THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The franchise of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was thriving in the 90s because as the first animated series was a hit for kids, it’s first live action film was a success. And with that being put in notice, you know more would be coming.
PLOT
The first sequel Secret of the Ooze follows the infamous group of mutated reptiles (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello & Raphael) continuing to protect New York as trained by their adopted father Splinter, who defeated the evil Oroku Saki/Shredder. With their original home in the sewers being infiltrated by the Foot Clan, they’ve hiding in the new apartment of their human friend, reporter April O’Neil, until they find another place to reside underground. In one of their most recent acts vigilantism, they protect pizza delivery driver Keno from a gang of burglars. Away from the city, the remaining Foot are hiding in a junkyard with the second in command Tatsu (Toshishiro Obata/Michael McConnohie). Shredder has survived being crushed by a trash compactor and vows revenge against the turtles. The following morning, April interview TGRI professor Jordan Perry of a possible toxic waste leak. While he assures that it’s being handled, it’s proven wrong off record as dandelions have been shown to be mutated by the leak. When a Foot spy named Freddy (Mark Doerr) reports this to Shredder, the latter demands to have Perry brought to him. Due to watching April’s report, Splinter confesses to his sons that TGRI is the company who created the ooze, that made them who they are now. They hope to make contact with Perry, but he gets kidnapped by the Foot who also take the last canister of ooze. Shortly after this failed attempt, Keno gets into April’s apartment under the guise of delivering pizza, giving him the chance to discover where the Turtles have been hiding, as well as Splinter who explains their mutation. At the junkyard, Shredder makes Perry use the ooze on two animals: a snapping turtle and a wolf he’d name ‘Tokka’ and ‘Rahzar’. Despite having the brain of toddlers, they are proven to be highly strong upon mutation. Realizing that the Foot are still active, the turtles and splinter find a new home at an abandoned subway station. Raph however chooses to break off and find the junkyard the opposing ninjas are hiding. With Keno choosing to implant himself to be recruited due to his martial arts skills, he is taken right there and Raph would follow. However, the turtle would get caught and Keno would leave to warn the former’s brothers. When they get there, not only do they discover Shredder to still be alive, but take on Tokka & Rahzar. Once they rescue Raph and Perry, they escape to the sewers in which the opposing mutants are too big to follow. When regrouping at their new home, Perry explains that the ooze’s creation was an accident, which surprises the turtles as they originally thought to have a high purpose. However, Splinter reminds them to not worry of it. Unable to find the turtles, Shredder has Tokka & Rahzar damage a destroy a nearby neighborhood. By morning, Freddy warns April they’ll unleash havoc on Central Park if the turtles do not meet at a nearby construction site. Once she retails the message to her friends, Perry creates an antidote for the mutation that can only work through digestion. At the site, Mikey tries to trick the mutants by feeding them the antidote stuffed in donuts, but they eventually catch on to the attempt. It leads that would take place at a public dance club. With the antidote taking minimum effect, Perry suggests carbon dioxide will speed up the de-mutation. That is proven to work when the turtles have Tokka & Rahzar digest a fire extinguisher. Shredder would appear and intend to make more mutants with the last ooze canister. Surprisingly, Keno would show up and contribute by kicking the canister out of his hand. The turtles would follow up by kicking Shredder out of the club via shockwave of a speaker. This only allows the villain to regain the ooze and consume all of it, fusing with his his armor and gaining uncontrollable strength. Shockingly, he would be responsible for his own defeat by ripping the docks apart in a rampage towards the turtles, which would collapse on him and not the heroes. The film would end with April reading a note from Perry thanking the turtles for saving him, which would disappoint Splinter as they weren’t supposed to be exposed to the public.
THOUGHTS
Since I enjoyed the first film, I was already down to see the next thing and despite all the cheesiness, I still had a good time. Director Michael Pressman delivers in giving us another action flick meant for families to enjoy together. I oddly feel like the editing done for the action scenes were better than the first one because they were more clear shots when the heroes hit their shots on the henchmen, which I appreciate. Even the puppeteering & animatronics on the turtles and Splinter look better than before which I didn’t expect at all. I appreciate it though because it’s double the effort on making them realistic. The same must be said with Tokka & Rahzar because they creeped me the hell out at first glance. They may not be Bebop & Rocksteady, but they were definitely formidable enough to be a threat to the heroes. I'm even impressed both of their vocals were provided by the great Frank Welker. As the years have progressed, I've grown to have a soft spot for this as well because it taught me to know your own worth and don't push yourself based on expectations of other people. The turtles are great heroes because they don't pressure themselves to be better than before. They wouldn't thanks to a great and wise mentor Kevin Clash would once again nail as Splinter. While all four turtles share the goal of being protectors to the city they protect, they're still distinguishable personality wise, which make all the more interesting. I was pretty thrown off with Donatello's original voice actor Corey Feldman to be replaced by Adam Carl here, only for the former to come back for the third film. Putting that complexity aside, I do believe Carl fine job embracing the brains Donnie is all about. He's the most inquisitive of the group and he puts it to good use such as helping Perry with the antidote. Robbie Rist keeps the ball rolling in making Mikey the life of the party for being the calmest in comparison to his brothers. And as for Leo, Brian Tochi stills sells it in making him a respectful leader. My favorite remains to be Raph though because Laurie Faso does a fine job excelling in defining him to be the rebel of the group. He chooses to join Keno in infiltrating the Foot sooner because he doesn't want anymore danger by the enemy to affect New York. It's selfish because he's rushing success, yet selfless since he was willing to do it without his brothers. If you don't think the turtles are lucky with the life they share, they have friends who accept them with minimum hesitance. As a kid, I did notice April got re casted as well. Nevertheless, Paige Turco did well in making her one who may still be easy going with her friends, but still takes her job serious, spreading the word to the city on what danger is out there. I was aware of Casey Jones' absence, but I didn't really mind the spot being filled by Keno. Due to himself being a teen, you would probably mistake him to be a lot like Danny. But that isn't the case because instead, Ernie Reyes Jr. portrays him as a guy who wants to make a difference as well, but has to understand not every fight is his. He can't help it to get involved whenever there's any kind of danger because like Raph, waiting isn't the best decision. However, Splinter taught him the patience, thus standing down when it came to Super Shredder. David Warner made Perry interesting because he portrayed him as one who respects what he is part of, but was aware mistakes are bound to happen. Even when aware of this, he does the right thing in fixing them, thus de-mutating Tokka & Rahzar with the antidote. I do not blame him for publicly praising the turtles because once they got spotted at the club, it didn't feel like there wasn't a reason to not do so. Although the turtles thrive as heroes, there's always gonna be danger that can come back bigger and stronger. I would've not guessed the return of Shredder, but it was a welcome one because it symbolizes some threats ain't ever gonna be easy to take down. While David McCharen comes back to nail the menacing voice, Francois Chau steps up to the plate in embodying the character and does so very well. Every time you see Shredder, you knew he'll become as sinister as possible to get what he wants. For him, he wanted power and created monsters to build a new powerful reign. But when things weren't going his way, he chose to become one himself and it backfired. Super Shredder creeped me the hell out and I thank Kevin Nash for pulling that off. At least in this arc, this was the end of an era for this villain. I don't kid when I say I enjoy this film on occasion, but there's a bucket load of thing that don't age well because a lot of things don't make sense over time. For instance, ain't it odd for the other burglars to wait until Keno kicks a little bit of ass to intervene? It's pretty ridiculous they seemed to not hear the commotion. And they were bound to get caught anyway because it looks pretty dumb to rob a mall while keeping the lights on. I also thought it was weird when it appeared the professor didn't seem prepared for the interview? I know interviews can be done at the last minute but considering what a professional April is supposed to be, it's like he's getting bothered at work. And ain't it a little too dramatic for Splinter to want to reveal the ooze canister at the rooftop rather than in the apartment where they are guaranteed to not be seen? I know the scene takes place at night, but you can't take the risk since it's not like they're the only ones that would be out at night on rooftops. Also, I gotta say it's ridiculous how every henchman in this movie take on the Turtles one at a time. Yeah they're able to apprehend Raph, but you'd make the job easier if you fully charge. They even get so caught up fighting Leo and Mikey at the junkyard they don't pay attention of Raph being freed by Donnie. Also, why didn't the turtles just hide upstairs when Keno barged in? They could've hid in April's bedroom and locked the door, giving their friend enough time to kick him out. I know ended up meaning well, but it was too easy and too fast for everyone to trust him. Also, it's kinda crazy how Keno ran all the way to April's apartment. It's a hell of a shot when he's running on the bridge, but the subway could've saved him some time. On top of that, I think it would've been smarter for the antidote to be forged as glaze instead of an ice cube. That just gives an excuse for them to fight. I admit it was cool for Vanilla Ice to come up with 'Ninja Rap' on the spot, but did he really know enough of the turtles to do just that? That's more surprising than the club goers still focusing on him instead of the fight. And lastly, how is Splinter still surprised of the turtles getting name dropped on television when he already has a newspaper of them being exposed? That is not fair of a double whammy if you ask me. To wrap up, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze is a fine sequel for letting loose with all the fun possible. If you liked the first film, it wouldn't be too hard to enjoy this as well.
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