Where the fuck do I start with this? Like anyone born in the 80s, I have a very long history with this franchise. I still manage to find myself getting into debates whether the third film was really that bad (oh it so fucking is), or how Vanilla Ice has to be the greatest rapper of all time to freestyle an entire song while in concert as mutant monsters attack. I always had an affection for the Turtles.
Until that piece of shit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came out in 2014.
I reached a sad point where I questioned if I had outgrown the series; maybe these movies aren’t even for the innocence in me.
So in going to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows I was ready to at least take a nap. Not a total waste.
But goddam it, I fucking liked the movie.
I’m speaking as a TMNT fan; the flick is full of fan service elements, and personally, I don’t give a fuck. Out of the Shadows has Casey Jones (Steven Amell), Beebop and RockSteady (Gary Anthony Williams and Stephen Farrelly) and, holy shit, Krang (Brad Garrett). This was a flick that should have been made 25 years ago.
Beyond the nostalgia, I recognized that what worked this time around was that the fimmakers finally decided to embrace the campiness of the material. Tyler Perry as scientist Baxter totally gets the kind of movie he’s in. The reboot just took shit way too seriously, and failed at being gritty and dark. This time around the settings, the characters, the tone even is more colorful, a lot more fun.
I know there’s better films out there for you to watch, but considering that the last TMNT movies made me lament the loss of my innocence, I say that this one at least succeeds in not making me want to punch the wall. That’s a win in my book.
movieknight23 