GO NINJA GO NINJA GO! It has been a whopping thirty years since the world was first introduced to rapper Vanilla Ice’s infectiously catchy tune Ninja Rap in the third act of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze. The movie was released three decades ago today, so we’ve decided to revisit this classic sequel on its 30th anniversary.
The first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action film broke the mold and gave viewers the first real independent comic book movie. The 1990 film did gangbusters at the box office, bringing in $202 million against a minuscule budget of just $13.5 million. The film was a dark take on what was largely considered a children’s property, although that made it fall more in line with the comic books than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brand was originally built on. Naturally, the film’s success led to high expectations for its sequel, which would release just one year later in 1991.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze gives us a very different kind of Ninja Turtles story that feels a lot closer to the children’s brand the mass market was used to.
The plot isn’t super deep, essentially having the Turtles discover their origins and their connections to a mysterious Ooze that was largely just toxic waste created by the chemical company TGRI. The Shredder, who is mysteriously not as dead as he seemed to be at the end of the first film, also finds out about the Ooze and sets the Foot Clan out to obtain it before the Turtles do.
The Shredder is successful and uses the Ooze to create the mutants Tokka and Rahzar with the help of kidnapped TGRI scientist Dr. Jordan Perry. The pair of mutants are based on a wolf and a snapping turtle. They are massive in size, super strong, but also incredibly stupid. The animals used to create them were infants, meaning that the pair has an infantile mental capacity and frequently refer to The Shredder as “Mama” much to his chagrin.
Moving the plot right along, the Turtles rescue Dr. Perry after getting their asses kicked by Tokka and Rahzar. Shredder lets his mutants loose on the streets of New York City where they wreak havoc and cause massive damage. This is only a warning as he then sends the Turtles an ultimatum threatening to let them loose again in a much more populated area if they do not meet him for battle.
Meanwhile, the Turtles and Dr. Perry craft an “anti-ooze” that will change Tokka and Rahzar back into normal animals if they can just get them to ingest it. The team agrees to Shredder’s terms and arrives at the fight with hopes of tricking Shredder’s disastrous duo into eating their anti-ooze which has been hidden inside donuts.
The plan works, Tokka and Rahzar eat the donuts, but the anti-ooze needs time to work so our heroes once again get their asses kicked by the massive mutant menaces. The stuntwork here is extraordinary and watching a bunch of guys in rubber suits beat the crap out of each other just never gets old.
The fight eventually breaks through the wall of a very populated nightclub where… Vanilla Ice shows up and performs a song and dance number that he is freestyling about the Ninja Turtles who he is just now seeing for the first time? This might be the least believable thing in a movie about anthropomorphic turtles who do martial arts and eat pizza. Either way, Ninja Rap is born and it is super catchy. I dare you not to have this song stuck in your head for days after watching this.
As the fight continues amid the ongoing entertainment, the Turtles get the upper hand as Tokka and Rahzar finally feel the effects of the anti-ooze. Of course, the rest of the Foot Clan arrive just as Tokka and Rahzar are defeated once and for all, so the battle is far from over. This throw-down has effectively turned into a dance number, but based on the tone of this movie, it is absolutely working.
Just when it seems like the Turtles have this all about wrapped up, The Shredder bursts through the door and takes a hostage. He reveals that he still has more of the ooze and while he is busy monologuing, the Turtles blast him out a window by cranking the volume all the way up and slamming on a guitar that was on stage at the club (because that is totally how speakers work). The audience in the club cheers and the battle is won.
Of course, that isn’t entirely true as the now gigantic Shredder has taken the last of the ooze and used it on himself to become Super Shredder (hey kids! It’s wrestling superstar Kevin Nash!). Yes, that is really what they call him. No, we don’t understand how taking a mutagenic ooze would cause someone’s clothes to get larger and spikier either.
Anyway, Super Shredder bursts through the floor of the pier the Turtles are on as they leave the nightclub. Before the Turtles can even do anything to combat him, Super Shredder inadvertently destroys the pier they are now under, crushing himself as it collapses. The Turtles, of course, narrowly escape by doing what Turtles do best — hide in their shells. The movie closes with our heroes returning home safe and sound in one piece while Splinter makes another funny. Cue freeze frame. Credits. Perfection.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze is just flat-out a good time. The story is simple, but it didn’t need to be any deeper than it was for the movie that it is. The movie is downright goofy at some points, but it works in the film’s favor. This sequel is sure to let you know out the gate that it is going to be a fun and goofy new chapter in the Ninja Turtles story with an unforgettable opening sequence featuring our heroes stopping a gang of burglars from emptying out an indoor shopping center. There are plenty of visual gags and puns to be had as the heroes in a half shell make short work of these criminals as if it is just a game to them.
The Turtles themselves still look phenomenal. It is insane that these “rubber suit” effects were pulled off 30 years ago and look better than many of today’s effects in modern films. They hold up really well against the test of time, which can’t be said of the effects in many other movies made in the years since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze was released.
The creature effects for Tokka and Rahzar are a bit cartoony and kind of goofy, but in a really good way that works and feels like the perfect addition to this iteration of the Ninja Turtles universe. The pair is a super impressive feat that the film pulls off magnificently and I can’t get enough of them. They are pulled off so well that it makes it all the more disappointing that the next (and final) film in this era of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles neglected to give us any more new mutant characters to pit our heroes against.
It is also worth noting that this sequel had quite a few casting changes between films! Corey Feldman and Josh Pais, who previously voiced Donatello and Raphael in the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, were replaced with actors Adam Carl and Laurie Faso for this sequel. Judith Hoag was also replaced as April O’Neil with Paige Turco (The 100) inheriting the role of the Turtles’ closest friend and confidant. Even The Shredder is recast, with Francois Chau (Lost) taking over the role from James Saito. Sadly we also don’t get Elias Koteas back as Casey Jones, who is absent from this film as a character (rest easy, he is back in the threequel!), making this one of only two films in the entire TMNT franchise to not feature Casey.
While we lose many of the faces we know, we are also introduced to a few new ones that became immediate fan favorites. Ernie Reyes Jr. (Surf Ninjas) joins the team as Keno, a pizza delivery man that is never mentioned before or after this film anywhere in TMNT lore. The character was invented for the film because Reyes Jr. had worked on the first film as Donatello’s stunt double and the crew loved working with him so much that they found a way to bring the young actor into the story in a bigger way. We also get iconic character actor David Warner (Tron) as Dr. Jordan Perry, bringing a certain gravitas to the role.
The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film was darker and truer to the original comic books, while this sequel skewed more towards the younger audiences that watched the cartoon series. That said, it still worked well and nothing was lost in the translation. The Turtles’ personalities all shine through and the effects suits, voicework, and stunts are all top-notch across the board even by today’s standards.
At the end of the day, it isn’t even a question that the first movie is a “better film,” but I know that I will personally always go with this sequel if I can only watch one Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. It’s less serious, but it is way more fun and does a lot in its brief 88-minute runtime. You just have to kick back, relax with a slice of pizza, and enjoy the ride. And don’t forget to GO NINJA GO NINJA GO!
If you liked this Rewind Review, be sure to check out the whole series as we take a look back at some of our favorite corners of popular culture from years past!
