When America’s favorite turtles return to the screen in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows on Friday the result is a fun and exciting ride with the Turtles right in our faces where they belong.
TMNT 2 picks up the story of the Turtles two years after saving the City from reboot villain Shredder (Brian Tee). Resident reporter/Turtle helper April (Megan Fox) finds out that an evil scientist named Dr. Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) is secretly working with Shredder to invent a teleportation device that will aid his escape from custody while he’s being moved to a new prison location. When the armored truck that’s transporting Shredder comes under attack by his band of Ninja’s, the Turtles take off in hot pursuit but ultimately fall just short of recapturing Shredder. Accustomed to moving in the shadows one of the cops ambushed in the move, Casey Jones (Stephen Amell), witnesses their attempts at recapture and tries to alert his superiors but is found unbelievable (of course) by his bureau chief and placed on leave. No matter, he jumps in cahoots with the Turtles and joins the quest to bring the bad guys to justice.
As the story continues to unfold, it is revealed that the Turtles have not just Shredder and Dr. Baxter to contend with but an even bigger foe named Krang, a talking brain (that looks like a piece of chewing gum) that lives inside of a big robotic body. With the help of Shredder, and two moronic helpers named Bebop and Rocksteady, Krang plans on assembling a giant war machine that will destroy the world *evil laugh*. Will they be successful? Will the Turtles save New York once more? Will the Turtles eat all of the Pizza in the tri-state area? A few questions that will be answered in route to an exciting conclusion that’s chock full of cheesy jokes, toilet humor and all-around good natured fun that even the most jaded movie watcher can crack a smile at.
Director Dave Green does a good job at restoring the franchise to the roots that made the Turtles popular to begin with. Are there moments where you have to shake your head and roll your eyes? Of course, but overall it’s not a bad way to spend a couple of hours and the action sequences are pretty cool. Who knew a trash truck could do all that?
BSO Grade: B- and have some pizza afterwards. The Turtles will like it.