By Geno McGahee
In 1990, the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES was released to the big screen and it was an outstanding movie. At that point, the turtles were huge and they were everywhere. Unlike other popular topics that transitioned to film, this was done right. Remarkably, the follow up in 1991 “THE SECRET OF THE OOZE” was just about as good as the first, and arguably, was more fun. Then we had TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III in 1993 and it killed the series immediately. The turtles time-traveling to ancient Japan didn’t feel like a natural part of the franchise and it took 21 years for us to see them again in a live action movie.
The 2014 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, despite the switch from actors in costume to CGI, was a good film and was better than I thought it was going to be. They even did some things better than the 1990 version, including defining the turtles. Their personalities were more distinct and they were all likable. You could get beyond the CGI and accept them as real characters.
Now we are headed into TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS and it looks very impressive. The action is big and there is a definite fun factor present. The turtles now have a new vehicle…a garbage truck and the foot clan look much more impressive. Megan Fox returns as April O’Neil, Will Arnett comes back as Vernon Fenwick, and we see Tyler Perry take on the role of Baxter Stockman. Casey Jones, played by Stephen Amell, makes his presence known as well, but the big news is that the turtles have some tough bad guys to take down in Bebop and Rocksteady. Since 1990, the turtle fans have been awaiting the arrival of these two bad guys and here they are. Bebop is played by Gary Anthony Williams and Rocksteady is played by WWE star, Sheamus (Stephen Farrelly).
The film looks action-packed and had the added bonus of Rocksteady driving a tank and Megan Fox dressing like a school girl for some reason. I expect this to be another fun ride and move in the right direction for these characters. The relaunch in 2014 was successful and I don’t think that we will see another Turtles in Time sort of flick.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS is being released on June 3rd by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.
