Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze



Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was made in 1991 and is commonly abbreviated to TMNT II. The movie, taking place after the first movie, follows the further adventures of the Turtles. This film reveals the origins of the Turtles and Splinter as well as introducing two new villains. Jim Henson's creature shop also created the Turtles and Splinter for the film. Henson himself did not work on the film because he passed away shortly after the first film was released.

When the film was released, it received mixed reviews. It departed from the darker feel of the original film in favor of a more light-hearted feel. Never the less, it was the 13th highest grossing movie in 1991.

Plot
The Turtles have been forced to move in with April O'Neil because the Foot Clan has discovered their sewer lair. While searching for a new home, they happen upon a pizza boy named Keno fighting off a bunch of robbers. The Turtles help him.

The Foot is no longer the large organization they were in the first film. Master Tatsu has taken control of the Foot, but is challenged by The Shredder himself. In the previous film, The Shredder was thought to be dead. However, that's not the case. The Shredder is physically deformed, emotionally twisted, and bent on revenge, but alive. He sends a member of the Foot to pose as a intern and follow April.

April is doing a report on TGRI. One of the company's scientist discovers that the waste the company is producing is causing mutations in the local plant life. The Foot disguised as an intern tells the Shredder this, and the Shredder sends someone to obtain a sample of the waste.

Splinter sees the report and decides to show April and the Turtles the canister that mutated them in the first place. They piece it together to reveal the canister came from TGRI. The Turtles infiltrate the company to get the ooze, only to find that Tatsu and the Foot are already there.

The Turtles do their best to stop the Foot, but they still got the last canister of ooze as well as head TGRI scientist Professor Jordon Perry. The Shredder instructs Perry to use the ooze to mutate a gray wolf and an alligator snapping turtle, Tokka and Rahzar. However, Perry altered the ooze so that the mutants intelligence is equal to that of an infant. The Shredder initially orders their execution, but after seeing their incredible strength, he changes his mind.

Raphael goes to pursue the Foot while the other Turtles find an abandoned subway station to live in. With Keno's help, Raphael infiltrates the Foot's headquarters, but gets captured. Keno is able to escape and tell the others. Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo go to Raphael's aid. They rescue him and Perry, but have to flee when confronted by Tokka and Rahzar.

With Perry's help, the Turtles are able to create an antidote to the ooze. They confront the mutants at a night club where Vanilla Ice happened to be performing. He manages to avert a panic by pretending it's all part of the act and improvises the Ninja Rap. The Turtles force Tokka and Rahzar to eat the antidote and use fire extinguishers to keep them from burping it up. Tokka and Rahzar turn back to normal, but Shredder uses the remaining ooze on himself to become Super-Shredder. Super-Shredder accidentally collapses a pier on himself. The Turtles are able to escape.

Having defeated their foe again, the Turtles return to their new lair. Splinter is there, waiting. He asks if they were seen, which they denied. Splinter lifts a newspaper, revealing a picture of them fighting Rahzar and Tokka at the nightclub. Splinter makes them do 10 flips, reminding them "Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!"

Soundtrack

 * Awesome (You Are MY Hero) - Ya Kid K
 * Ninja Rap - Vanilla Ice
 * Find The Key To Your Life - Cathy Dennis and David Morales
 * Moov! - Tribal House
 * (That's Your) Consciousness - Dan Hartman
 * This World - Magnificent VII
 * Creatures of Habit - Spunkadelic
 * Back to School - Fifth Platoon
 * Cowabunga - Orchestra On The Half-Shell
 * Tokka & Rahzar: The Monster Mix - Orchestra On The Half-Shell

Trivia

 * Super Shredder appears as a final boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, the Super Nintendo port of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. He also appears as a boss in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers.
 * This is the first, and only, live action Turtles film where Corey Feldmen did not provide the voice of Donatello. He was instead replaced by Adam Carl.
 * Vanilla Ice's single "Ninja Rap" from the film became an underground favorite amongst fans of The Insane Clown Posse. In 2007, his new album "Platinum Underground" featured a song entitled "Ninja Rap 2". Unfortunately, no mention of the turtles can be found in the lyrics.
 * Once again Shredder seeks out vicious animals in order to mutate into his minions to destroy his enemies. It's obvious that this is no simple coincidence.
 * A scene with Professor Perry revealed to be an Utrom was cut for fears the creature would be mistaken for Krang.