Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

After Jonathan Liebesman’s negatively received Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), one promises oneself not see the sequel to the film should it be released, but then one starts a blog on which they write film reviews requiring them to do so. Dave Green’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows could be considered a nostalgic throwback to the fondly remembered movies and cartoon of the late 80s and early 90s, featuring new versions of characters and story elements such as Casey Jones, Bebop and Rocksteady, Krang and the Technodrome. Returning to the series alongside Michael Bay are fellow producers Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, Galen Walker and Scott Mednick.

A significant improvement this film has over its predecessor is that it devotes some focus to better illustrate the relationship between the Turtles and to their emotional needs. Their characterisation has also improved – for example, Mikey is less annoying (at least most of the time) and Donny is represented as smart and sensitive as opposed to stereotypically nerdy. The story follows a theme of the Turtles wanting to fit in and to be accepted in the world without needing to stay in hiding, not unlike Quasimodo (only without the music). Truth be told, it’s not a bad subplot. It gives the Turtles an issue that makes them quite relatable, and it gives way to a few emotional moments. Its failing is in its resolution, in which these issues are too easily resolved, and is not exactly ideal.

The film opens with introducing the Turtles; this sequence includes title graphics that tell their names and basic respective character traits. Now, there are those who have trouble remembering the names of the Turtles, so it may be helpful, but it seems unnecessary to have them spelled out like this when the film has characters refer to the Turtles by name several times, including their abbreviated nicknames ‘Leo, Donny, Raph and Mikey’, and when the Turtles’ personalities are represented clearly throughout. There’s even a scene where Michelangelo dedicates about a minute of screen time to introduce each of them and their traits, in the middle of the film no less, though this scene is quite obnoxious. Later on the Turtles even flat-out tell each other what their characters are. This kind of writing is far too on-the-nose when they can just show the audience their personalities instead of telling them.

Speaking of writing, the usage of dialogue could show more restraint. Sometimes characters talk when they don’t need to – for example, when Casey Jones mocks a chained Shredder before closing the police van doors on him. That paints him as just too cocky to be likeable. Other times the excess of dialogue tends to be obnoxious, especially around Bebop and Rocksteady, however unintelligent their characters are meant to be.

The actors playing CGI characters are more tolerable than those playing live action characters, at least on the heroes’ side. On the villains’ side, the quality is mixed. The Turtles’ representations are more closely related to their personalities or temperaments in the cartoon show. Leonardo (Pete Ploszek) sounds strong but gentle, the character being dutiful and taking charge, but losing focus when things don’t go his way; Donatello (Jeremy Howard), while making devices far ahead of modern technology, speaks in understandable terminology, he is relatively soft spoken, explanative and appears sensitive; Raphael (Alan Ritchson) has a hint of gruffness, sometimes raising his voice, displaying the tough, impatient and fiery character; and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) is represented as the youngest of the group, joking and playful, though not the sharpest tool in the shed. Their voices match their personalities and there’s really no fault in their vocal performances themselves. Master Splinter (Peter D. Badalamenti, voiced by Tony Shalhoub) is fair enough, but making few appearances.

Megan Fox’s performance as April O’Neil, while not particularly bad in the last film, gives significantly lower energy than that of, say, the 1987 cartoon version. When the character is actually doing something, like breaking into a laboratory, Fox does a decent job, but overall its difficult to get invested in a performance that seems unfortunately bored and/or tired. It doesn’t help that April and the Turtles don’t have much of a relationship outside of sharing intel. Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett) is probably the most unlikeable character in the film, annoyingly full of himself and having attained fame and glory despite little charisma and an unbelievable pretense. The character only contributes or becomes tolerable much later in the film.

Casey Jones is usually portrayed as a scruffy sporty vigilante, having fantastic skills with sports equipment like baseball bats, hockey sticks and pucks – in some versions, inspired by fictional cops on television, and in others, a professional hockey player. In this version, Casey (Stephen Amell) is a trained police officer, introduced with an overly cocky attitude for someone transporting major criminals, who dons his scruffy exterior and turns vigilante after he is suspended, and not even for very long. Admittedly, Amell’s naturalistic charm seems like it would make for a good new portrayal of the character. However, there are several examples of dialogue where the character sounds whiny and excessively cocky, not like the wannabe hero he’s supposed to be. Possibly the most acceptable of the supporting cast is Police Chief Rebecca Vincent (Laura Linney), although this character seems eerily like the Director of National Intelligence from Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). In fact, there’s quite a few plot aspects taken from that film, one being the middle-aged blonde official who prohibits the heroes but later helps them, but also a portal in the sky through which machines from another world come, and one of the villains betraying the other – in fact that last one happens twice.

While the Turtles seem well represented and the supporting cast seems dismal, the villains of the film are hit and miss. While looking nothing like the Shredder in the last film (and yet playing the exact same character), Brian Tee gives a portrayal of a patient but ruthless criminal mastermind with a stone-faced expression that doesn’t quit. It’s simplistic to an extreme, but it does make him look like a formidable villain. Tyler Perry plays as Shredder’s coerced scientist Baxter Stockman, who appears consistently jovial. One can see this character being enjoyably excited, but the reality leans more towards annoying.

New appearances include that of cartoon favourites Krang (Brad Garrett), and the criminal lackeys Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly), characters that fans have wanted to see adapted in the sequel. Garrett’s vocal delivery as Krang is a fair reflection of the cartoon version. The design of his brain-like body is closely based on that of the cartoon also, as are the designs of Bebop and Rocksteady (although Bebop’s shades are incredibly outdated), though Krang’s robotic body is more metallic and doesn’t have many distinguishing features. In their human forms, Bebop and Rocksteady appear as eccentric criminal partners and best friends. After they transform into their respective anthropomorphic warthog and rhinoceros forms, their characters seem to drastically change, exaggerating their eccentricity into a farce. The general characterisation of the cast is severely limited, that so many characters can be considered annoying.

There are plenty of scenes to scratch your head at. Michael Bay doesn’t waste a chance to blatantly sexualise Megan Fox, in April’s introductory scene no less, where she disguises herself as a flirtatious blonde ‘nerd’ and then dons a tied shirt and miniskirt (in a sequence where her legwear disappears between shots). The sudden reveal of Krang is disappointing. If you look hard enough at the trailers, you can see a long-distance shot of the Turtles fighting Krang’s robotic suit. In the movie, he just walks in out of the shadows without even the briefest of tense buildup to a dramatic reveal. Bebop and Rocksteady’s transformation is explained to be a form of atavism, so are the filmmakers under the impression that humans evolved from warthogs and rhinos? Not even close! And then there’s the clichéd “people fear what they don’t understand” line. Writers should know better by now.

The action scenes have exciting value, ranging from inventive to so silly that you can’t help but laugh, though are far from flawless. For instance, the chase scene between the Turtle Van and the Foot Clan is quite creative, but is a poorly edited sequence. Slow motion is often overused in fast-paced action. The final battle with Krang is not as good as one would have expected. While the appearance of the Technodrome may play well to an audience’s nostalgia, and while the fight is energetic, the goings-on of the fight are hard to see given the camera proximity, angles and movement, and the shading of the character designs blend them into the environment, especially in the case of Krang’s robotic body. Krang appears with what looks like some cool weaponry, though some things he pulls out of the Technodrome he doesn’t seem to use, at least not on camera.

While Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows has some form of entertaining value from time to time, there are far too many aspects that work to the film’s detriment: much of the dialogue and performances, the disorganised editing, several annoying characters, easily resolved subplots, visually disappointing climax, noticeably dubbed lines from time to time, and a lack of dramatic or emotional connection between the characters outside of the Turtles themselves. The laughable silliness and nostalgic appeal can at some times make the film somewhat watchable, but overall it is a bad movie.