Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows - I should have hated this film more

I was the original eighties kid who grew up on the Teenage Mutant Ninja (or 'Hero' as it was here in the UK) Turtles cartoon.  Then the inevitable live action film was released in 1990 and, despite how bad it really was, I loved it.  I stress again - I was a kid. 'Out of the Shadows' is the second instalment of the modern generation of Turtles films and I remember the outcry from us fanboys when the first one was released.  Okay, so we had a point about the possibility of the turtles being evolved from aliens, but, overall, it was just how it wasn't representative of what we remembered.  And we collectively hated it.

Yeah, it was no masterpiece and there were definitely things in it I'd like to have seen, but didn't.  But it wasn't terrible.  And, bearing that in mind, I decided to watch its follow-up.  And, unbelievably, I'm actually quite glad I did.  No, I didn't love it - it wasn't really the Turtles that I remembered from my childhood, but suddenly I could see kids today absolutely loving it.  In twenty or thirty years’ time I can see them arguing with their own children about how whatever new 'update' to the franchise doesn't compare to Megan Fox's portrayal of April O'Neil.  And they'll be right.  And so will their kids.

I could bang on about how there was too much CGI, or that the Turtles themselves looked hideous and scary compared to their loveable cartoon incarnations.  Plus the film felt like just another addition to Michael Bay's ever-growing list of blockbusters with more explosions than narrative structure.  Then there were the complete gaps in logic where you have to suspend your disbelief in order to get past the fact that, in this post 9/11 world, it's quite feasible to break into a New York police station as long as you have a baseball cap and a toolbox (and I guess looking like Megan Fox helps).  Yes, it's fair to say that 'Out of the Shadows' is ripe for ripping apart.  And yet it was actually still quite fun.

I do hate the overuse of computer effects, but, if you're making a live action story about six foot turtles interacting with humans, what else are you supposed to do?  Maybe it was because the cartoon was just so, er, cartoonish, that I enjoyed seeing a mutant pig and rhino - almost literally - butting heads with our pizza-loving heroes, plus there was Krang.  And, if you don't know he's a kind of pink living brain who lives in the stomach of a robot in another dimension.  He was a true joy to watch.  My major criticism of him was that he wasn't in it for long enough and had to share stage with (the more obvious baddie) Shredder, who - again - had very little time to develop his character and only popped up here and there to look moody and evil.

After watching the first (recent - 2014) incarnation of the turtles, I can only really remember an end battle on a rooftop.  Whereas with 'Out of the Shadows' I can actually recall quite a lot of detail regarding the plot.  Okay, so there wasn't much of a plot.  Maybe I should state that I can remember quite a lot about the action sequences and pretty visuals, plus the banter between the four turtles was amusing enough to keep me entertained.  And this is pure entertainment.  Don't expect anything else.  Just appreciate that boys today will probably love this film in the same way we loved the cartoon back in the late eighties (and we didn't even have Megan Fox at the helm!).  I may even watch this one again one day.  And it’s definitely better than any of the recent Michael Bay ‘Transformers’ movies!

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights