The summer movie season has begun, so get ready for a barrage of sequels. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is this week’s designated follow-up. It brings back the heroic chelonians (that’s a fancy word for turtles, folks!) for more action and comic mayhem. The original 2014 film may have been critically reviled, but it was a box-office behemoth. I didn’t enjoy it and admit that this effort isn’t as grating. However, there still isn’t much about it to recommend.
Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael are called into action once again when the villainous Shredder (Brian Tee) breaks out of prison with the help of his threatening Foot Clan. Mind you, these evil ninjas appear to have more difficulty chasing down a woman in heels than you’d expect, but they’re supposed to be intimidating. With the assistance of scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) and two monstrous thugs named Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Stephen Farrelly), Shredder sets out to open a dimension portal that will bring the slimy alien General Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett) to Earth. With the help of April O’Neil (Megan Fox), Casey Jones (Stephen Arnell) and Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett), the turtles do their best to save the world.
The sequel does tone down the obnoxiousness of the previous installment. The heroes themselves are a little less arrogant and come across in a more reserved manner. Thankfully, there are no bizarre and creepy advances towards the April O’Neil character and the film has a less gritty and more cartoon-like feel. The movie itself looks slick and features a couple of impressive car stunts.
Unfortunately, the script doesn’t help matters. Not that anyone should expect a whole lot of depth from the story, but there’s little in the way of character development… even for a film like this. You know things are bad when the only characteristic introduced about the heroes is that one is the “leader” and another is the “pizza-lover.” Not exactly standout traits for the main protagonists. Towards the end of the feature, the writers try to instill a message about the group embracing each other’s differences and using them to function better as a unit. However, these unique attributes don’t end up being exemplified in any definitive way during the climax.
Even worse, the dialogue is terrible. The lines are repetitive and frankly sound like they were written by a class of 12 year old boys. One expects a bit of good-natured kid talk for the teenage turtles, but when the adults sound equally dim it’s a big distraction. Much of the humor aims too low (characters farting and waving the smell towards a target is just one example) and the majority of one-liners fall deadly flat. These characters aren’t as appealing as they should be, and the excitement and tension suffers as a result.
As action scene after action scene unfolds, the loud and chaotic nature of the movie becomes tiring. It appears as if the movie hopes to engage by introducing characters that fans of cartoon and comic book will recognize. However, most of them aren’t developed well enough to be interesting. To be fair, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows isn’t as painful to watch as the previous installment. Small children will likely enjoy the fast-pace and bright colors, but most adults will have trouble remembering any of it the next day.