Heroes in a half shell are back and in Out of The Shadows, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtleshave new friends, new foes and above all, a new problem to deal with. The problem arises after Shredder (Brian Tee) escapes from police custody and joins forces with an extraterrestrial warlord, General Krang (Brad Garrett). The two decide to take over the world after reopening a door to another dimension — their only obstacles live below the sewers, eat Pizzas and are named after famous artists.

Out of The Shadows features new characters that give the movie a changed perspective — there is Casey Jones (TV’s Oliver Queen, Stephen Amell), Humans-turned-Mutants Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Stephen Farrelly) besides Krang who make their feature film debut in the Turtles Universe. Then there is the issue of trust between the four brothers — Leonardo (Pete Ploszek) and Donatello (Jeremy Howard) refuse to share a secret with Raphael (Alan Ritchson) and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) which could help them become humans! That infuriates Raphael and Michelangelo who decide to go solo with the help of April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and Casey Jones.

Will Arnett returns as Vern ‘The Falcon’ Fenwick who becomes the poster boy for ‘saving’ the city (when it was the Turtles who got the job done!), whereas Laura Linney makes her first appearance as Police Chief Rebecca Vincent who wants to clean the city of crime and grime.

Director Jonathan Liebesman and producer Michael Bay must be commended for making this flick all-out-action unlike the last flick where back stories complicated the narrative. When you see Casey Jones wearing roller-skates and running with an ice hockey stick in his hand, when the Turtles turn the tables on the hapless Bebop and Rocksteady, when Master Splinter (voiced by Tony Shalhoub) lectures the brothers, you are transported back into the days of the animated series when Turtles first appeared on TV.

Shredder could have had more scene, more lines and more action sequences since the bigger he is shown, the better Turtles look on screen. Yes, the chase sequence featuring Turtle’s Truck is well-executed but more would have been better. Watch it if you are a huge fan of Ninja Turtles, and Pizza, of course!

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 18th, 2016