Movie review: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ proves original TV show is still Turtle fans’ best bet
Will Arnett and Megan Fox in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows." (Jessica Miglio/Paramount Pictures)
Parents need to know that "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" finds the titular foursome back in action with their friend April to defeat the nefarious plans of Shredder, his Foot Clan, and a new supervillain. (Common Sense Media/TNS)
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (Paramount Pictures)
Parents need to know that “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” — the sequel to 2014’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” — finds the titular foursome back in action with their friend April to defeat the nefarious plans of Shredder, his Foot Clan, and a new supervillain. There’s about as much explosive action violence (crashes, martial arts battles, and other hand-to-hand combat) as there was in the first movie. The language is amped up a little, with uses of “s–t” and “damn” as well as insults like “jackass,” as is the bodily function humor (expect fart and booger gags). And while there a few suggestive jokes (in one scene, two men changed into humanoid animals check out their packages and high-five each other approvingly) and a sequence in which April wears a stereotypical “sexy schoolgirl” outfit, there’s actually less innuendo here than in the original. Messages about teamwork and brotherhood are again present, and the Turtles work hard to defend the city.
WHAT’S THE STORY?
“Out of the Shadows” continues the story of brothers Leonardo (Pete Ploszek), Michelangelo (Noel Fisher), Donatello (Jeremy Howard), and Raphael (Alan Ritchson), who are still living in the sewers in the aftermath of Shredder’s (Tohoru Masamune) imprisonment. The turtles allowed Vern (Will Arnett) to take all the credit for bringing Shredder down, so he’s got a key to the city and is enjoying his local fame. But when Shredder and two other criminals are transported to a maximum-security prison, the Foot Clan intervenes, rescuing their nefarious leader with the help of genius physicist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry), who teleports Shredder away. Shredder ends up meeting the humorously gruesome-looking supervillain Krang, who tasks Shredder with finding parts of a super-machine that would allow Krang and Shredder to rule the world. Meanwhile, corrections officer Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) teams up with April (Megan Fox) and the Turtles to help locate and defeat Shredder and his goons.
IS IT ANY GOOD?
Slightly better than the original but not enough so to really justify a full-blown franchise, at least this sequel is a small step in the right direction. Some of the distracting innuendo from the first film is gone, but there’s still plenty of juvenile humor and an early focus on Fox’s seductive figure (although at least that mostly ends after one sequence). Due to the addition of Shredder’s cronies Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Stephen Farrelly) — two dim-witted criminals who are turned into a humanoid warthog and rhinoceros — there are fart, booger, and even penis jokes this time around, all to please audiences young and old who find that sort of scatological humor worth a laugh.
Arrow star Amell is another addition to the cast — and in his case, a quite welcome one (and not just because he’s such a heartthrob). He does a decent job portraying Jones, the athlete vigilante who uses hockey sticks and other sports equipment to gain leverage in battles against bigger and seemingly deadlier rivals. And, of course, he makes a potential love interest for April, although clearly the filmmakers are saving that development for the inevitable third installment in the franchise. If your family has Turtle fever, this is at least a bit better than the last one, but some purists will probably prefer to just watch the original TV show instead.
RATING AND CONTENT
Recommended for ages 11 and older
Quality: 3 out of 5
Positive messages: 3 out of 5
Positive role models: 3 out of 5
Violence: 3 out of 5
Sex: 2 out of 5
Language: 3 out of 5
Drinking, drugs, and smoking: 1 out of 5
Consumerism: 4 out of 5 (Are products/advertisements embedded? Is the title part of a broader marketing initiative/empire? Is the intent to sell things to kids?)
MOVIE DETAILS
Theatrical release date: June 3, 2016
Director: Dave Green
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Action/Adventure
Run time: 112 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13
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Common Sense Media is an independent nonprofit organization offering unbiased ratings and trusted advice to help families make smart media and technology choices. Check out our ratings and recommendations at www.commonsense.org.
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©2016 Common Sense Media
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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