Of course, the first comics and the 1990 film didn’t completely forget the goofier side of the turtles. It takes only a couple issues before the comic starts introducing alien brains and alien dinosaurs and other wonderfully weird aliens. Less extreme but no less goofy, the movie pauses so Mike, Leo, and Don can riff on cool catch words to share during their victory.
But Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II goes even further, fully becoming a childlike romp. Secret of the Ooze sends away serious Canadian actor Elias Koteas as Casey Jones and replaces him with young martial artist Ernie Reyes Jr. as Keno, the human lead. While Reyes gets to do the fight scenes, which play more like karate exhibitions than they do actual battles, the Turtles indulge in bits. Sure, they get in some kicks and punches, but the camera devotes more time to Mikey (puppeteered by Michelan Sisti and voiced by Robbie Rist) whipping around a yo-yo or Donatello (performed by Leif Tilden and voiced by Adam Carl) doing a Three Stooges gag.
Even the film’s overall plot borrows heavily from the cartoon and sillier parts of the comic book series, albeit presented slightly askew. Seeking more information about the green slime that made them into ninja teens, the Turtles investigate Professor Jordan Perry (David Warner) of TGRI, which plays like an off-brand of cartoon and comic elements Baxter Stockman and TCRI. The movie brings Shredder (played by François Chau and dubbed by David McCharen), gives him a pair of mutant monsters in Tokka and Rahzar (animal sounds provided, of course, by Frank Welker), and turns him into the hulking Super Shredder (wrestler Kevin Nash)—all derivations of concepts from cartoon.
A Childlike Mutation
Some could argue that Secret of the Ooze went the most cynical route for its adaptation. It left aside the edge of the first movie to embrace the most-kiddie parts of the franchise. But instead of doing the cartoon or even the Archie Comics series, the movie throws up some reasonable facsimiles and assumes kids are too dumb to notice the difference.
Yet, that attitude doesn’t account for the level of artistry on screen. The Turtle suits designed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop may be a bit more janky than those for the 1990 movie, but they still look great, and the performers still make them believable. That’s even more true for Tokka and Rahzar, which are incredible and intricate puppets, expressive and genuinely frightening when they need to be. Even the fight scenes, which are mostly flatly lit and accompanied by the tackiest synthesizer music, look great. Reyes can do all of his character’s moves, which means that we get to see Keno actually flipping and punching and kicking the bad guys, without the hyper-editing or CG crutch that we get in modern movies.
In fact, the creatures are so good that we forgive the movie for showing no interest in a coherent story or thematic depth. Sure, the script by Todd W. Langen gestures toward ideas about identity and destiny, and, yes, director Michael Pressman sometimes slows things down to let two characters talk like people. But mostly the movie shuffles from set piece to set piece, because it really exists as a showcase for cool puppets and karate moves.
