here in Chicago, I was excited because I got to see my home city get destroyed, but it just turned into blah. So when we all heard that Age of Extinction would be a semi-reboot with new characters, transformers and designs, and a new director, I was somewhat hopeful. Then Michael Bay decided to direct.

Age of Extinction did have one exciting scene. The chase off the Yeager farm through a small town and to a warehouse, but that’s pretty much it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of huge explosion as much as the next person, but this just stopped being fun. The second half of the movie became what the other movies were. And I’m all of mindless fun but AoE really pushed that limit.

Also, they made a kind of big deal about the dinobots finally making an appearance, but we had to sit throughout the whole movie to see them, and they didn’t even act like the dinobots that everyone loves. Plus, only get about ten minutes of screen time. Nice move Michael Bay.

 

So what are your movies that would fit this list?

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Review

Dir: Jonathan Liebesman

Cast: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Danny Woodburn, Tohoru Masamune, Jeremy Howard, Alan Ritchson, Pete Ploszek, Noel Fisher, and Whoopi Goldberg

Synopsis: Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O’Neil and her cameraman Vern Fenwick to save the city and unravel Shredder’s diabolical plan

 

 

*Reviewer Note:  This will be a spoiler free review*

 

 

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had a lot of iterations since they first appeared. From a comic book, to the 80s cartoon and movies, to the new TV shows since the 2000s. No matter how old you are chances are you know who the “heroes in a half-shell” are and what they love. So when it was announced that are favorite turtles would be getting another live-action movie people, obviously, were excited but also cautious. Then it was announced that Michael Bay would be producing and everyone went from excited and cautious to cautious and worried. Then came the “they are going to be aliens” and everyone went into a frenzy. Bay then made some damage control and it died down. Then the turtle pictures came out and boom, back to frenzy. Anyway, this version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had a lot of things against it and unfortunately it couldn’t get past it.

 

After an interesting animated beginning, narrated by Splinter (mo-capped by Woodburn and voiced by Tony Shalhoub), giving us the background of The Foot Clan, which in this version are a paramilitary organization that are running rampant in New York City, that are run by The Shredder (Masamune). We are then introduced to younger and hungry Channel 6 News Reporter April O’Neil (Fox) is looking to catch her first break, and she thinks she has found a group of vigilantes attempting to stop the Foot. Of course, she finds out that the vigilantes are four six-foot mutated turtles that happen to be ninjas…and teenagers.

 

Little does April know, she has a connection to the turtles that she apparently forgot about. The connection also connects with businessman Eric Sachs (Fichtner) and April’s father, which feels more like stretch than a good plot point. Sachs turns out to be evil (gasp) and is actually working with Shredder to take out New York in a plan that sort makes no sense (seeing a trend here).

 

 

But who cares about April or Sachs right? You’re watching this movie for Leonardo (mo-capped by Ploszek, voiced by Johnny Knoxville), Donatello (mo-capped Howard), Michelangelo (mo-capped by Fisher) and Raphael (mo-capped by Ritchson). Their personalities are the same; Leo is the leader, Donny is the smart and inventive one, Michelangelo is the goofball, and Raphael is the rebel. The big difference is how the turtles look. They are larger and physically imposing than previous iterations, which honestly makes them kind of lose their ninja aspect, but maybe that’s being nit-picky. They can literally lift ship containers and thrown them across the room, punch someone halfway across the room, and smash into military trucks completely destroying it.

 

The turtles all have their moments to show off their personalities, with Michelangelo most likely going to be the standout for many. The bond between the brothers is there which is nice to see they at least kept that in there. But when it comes to the other, and equally, important characters in Turtles history in Splinter and Shredder, they seem to fall just a bit short. Splinter is really nothing more than a glorified cameo and Shredder isn’t really the Shredder that we all know and love. Instead of a samurai, we get an upgraded suit that has multiple blades and looks like he’s eight-feet tall.

 

WHY?

 

The main human characters are April and Sachs. Megan Fox being cast as April hit a chord with just about everybody and while I still don’t see her as the character she alright as the character. The always reliable William Fitchner plays Sachs, and Fitchner does the best he can with the role that he can. An added plus for fans, Shredders adopted daughter Karai shows up in a nothing role played by Minae Noji.

 

As seen from the promotional material, the movie looks like it has a nice blend of humor, action, and some serious moments. Well, the movie does have some serious moments and action but it lacks the humor. The movie just isn’t really that funny, even the human comic relief in Will Arnett’s cameraman character Vern only has one real funny line. The movie just feels like it’s trying to hard to be funny and some of the jokes are more targeted toward the younger generations, which is fine move for the studio since that’s probably their targeted audience at this point. But they really should remember the original audience.

 

However, one of the huge things that bother me is the imbalance between the tones. It felt like they couldn’t decide on one and just threw three of them in and see what stuck. The original turtles didn’t take themselves too seriously and knew what they were. These turtles though apologize for what they are, Donny even says “when you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous” when April questions what they are and how it sounds. Instead of embracing the concept, they feel a need to apologize? Yeah that, and shouldn’t, fly with anybody. The fight scenes are the worst, and not in terms of being bad fight scenes, but everything about them make it look like so brutal and then they will just go away like nothing brutal happened. Believe me I’m all for a good brutal fight scene but for a movie targeted toward kids, that was probably a bad decision.
The action is descent with standout sequence being the mountain chase that is shown in every commercial promotion, and a fight between Splinter and Shredder which brings more of the emotional weight for the movie.

 

All in all, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle doesn’t have a lot going on. The humor isn’t really there and it does fail to capture some of the what we originally fell in love with. Are the moments that we can see why we feel in love with them? Sure but it doesn’t take away everything else from movie.

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

2.5 out of 5