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‘TMNT: Out of the Shadows’ raises shell
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” opens with a recap of the 2014 reboot that preceded it, albeit a version where the reptile heroes’ roles in defeating the nefarious Shredder are publicly attributed to goofy cameraman Vernon Fenwick (“The Lego Movie’s” Will Arnett).
Protected by their anonymity, the titular Turtles continue on their mission to defend the city from harm, aided by reporter April O’ Neil (Megan Fox, of “Transformers” fame).
When the Shredder (played here by “Tokyo Drift’s” Bryan Tee) is kidnapped en route to prison, he finds himself face-to-face with Krang (voiced with diabolical glee by “Everybody Loves Raymond’s” Brad Garrett), a sentient alien brain embedded in a large robot battle suit. Krang enlists Shredder to help take over the Earth, providing him with a powerful mutagen as a means to eliminate the the Turtles once and for all.
When Shredder uses the mutagen to transform street punks into monstrous versions of a warthog and rhinoceros, the Turtles will have to join forces with all of their allies in order to take them on and save the world.
As longtime fans will doubtlessly have noticed, “Out of the Shadows” takes more than a little inspiration from the now-classic 1987 animated series (the synopsis could just as easily refer to any number of episodes from said show), and that is in no way a bad thing. Like in the previous film, “Shadows” succeeds whenever it ditches narrative pretense and just wholeheartedly embraces its nutty premise.
Simply put: arguments on the nature of existentialism and prejudice are all good and well, but they’re probably better off in a film without “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” in the title.
Of course, this isn’t really surprising, since the Turtles’ were originally conceived by creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird as a spoof of the superhero genre, and were never really meant to be taken seriously.
Debuting in the pages of a gritty indie comic book before going on to conquer the mainstream through the aforementioned cartoon, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been pop culture mainstays for well over thirty years.
“Shadows” lives up to its title, taking Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael out of the literal shadows and bringing their adventures into the sunlight. Whether this was due to confidence on the part of the filmmakers in their admittedly-praise-worthy CGI, or a mandate to go intentionally lighter this time around is unknown. In any case, the effects depicting the turtles are generally impressive and the action is as delightfully ridiculous as it was the last time around.
What isn’t so impressive is the final act, where Shredder’s scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) has activated a trans-dimensional portal through which Krang and his forces will enter our world. Ignoring the fact that an invading force coming through a portal in the skies above New York was pretty much Loki’s plan from the first “Avengers” movie, there’s a definite feeling of “been there, done that”.
It is an irony that a film based on a spoof of superhero conventions features a finale virtually indistinguishable from that of a conventional superhero film. Further deflating whatever excitement the final action beats may have had is the fact that the Turtles end up facing off against Krang in exactly the same way they did with Shredder in the last movie.
Livening things up are the dimwitted duo of Bebop and Rocksteady, played by Gary Anthony Williams (TV’s “The Practice”) and Sheamus (of the WWE), respectively.
Here are Shredder’s classic cartoon henchmen brought to living, breathing, cinematic life, fulfilling the promise broken by the generic (i.e. easier to pull off) monsters featured in 1991’s “The Secret of the Ooze.” What director Dave Green and his screenwriters fail to do, however, is explain why in the world Shredder would trust these two idiots with anything, but, as one character says, we’re expected to “roll with it.”
Megan Fox is her usual emotionless, unexpressive self as April, adding nothing to the proceedings as the script struggles to justify her presence beyond reasons of “she was in the cartoon”. Newcomer to the franchise Stephen Arnell (TV’s “Arrow”) is mostly wasted as new ally and hockey-stick wielding vigilante Casey Jones, while Arnett is similarly squandered as wannabe hero Vernon. This film is most definitely centered on the Turtles, leaving the humans somewhat shortchanged.
Unencumbered by the previous entry’s clunky handling of the classic origin story, “Out of the Shadows” is an enjoyable time at the movies, and should appeal both to the nostalgia crowd and the kids watching the current show on Nickelodeon. While one hopes to see something in the future that doesn’t rely quite so much on what’s come before to keep it afloat, the 10-year-old in me finds it difficult to dislike a movie that has Bebop and Rocksteady driving a tank on the Amazon River in it.
Cowabunga, indeed. — AT, GMA News
