Final August, the shellbacks made a really sudden comeback. For the thirty fifth anniversary of theoriginalTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesfilm, Fathom and Saga Arts rereleased the superhero action-comedy in theaters. Initially, the occasion was presupposed to run simply two days, however ticket presales have been so promising they prolonged it to a complete week and expanded the variety of theaters. Then, after the movie earned a shocking$3.3 million at the box office, the occasion was prolongedone other week and Fathom introduced that its sequel would get the same launch subsequent yr.
Now, 1991’sTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is again in theaters, and, 35 years later, it’s nonetheless probably the most enjoyable available with the Turtles on movie (particularly for many who grew up within the authentic Turtle-Mania of the late Eighties and early Nineteen Nineties).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze takes place quickly after our heroes defeat the Shredder on the finish of the primary movie. Whereas they’re unable to return to their sewer dwelling due to it being found by the villainous Foot Clan, the brothers appear content material to crash on the residence of their human pal April O’Neil (Paige Turco) till they discover a new place, which they ultimately do in a cool previous deserted subway station. The Shredder (François Chau), nevertheless, will not be useless and he quickly begins rebuilding the Foot Clan. Worse, he creates two monstrous new mutants to get revenge on the Turtles.
Regardless of being a revenge story, it’s price noting thatSecret of the Ooze was loads lighter in tone than its predecessor. The 1990 movie principally tailored the unique, grittier comedian books, and lightened them up with some humor pulled from the 1987 cartoon collection. The end result was a stable story stuffed with loads of motion, drama, humor and coronary heart, however it was violent sufficient todraw some complaints from parenting groups. Consequently,Secret of the Ooze took a far lighter tone; the Turtles always crack jokes and take virtually nothing significantly. In addition they barely ever use their ninja weapons. But these adjustments didn’t break the Turtle system — different,far worse Turtle films would try this later — neither isSecret of the Ooze a so-bad-it’s-good film. As a substitute, screenwriter Todd Langen (who additionally wrote the unique) leaned into this new route and made probably the most of it, which is why so many Turtle followers nonetheless love this sequel.
Secret of the Oozeopens on the Turtles beating up a band of burglars in a shopping center. The change in tone is instantly obvious. As a substitute of attacking the crooks with swords and nunchucks, the Turtles are beating them up with yo-yos and foam baseball bats. There’s even a scene at a deli counter the place Michelangelo ditches his nunchicks for 2 linked pepperonis as he shouts, “Fight coldcuts!” whereas taking down the unhealthy guys. Just about all of the battle scenes are like this: onerous to take significantly, however nonetheless energetic and pleasurable.
The brand new villains are additionally quite a lot of enjoyable and have some actually spectacular artistry from Jim Henson’s Creature Store. Tokka the snapping turtle and Rahzart the wolf are genuinely menacing of their look, however their personalities are that of infants (they even name Shredder “Mama!”). Being double the scale of the Turtles, they are a credible menace to our heroes and the residents of New York Metropolis, however Tokka and Rahzar are additionally extremely humorous in a slapstick, Three Stooges sort of means.
And whereas he’s underutilized, the Shredder does spend the final battle scene as a mutagen-induced Tremendous Shredder (Kevin Nash), a wild design with loopy muscle mass and bladesin every single place— with zero rationalization as to how mutagen would change his outfit.
After all,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is greatest remembered for a scene that includes rapper Vanilla Ice. For a couple of month in the course of the early Nineteen Nineties, Vanilla Ice was the largest rap star on the market, and that simply so occurred to be the identical month whenSecret of the Ooze was filming. So Vanilla Ice was introduced in to cameo as himself and carry out “Ninja Rap,” an authentic tune with the memorable chorus “Go ninja, go ninja go!” Throughout the context of the movie, he freestyles all this on the spot in the course of the Turtles’ ultimate confrontation with Tokka and Rahzar, which begins at a building website however simply so occurs to spill into a close-by night time membership the place Vanilla Ice is performing.
In a means, “Ninja Rap” serves as a little bit of a microcosm for your entire movie. Is it an ideal tune with any notably deep which means? No, however it positive is enjoyable to take heed to. In that very same vein, isTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze an ideal film or perhaps a nice Ninja Turtles film? No means, however it’s a enjoyable dangle for kids or nostalgic ‘90’s youngsters who wish to seize a slice of pizza and benefit from the journey.
