COWABUNGA DUDE!!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is the sequel to the 2014 reboot of this beloved property. If you grew up in the 90’s you know the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael are back; after their arch nemeses Shredder escapes from custody, the Turtles are forced to hunt him down and stop his evil plan! This time Shredder will not be defeated so easily, because in an effort to even the odds, he creates his own mutant sidekicks Bebop and Rocksteady.
The biggest highlight of Out of the Shadows vs the last TMNT movie was the use of the actual Turtles. Giving the stars of the movie more screen time lets the director flesh out their personalities and the relationships with each other more convincingly than the previous film. This movie also introduces fan favorites Casey jones, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady! These characters were at least fun, and felt like good fan service for those loyal enough to keep coming back to the franchise. I think that this is a step in the right direction for the Turtles movies and as a huge fan it was good to see them get the Turtle’s personalities so right.
The main negative with this movie is that it tries to do too much. With a lot externally going on and almost the entire backlog of TMNT characters, this plot suffered. It was overly simple and not very well constructed. It even felt like a bit of a rehash from the last movie. The story tries to service everyone by jumping around from character to character, but it leads to some fan favorites being overlooked and ultimately underutilized.
With countless references to the old cartoons and some introductions to some of the franchise’s most beloved characters, this movie at its core was fun. Ultimately if you are a fan of TMNT you need to sit back, grab some popcorn and enjoy the nostalgia!
My Rating: 3 out of 5 slices of pizza