Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)

Director: Dave Green

Writer: Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec (Screenplay) Peter Laird, Kevin Eastman (Characters)

Starring: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Laura Linney, Stephen Amell, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Alan Ritchson, Tyler Perry, Brian Tee

Plot: After facing Shredder, who has joined 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.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Bigger Story, More Turtles

Story: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadow starts one year after the events of the first film, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo the turtles are still living in the shadows but now in the city. They are filled jealousy that Vernon (Arnett) has taken the praise for their work but understand they must stay in the shadows however hard Michelangelo is finding it all.

Meanwhile April (Fox) is back at her journalist nature where she is investigating brilliant scientist Baxter Stockman (Perry) who she believes in working with Shredder (Tee) to get him released from prison. After the turtles fail to make this happen Shredder is free in New York City once again, but now he is working with new threat to the city Krang.

Krang makes a deal with Shredder the two work together to help eliminate the turtles with new lackies Rocksteady (WWE’s Sheamus) and Bebop (Williams). Meanwhile the turtles have a new ally in Casey Jones (Amell) a local police officers who lost the prisoners.

The turtles must learn to work together after they learn the purple ooze could make them normal divides them but they must stop Shredder and Krang’s plan that could be destruction to the world this time.

Thoughts on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadow

Characters/Performance – The turtles are back and still trying to figure out their place in the world, they want to see more but understand they can’t, but this time they get a chance to come out of the shadows to become the heroes New York city needs but the battle they face between themselves with a chance to become human and fit in. April has a smaller role this time still being the journalist but mostly for the turtles during the daytime with Vernon taking a smaller role to as the hero the city thinks they have. Casey Jones is a good addition as a man who wants to be a hero and is doing all he can to make it happen. On the villain side of things Shredder is a human villain this time looking to finish off the turtles once and for all with Krang being the big bad this time and only really being the generic alien invader. Rocksteady and Bebop take the comical roles in the most part of this film.

Performance wise we have great motion capture for the turtles throughout, with Megan Fox doing well in this smaller role with the star human performance being Stephen Amell who joins the cast. It would be fair to say the villains are generical performed without standing out in any way through the film.

Story – The story here does seem to be deeper than the previous because the turtles are dealing with wanting to be accepted even though they are different, which is something a lot of people can relate too. The battle between good and evil is just something we have seen plenty of times that throws out twists and turns we can see coming easily, but is fun and easy to watch.

Action/Adventure/Comedy – The action is bigger and crazier throughout which is all good for what you want to see. The comedy nearly only comes from Michelangelo, Rocksteady and Bebop which is fine as it just works for what it needs to be.

Settings – Most of the film is set in New York City but when they leave for the brief moments we get to see the bigger action scenes unfold.

Special Effects – All of these special effects work to add to the action going on throughout even if most of wild set pieces.