The heroes in a half-shell are back to save the day from inner-city mutants, in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadows”. Taking place after the events of the first film, Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael re-appear from hiding to battle bigger, badder villains, alongside April O’Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), and a newcomer: the hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones (Stephen Amell). After supervillain Shredder (Brian Tee) escapes police custody, he joins forces with mad scientist and mutant manufacturer Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry), and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE Superstar Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly), to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. As the Turtles prepare to take on Shredder and his new crew, they find themselves facing an even greater evil with similar intentions: the notorious Krang (Fred Armisen). With the odds against them, the turtles must band together in their brotherhood to save the day, and stop their diabolical plan. “TMNT 2” is directed by Dave Green, and is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence.

After the disappointment of the first movie and a trailer for this movie that was a little underwhelming, I wasn’t heading into “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadows” with the greatest of expectations. Perhaps that was to my advantage, as this movie is a much greater improvement on nearly every end of the creative spectrum for these legendary characters. This installment mostly serves as a lot of fan service for fans of the cartoon of the 80’s, as well as the live action films of the 90’s, and on the mood of the former, this film finally got it correct. Fans of the comics will still be disappointed at the very slapstick atmosphere that continues with this film, but I feel that screenwriter Josh Applebaum has crafted a mind-numbingly fun popcorn flick that gives the viewers a healthy medium between sarcastic wit and an in-depth checklist for characters and subjects of the film’s original content.

That’s not to say that “TMNT 2” doesn’t have it’s problems. At the heart of this dumb movie is a lot of character introductions that just doesn’t fit with the 103 minute runtime. The film is paced much better than its predecessor, but the screenplay for the film still struggles with giving every single character enough to do to warrant more than just a five minute cameo. Also (and I know I’m not breaking any revelations here), the logic of some of the scenarios through the films still requires its audience to suspend the greatest measures of disbelief. I’m not even referring to the turtles or anything out of the ordinary for this world. What I’m referring to is some of the ways that the turtles thwart the plans of the Foot Clan at every turn. Some of the very painful measures that the turtles go through should have them dead or at the very least paralyzed, and it’s in their indestructible exteriors that really takes away some of the intrigue with the fight scenes in this film. Thankfully, the action is shot with much better patience in this movie, as not everything is shot tight and up close in the heart of the action. As a moviegoer, I enjoy when the movie can be just that and take a step back to register everything that is going on with each passing angle. I don’t need to be inside of everything, and would prefer to keep that and the shaky atmosphere to the characters themselves.

As for the character introductions and acting, the film hit both the positive and the negative range of the creative spectrum. The turtles are a little more developed in personality with this film, and I greatly enjoyed the flirting feelings with these heroes being viewed by society as monsters. There’s a real heartbreak between them to be normal teenagers, and that is the first real thing that Applebaum takes to his credit. It was also cool to finally get a movie where the turtles are every bit a member of society as the people they save every day. It’s such a change to see humans come in to contact with the green group, and I loved it if only because they finally get the credit that they deserve. Brian Tee is also great as Shredder. I am happy that this franchise returned Shredder to his Asian roots, and Brian’s one-face expressional really captures a villain who’s soul purpose is Armageddon. I will talk more about him later. Sadly, most of the live action actors are either poorly casted or painful in delivery. Megan Fox once again just IS NOT the right person for this role. She plays April with too much sexiness, and not enough creative wit. It’s not entirely Fox’s fault though, as the film has nothing interesting or impactful for her to say or do. Check on the typical Michael Bay-Megan Fox body shot that became a staple for the “Transformers” series. It’s in this film as well. But above all, My least favorite aspect of this film was Stephen Amell as Casey Jones. Despite the fact that the film doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression for the masked vigilante, Amell just doesn’t have enough rage inside of him to play a character who literally thirsts for violence. He’s a little too clean cut, and frankly cute for this role. The film takes every opportunity to make him look foolish without even a hint of anger from his performance.

I mentioned earlier that I wanted to discuss something with Shredder. His costume is a much better improvement in this film, as he doesn’t look like a Transformer, but the ending of this film disappointed me. MINOR SPOILERS HERE – The movie places great importance on the escape of Shredder from prison, and makes his revenge a vital part of the film’s direction, but then makes him a puppet for the introduction of Kraang. Aside from the fact that Kraang should’ve probably been introduced in the third film as the soul villain, he is introduced to almost no build, and then not seen again for over an hour. Shredder does all of the footwork, with the turtles always on his back, and then the final ten minutes leaves Shredder as an afterthought for the final fight. The turtles end up fighting Kraang, and Shredder is neatly disposed of without so much as a whimper. It’s such a disappointing blow to a movie that was scene-by-scene setting up the rematch of the century. Kraang’s design is about as good as it can be for such a laughable concept, but I could’ve used more influence on this script if that’s where the ending was taking us. It was super cool to see the Technodrome though. Extra cool points there.

Overall, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Out of the Shadows” isn’t the revival of your childhood nostalgia, but it does offer enough fan service distractions to cushion the blow. This one is definitely a film for the fans, and the more ridiculous the better when it stands next to the other big-budget Summer blockbusters who take themselves a little too seriously. Finally a film in this series where generations old and new can escape the realities of life with a little sewer and slime.

6/10