Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Yet another sequel; thankfully this one improves upon the original. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles: Out of the Shadows is a step up from the bland and poorly written Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie of 2014. However, the story is still full of plot-holes and the leading actors are not up to the task.

Out of Shadows picks off with our four heroes (Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michaelangelo) still living in hiding and playing vigilantes by night; however, the villain from the first film Shredder (Brian Tee) breaks out of prison with the help of (yet another) mad scientist played by Tyler Perry. Shredder forms an alliance with Krang (Brad Garrett), a brain controlling a giant robot (yes, you read that correctly), who has plans of destroying the world. Megan Fox and Will Arnett return in the roles of April and Vern respectively as well.

The big improvement from the previous film was changing the director to Dave Green, who takes more time to develop each of the turtles and their distinct personalities. However, I feel that he spends too little time with it, and he soon falls into the same blundering tone of the first film. The script is improved in terms of logic and even sensible dialogue, but it still is too generic and dry.

The film also tries to rev up the franchise by adding another hero, this time in the shape of Casey Jones, played by Stephen Amell. Amell has shown he can head his own superhero TV show with Arrow, and he does a fine job in this film, but his acting is a bit individualistic and his chemistry with the other characters is nonexistent. As for Megan Fox, she might be very pretty, but she’s not able to hold up a franchise in a leading role, and the lack of a decent supporting actor leaves her lost. The film adds the likes of Laura Linney, which I was very surprised to see in this kind of film; Linney is a master actress, and she shows it by making her monochrome lines seem expertly written. She’s given a small role, but she’s such a good actress, she is able to make an impact on the whole film.

Overall though, I feel that the franchise is not picking its’ head up. The sequel is an improvement on the first film, but the positive changes are minimal and based on the box office numbers it looks like these films might not be worth the trouble.

6.1/10