The campy, high-octane adventures of the four turtles with the names of Italian Renaissance artists continue, as fan nostalgia for the animated television series and comic books that spawned the sewer-dwelling heroes apparently trumped poor critical reviews. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows reunites viewers with the crime-fighting bros, who are enjoying a peaceful life of skateboarding, eating pizza, and watching basketball until Shredder (Brian Tee), the villain they busted in the previous installment, is sprung from imprisonment. Thanks to a powerful transporter that finds its way into the hands of Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry), a mad scientist with delusions of grandeur, Shredder meets up with Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett), a brain attached to a massive robot. This curious villain soon convinces him to transform his dim-witted acquaintances Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Sheamus) into humanoid animals by using an ooze with mutagenic properties. Krang's endgame is to gain the pieces he needs to create his Technodrome, an all-powerful alien spacecraft built to destroy Earth.
The Turtles' human friend April (Megan Fox) recruits two allies to help the foursome deal with this new threat: Casey Jones (Stephen Amell), who was one of the cops present when Shredder got away, and their old friend Vern (Will Arnett), who got the credit for dispatching Shredder the first time around after the Turtles decided not to reveal themselves. Will Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael be able to stop the villains before their plan is put into motion?
This film will certainly tap into the pleasure centers of its demo audience of young kids with its splashes of colors, beautiful views of both city skylines and natural scenery, and high-tempo action sequences. Each of the actors who voice the turtles (Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, and Alan Ritchson) pitches in by embracing the insanity of the story, but Fisher steals the show as "Mikey," a dim bulb with a constant appetite and lust for life, who is always ready with whatever the opposite of a pithy one-liner is. A similar, mind-numbingly knuckleheaded charm can be found in the friendship between Bebop and Rocksteady, as the computer-generated characters represent both blind machismo and unwavering bromance. And though he's unable to demonstrate his acting chops here, Amell at least gets his first shot at the big screen after doing good work as the lead of the sleeper-hit TV series Arrow.
On the other hand, Amell is still wasted in a movie that's a completely ridiculous visual sugar rush, as are the immensely talented Will Arnett and Laura Linney (the latter of whom is an Academy Award nominee reduced to playing a joyless, one-note stern cop). April's character arc would be comical if it wasn't so disappointing, as all of the meaningful action in the second half is handled by the men (including the Turtles themselves). The film also tries to compensate for its lack of any real stakes or sense of danger by shoehorning in too many villains, including Shredder, who has little to do with the actual plot machinations, and an assortment of seemingly hapless "ninja" antagonists. For that matter, why would the highly ambitious Baxter put an end to his legitimate career as a scientist to do the bidding of a hated criminal (and, by proxy, a supervillain)? Ultimately, the film's utter disregard for coherent storytelling is unlikely to engender much interest beyond its target audience of easily impressed children.
If you are looking for brainless fun and neatly constructed action sequences, or have a young child who wants to be entertained, this movie might be worth your time. For everyone else, this film is staggeringly inane to the point of bewilderment. While it may be vacuous enough to find new life in a few years as a "so-bad-it's-good" cult classic, for now it's just taking up space at the multiplex for anyone past their preteen years.