Here’s the first trailer forTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, the sequel to 2014’s original,Michael Bay-produced adaptation of the comic series and 1990s cartoon about the quartet of titular crime-fighters. Of course, it’s nice (read: excruciating) to see the musclebound, aggravatingly bro-ish turtles back in the game, chasing after Shredder and weirdly flirting with April O’Neil, but the real reason to watch the trailer for what will almost certainly be one of the worst films of 2016 is the new characters. First and foremost, there’s Arrow himselfStephen Amellplaying hockey-stick-wielding vigilante Casey Jones, withTyler Perryappearing as a pre-mutated Baxter Stockman;Laura Linneyis also hanging around for reasons that aren’t entirely clear as of right now. There’s no sign of Krang or his suit but I have a wild theory thatWilliam Fichtner’s greedy villain will somehow find out he has cancer, or suffers a fatal injury, that will require his brain to be removed and possibly be put into Stockman’s mutant machine. Here’s hoping!
Stockman is most important because he’s the one who creates Bebop and Rocksteady, the classically dumb pig and rhino mutants who are a constant hassle for our heroes. The design of both characters, not unlike the turtles, is a bit too interested in realistic fidelity, attempting to give a a sense of what a mutant would look like in the real world. Realism is often a good excuse to not be particularly creative or imaginative, letting bookish research substitute for inventive thought and production design. And of all movies that don’t need to look realistic in any sense of the world,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadowsalready looks to suffer just a bit too much from a blend of juvenile nonsense and grim plot machinations. What a surprise that Bay’s production talents would bring about another fiasco culled from the bottomless well of 1980s and 1990s nostalgia.
Here’s the trailer forTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows:
The film is directed byDave Green, who last helmedEarth to Echo, and written byAndre NemacandJosh Appelbaum, who scripted the original film andMission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the ShadowsstarsMegan Foxas April O’Neil,Johnny Knoxvilleas the voice of Leonardo,Tony Shalhoubas the voice of Splinter,Alan Ritchsonas the voice of Raphael,Noel Fisheras the voice of Michelangelo,Jeremy Howardas the voice of Donatello,Brian Teeas The Shredder, andWill Arnettas Vernon Fenwick.Alessandra Ambrosio,Stephen Farrelly, andGary Anthony Williamsalso co-star. Based on characters originally created byPeter LairdandKevin Eastman.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2will be released on June 3rd, 2016. Here’s a look at some of our other recent coverage:
