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Last August, the shellbacks made a very unexpected comeback. For the 35th anniversary of theoriginalTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesfilm, Fathom and Saga Arts rereleased the superhero action-comedy in theaters. Originally, the event was supposed to run just two days, but ticket presales were so promising they extended it to a whole week and expanded the number of theaters. Then, after the film earned a surprising$3.3 million at the box office, the event was extendedanother week and Fathom announced that its sequel would get a similar release next year.
Now, 1991’sTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is back in theaters, and, 35 years later, it’s still the most fun to be had with the Turtles on film (especially for those who grew up in the original Turtle-Mania of the late 1980s and early 1990s).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze takes place soon after our heroes defeat the Shredder at the end of the first film. While they’re unable to return to their sewer home thanks to it being discovered by the villainous Foot Clan, the brothers seem content to crash at the apartment of their human pal April O’Neil (Paige Turco) until they find a new place, which they eventually do in a cool old abandoned subway station. The Shredder (François Chau), however, is not dead and he soon begins rebuilding the Foot Clan. Worse, he creates two monstrous new mutants to get revenge on the Turtles.
Despite being a revenge story, it’s worth noting thatSecret of the Ooze was a lot lighter in tone than its predecessor. The 1990 film mostly adapted the original, grittier comic books, and lightened them up with some humor pulled from the 1987 cartoon series. The result was a solid story filled with plenty of action, drama, humor and heart, but it was violent enough todraw some complaints from parenting groups. As a result,Secret of the Ooze took a far lighter tone; the Turtles constantly crack jokes and take almost nothing seriously. They also barely ever use their ninja weapons. Yet these changes didn’t break the Turtle formula — other,far worse Turtle films would do that later — nor isSecret of the Ooze a so-bad-it’s-good movie. Instead, screenwriter Todd Langen (who also wrote the original) leaned into this new direction and made the most of it, which is why so many Turtle fans still love this sequel.
Secret of the Oozeopens on the Turtles beating up a band of burglars in a shopping mall. The change in tone is immediately apparent. Instead 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 where Michelangelo ditches his nunchicks for two linked pepperonis as he shouts, “Combat coldcuts!” while taking down the bad guys. Pretty much all the fight scenes are like this: hard to take seriously, but still energetic and enjoyable.
The new villains are also a great deal of fun and feature some truly impressive artistry from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Tokka the snapping turtle and Rahzart the wolf are genuinely menacing in their appearance, but their personalities are that of infants (they even call Shredder “Mama!”). Being double the size of the Turtles, they’re a credible threat to our heroes and the citizens of New York City, but Tokka and Rahzar are also incredibly funny in a slapstick, Three Stooges kind of way.
And while he is underutilized, the Shredder does spend the last fight scene as a mutagen-induced Super Shredder (Kevin Nash), a wild design with crazy muscles and bladeseverywhere— with zero explanation as to how mutagen would change his outfit.
Of course,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is best remembered for a scene featuring rapper Vanilla Ice. For about a month during the early 1990s, Vanilla Ice was the biggest rap star out there, and that just so happened to be the same month whenSecret of the Ooze was filming. So Vanilla Ice was brought in to cameo as himself and perform “Ninja Rap,” an original song with the memorable refrain “Go ninja, go ninja go!” Within the context of the film, he freestyles all this on the spot during the Turtles’ final confrontation with Tokka and Rahzar, which begins at a construction site but just so happens to spill into a nearby night club where Vanilla Ice is performing.
In a way, “Ninja Rap” serves as a bit of a microcosm for the entire film. Is it a great song with any particularly deep meaning? No, but it sure is fun to listen to. In that same vein, isTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze a great movie or even a great Ninja Turtles movie? No way, but it is a fun hang for children or nostalgic ‘90’s kids who want to grab a slice of pizza and enjoy the ride.