Forget What You Heard, TMNT 2: Out of the Shadows Gets It Right

Alright, let’s get the obvious points out of the way. The first rebooted Turtles movie in 2014 was really bad. We all know that, we all still feel it creeping up on us ready to fill us with disappointment time and time again. I want you to do something for me; I want you to pretend Will Smith Aka. agent J has just used the Neuralyzer on you and all of that was just POOF! Gone with the wind. Cleanse your mind of any memory of that other movie and anything else that Michael Bay has had a part in. Only then can you truly watch TMNT 2: Out of the Shadows. Only then can you truly find pure unadulterated turtle power.

In true non spoiler fashion, I’ll give you the rundown of this movie and its plot-lines. Main plot: Shredder has escaped! Oh golly! Baxter Stockman is recruited by his grandmother Madea to help Shredder! Oh no! (The Madea part is obviously a joke but who knows maybe Madea did recruit him). Krang is also here too and he’s just as weird looking as always, he’s so slimy bruh. There are also a couple of subplots but I’ll leave those for whoever goes to see the movie. Bebop and Rocksteady also make their debut and they basically steal the show, they’re extremely entertaining by just saying “MAH MAN” a lot. Casey Jones is also great but he doesn’t get to have as much screen time as you would want him to have.

The time that he does have on screen is entertaining and a strong showing for him. The turtles actually look better in this movie and their personalities are finally what they should have been the first time around. Even master Splinter has an upgraded personality. They’re all fun and behave like a family, which sounds silly as a complement but it’s an important detail that makes this movie better.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though, some of the jokes didn’t hit and there’s a little fart humor which could have been left on the drawing board. The final fight was basically like the final fight in the first movie and Shredder was CRIMINALLY underused. The bright side is that he actually has a normal outfit and not that silly ass robot death suit from the first movie. All of the turtles have distinct personalities and the movie shoves that fact in your face. You know, in case the different color masks, body types, and their interests didn’t cue you in on the fact.

This movie sought out to right all the wrongs that the first one created. For the most part, it does just that. It spent less time focusing on the humans(which is something that Michael Bay just has a thing for) and gave more focus and screen time to the turtles. It gave Shredder a normal outfit, it introduced new characters and didn’t make me want to cry while watching the old TMNT cartoon wishing for better days. The fight scenes were choreographed well and the music choices were very fitting. The end credit song is also pretty amazing.

All in all I really enjoyed this movie. Most reviews of it are extremely negative so I was sort of looking for a few reasons why they reviewed it that way while I was watching it and you know what? I found nothing that would make this movie terrible. It’s full of little easter eggs from the old T.V. series and it entertained me the whole way through. Maybe I was blinded by Krang’s metal suit to the flaws but I couldn’t find any except for a couple of things which is more about the script if anything.

This movie really does come out of the shadows so to speak. It comes at you full throttle with wacky turtle-ness and I was enjoying almost every single second of it. I do recommend this movie if you go with an open mind and promise to not let Michael Bay’s name cloud your judgement. You’ll have a pretty good time.

TMNT 2: Out of the Shadows gets 7 Heroes in a Half shell out of 10!

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