Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
★★½ — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
When Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies released the first rebooted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2014, it divided opinion sharply. Long-time fans of the franchise, which traces its roots back to Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's original comic books from 1984 and the beloved animated series that followed, found the tone too grim and the aesthetic too far removed from the sewer-dwelling, pizza-loving heroes they grew up with. It performed well enough at the box office, however, to greenlight a sequel, and so two years later came Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. This time the story raises the stakes considerably, with Shredder escaping custody and teaming up with mad scientist Baxter Stockman and a pair of newly mutated henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady, while an even bigger threat looms in the form of the inter-dimensional villain Krang. For fans of the classic cartoons, the addition of those characters alone was enough to generate genuine anticipation, since both Bebop, Rocksteady and Krang are among the most recognisable figures from the animated series and had been conspicuously absent from the 2014 film.
The director's chair passed from Jonathan Liebesman to Dave Green, who had previously made the low-budget science fiction film Earth to Echo (2014). It was a relatively modest CV for a franchise sequel of this scale, and the production again sat under the producing influence of Michael Bay's company alongside Paramount. The film was a co-production involving studios from China and Hong Kong as well as the United States, a common arrangement for big Hollywood tentpoles of this era looking to access the Chinese market (a pattern you'll recognise if you've read the thoughts here on Men in Black: International or Skiptrace). The source material, of course, is one of the most commercially successful multimedia franchises ever built around four mutated reptiles, which means the filmmakers were working with both a safety net of existing affection and a particularly demanding fanbase.
The four Turtles are again performed and voiced by Pete Ploszek (Leonardo), Alan Ritchson (Raphael), Jeremy Howard (Donatello) and Noel Fisher (Michelangelo), the same ensemble that appeared in the 2014 predecessor. Megan Fox returns as reporter April O'Neil, a role that carries the same polished but unremarkable energy she brought to the first film. The more notable addition to the cast is Stephen Amell, best known at the time for playing Oliver Queen in the television series Arrow, stepping into the role of vigilante Casey Jones, a character with significant history in the TMNT comics and cartoons. Whether the film makes good use of him is, naturally, something worth considering.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) is technically an improvement over the messy 2014 reboot, slightly better pacing, a stronger villain in Shredder (who actually gets to do something), and the long-awaited arrival of Krang and Bebop & Rocksteady, who at least bring some comic-book absurdity to the mix. The action scenes are still overly dark and CGI-heavy, but there are a few moments that finally feel like the TMNT we know and love. The brothers get a bit more personality this time around, with Mikey’s humour and Raph’s frustration getting actual screen time, and Stephen Amell shows up as Casey Jones, bringing earnest charm even if he’s underused. You can tell the filmmakers listened to some fan complaints, the tone’s a little lighter, the bonds between the Turtles feel slightly more present, and hey, they even use the word “cowabunga” without irony. But for all its small upgrades, it’s still weighed down by the same problems: bland dialogue, forgettable human characters, and an over-reliance on Michael Bay-style bombast that drowns out any real emotion or stakes. The story drags in the middle, Krang’s giant robot finale feels silly even for TMNT standards, and once again, the film struggles to balance spectacle with heart. Marginally better than the first, sure, but still a letdown for fans hoping for a true love letter to the franchise. It tries, it stumbles, it occasionally soars. Just not enough to call it a win. Shell shock, indeed.
So where does that leave things? For me, Out of the Shadows sits in that frustrating category of films that give you just enough to want more but never quite deliver it. The franchise clearly has the ingredients to make something genuinely fun, and there are flashes here where you can see what a better version of this film might look like. If you want something that scratches a similar action-blockbuster itch but actually commits to its own spectacle, I'd point you towards my write-up of Mad Max: Fury Road, which shows what happens when a big-budget action film fully trusts its own bonkers vision. Out of the Shadows never quite manages that leap of faith. It knows what it wants to be, it just can't quite get out of its own way long enough to become it. Cowabunga, almost.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 2016 | Watched: 2025-09-16
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Paramount Plus · Sky Go · Now TV Cinema · Paramount+ Amazon Channel
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Paramount Plus Premium · Paramount Plus Essential · Paramount+ Amazon Channel · Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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