“ Keep the team unified, and you shall always succeed”
Growing up in a undisclosed decade (ok the eighties), our super heroes weren’t seen at the local theater, but instead on the small screen in our living rooms. They had battle cries like “Yo Joe!” and “Cowabunga!” but only in an animated form. They were like that because it was tough to bring some of those characters to live-action; I mean there is only so much you can do with a rubber suit. Soon though we could build them, we have the technology, to make them better, and to make them in the mold of their chosen form. We live in a golden age of superhero films and while we are all in awe of the films that come out every year, none of them have that feel of those animated classics of the eighties.
The one property that could achieve that would be the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, because of their feel. They first came to your local theater in 1990, but were limited with what they could work with in the way of animatronic heads and stunt-men in the suits. In 2014 they were brought back, in a more fun way, but the overall movie just wasn’t very good. Here we are in 2016 and we are given the sequel we deserve as our favorite heroes in a half shell are back. Everything is good in turtle world, as they protect the city from the shadows as Vernon (Will Arnett) takes the credit for saving the city from Shredder (Brian Tee). The quiet is soon broken, when Shredder escapes and with the help of Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry), start to find a way to open a portal to another demission. It’s up to the turtles, with help from April O’Neil (Megan Fox), and Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) to stop them, and to save the city once again.
Going into this, I wasn’t exactly oozing confidence that anything good was going to come from this clear cash-grab. I mean sure they had added some characters I was pretty excited about Rocksteady, Bebop, and Krang, but would it be for good or bad in the end. Well I will say writers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec put forth a pretty good effort and put together the best film in the “TMNT” franchise to date. This movie has all the fun feel of the animated series without it being hand drawn. Seeing some of the classic characters come to life put a smile on my face and almost was enough to get me past the problems. I still enjoyed the film and had fun, but the movie runs a little long and Megan Fox still can’t act. Once you get past those two things, and for most that might not even matter, this installment is a good time waiting to be had by the whole family. Somehow for me this movie walked the line of nostalgia and the now in a pretty good way, and for most fans of “TMNT” they will feel the same way. So make it a night, grab some pizza, and yell “Cowabunga!” as you partake in a totally radical and tubular time with the turtles.
