Secret of the Ooze continues to be essentially the most enjoyable available in a TMNT film

Now, 1991’sTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is again in theaters, and, 35 years later, it’s nonetheless essentially the most enjoyable available with the Turtles on movie (particularly for individuals who grew up within the authentic Turtle-Mania of the late Nineteen 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 residence due to it being found by the villainous Foot Clan, the brothers appear content material to crash on the house of their human pal April O’Neil (Paige Turco) till they discover a new place, which they ultimately do in a cool outdated deserted subway station. The Shredder (François Chau), nonetheless, just isn’t lifeless 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 value noting thatSecret of the Ooze was quite a bit 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 sequence. The consequence was a strong story full of loads of motion, drama, humor and coronary heart, however it was violent sufficient todraw some complaints from parenting teams. Consequently,Secret of the Ooze took a far lighter tone; the Turtles consistently crack jokes and take virtually nothing significantly. Additionally they barely ever use their ninja weapons. But these adjustments didn’t break the Turtle formulation — different,far worse Turtle movies would try this later — neither isSecret of the Ooze a so-bad-it’s-good film. As an alternative, screenwriter Todd Langen (who additionally wrote the unique) leaned into this new path and made essentially 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 an alternative 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 dangerous guys. Just about all of the combat scenes are like this: exhausting to take significantly, however nonetheless energetic and pleasant.

The brand new villains are additionally a substantial amount of enjoyable and have some really 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 dimensions of the Turtles, they seem to be 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 type of manner.

And whereas he’s underutilized, the Shredder does spend the final combat scene as a mutagen-induced Tremendous Shredder (Kevin Nash), a wild design with loopy muscle tissue and bladesall over the place— with zero clarification as to how mutagen would change his outfit.

In fact,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 throughout 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 track with the memorable chorus “Go ninja, go ninja go!” Throughout the context of the movie, he freestyles all this on the spot throughout the Turtles’ remaining confrontation with Tokka and Rahzar, which begins at a building web site however simply so occurs to spill into a close-by evening membership the place Vanilla Ice is performing.

In a manner, “Ninja Rap” serves as a little bit of a microcosm for your complete movie. Is it an excellent track with any significantly deep that means? No, however it certain is enjoyable to take heed to. In that very same vein, isTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze an excellent film or perhaps a nice Ninja Turtles film? No manner, however it’s a enjoyable grasp for kids or nostalgic ‘90’s children who need to seize a slice of pizza and benefit from the journey.