Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows 3D BD + Screen Caps

THE MOVIE — 2.0/5

Paramount’s 2014 re-launch of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wasn’t good, from the designs of the turtles to the Baying of the action sequences, it was a letdown and as someone who grew up in the ‘80s with the original cartoon and movies, that incarnation was downright bad. So, would this sequel, which apparently not many people wanted looking at the box office, fix the issues the first film had? Sort of. But not much.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows takes place a year (or so) following the events of the last film. Our favorite mutant turtles – Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo – still only go out at night, fight crime, eat pizza and take in an NBA game from the rafters while cameraman Vernon Fenwick (WILL ARNETT) is taking all of the credit for saving the city and taking down Shredder (BRIAN TEE).

However, apparently there is a plot afoot to break Shredder out during a transport to a high security facility as reporter April O’Neill (MEGAN FOX) has discovered upon copying files from a device held by genius scientist Baxter Stockman (TYLER PERRY). The transport also is carrying a couple low level thugs, Bebop and Rocksteady, and up front is co-guard Casey Jones (STEPHEN AMELL). And before you know it, Shredder’s loyal foot soldiers take on the convoy, blowing up cars left and right and in epic slow motion that would make Michael Bay and Zack Snyder proud. They overpower the transport and using some doohickey device created by Baxter, he fires it at Shredder who gets teleported to freedom. Or so they thought.

The tracking signal for Shredder has been lost and that’s because Shredder has teleported to another dimension where he meets the disembodied brain, Krang (voiced by BRAD GARRETT) who makes a deal with Shredder: find two items on earth, assemble with another already in Krang’s possession and it will open a portal where he can come through and, yeah, take over the world, oh and he’s given some purple ooze which, when Shredder is teleported back to Earth is synthesized by Baxter and with two unwitting morons, namely the aforementioned Bebop and Rocksteady, are respectively transformed into a rhinoceros and warthog. Together they set out to retrieve the items.

Meanwhile, back with the turtle storyline, we get more tension as seen in numerous other incarnations dating back to the first Turtles movie back in 1990 in which Leonardo is trying to be a team leader but is frustrated while Raphael is more of the rough and loner type. Splinter (voiced by TONY SHALHOUB) makes a couple appearances and gives one sage advice to Leonardo but his role has been scaled back. It’s a bit tiring aspect though resolved simply enough.

There are not much positive things to say about Out of the Shadows. I’m still not sold on the Turtles’ designs though I am getting used to them (Splinter on the other hand is hideous), and the CGI itself isn’t half bad even during the big finale where we get to see Krang’s Technodrome which in the film is pieced together almost like a Transformer. That said, as with seeing Krang and his robotic body, I couldn’t help but to smile as a reminder of my childhood as I owned that large toy… But that’s all I can muster is a smile for nostalgia, not so much for what was presented as a movie.

The acting is what you would expect from the material. Tyler Perry, unsurprisingly, chews the scenery in this limited screen time, Megan Fox sexes it up as April O’Neil once again and has a laughable scene where she transforms into a sexy schoolgirl outfit (in fairness, it was Halloween…) while Will Arnett’s role was far too short as he probably was funniest aspect of the entire cast. The voice work by the Turtles was more of the same from the first movie and they’re not bad, keeping in the spirit built up over the course of 25+ years. Oh, and Stephen Amell as Casey Jones? Yeah, not so much.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows was helmed by David Green (Earth to Echo) from a screenplay by Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec (Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and while certainly anyone under the age of, say, 17 probably will enjoy the movie, I found it tiring to sit through thanks to an overabundance of visual effects.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.75/5

This 3-disc set (3D BD, BD, DVD) comes housed in a standard Blu-ray case and comes with a semi-glossy slip cover. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy.

We Are Family (8:15; HD) looks at the family dynamic of the turtles and includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the actors who portrayed them.

Whoa! Expanding the Turtleverse (14:19; HD) is about the introduction of new characters including Casey Jones and villains Bebop and Rocksteady as well as Krang.

House Party (6:18; HD) is a tour of the new Turtle lair.

It’s Tricky: Inside the Van (4:08; HD) breaks down the cool gadgets of the Turtles mode of transportation.

ILM: The Effects Beneath the Shell (3:04; HD) is a visual effects comparison featurette.

Did You Catch That? Turtle Eggs (3:02; HD) is a featurette on the Easter eggs in the film.

Deleted Scenes (4:54; HD) is a collection of scenes that mostly involve April O’Neil being a reporter.

3D VIDEO – 4.5/5, 2D VIDEO – 4.75/5

Similarly, the 2D disc offers more of the same. Detail looks sharp throughout and colors are generally bright. There were no major signs of artifacts or aliasing. Given it is a new release and one that looks cartoony, this benefits from the 1080p high-definition transfer.

AUDIO – 5.0/5

OVERALL – 3.0/5

Overall, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows might’ve been an ever-so-slight improvement over its predecessor but that’s not saying a whole lot. It’s still too Bayish for my taste and the inordinate amount of visual effects makes it tiring, though the fan service at least makes it a tolerable enough experience. The 3D Blu-ray combo pack released by Paramount offers great video/audio transfers though the features are merely so-so.