Michael Bay's TMNT movies were a mess, but Bebop and Rocksteady were perfect

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows turns 10 this year — and while both Michael Bay-produced TMNT films (2014 and 2016) remain the low point of the franchise, the sequel managed to get at least one thing right: a genuinely perfect take on cartoon villains Bebop and Rocksteady.

Both films drew heavy criticism for their ugly, hulking character redesigns and thin plots that leaned hard into Bay's Transformers-style action spectacle. More damaging for longtime fans was the near-total absence of the brotherly dynamic between the four Turtles — the element that has always driven the franchise's appeal.

Out of the Shadows did deliver on Bebop and Rocksteady, though, giving the classic animated-series goons the live-action treatment TMNT fans had been waiting roughly 25 years to see. It's a slim silver lining on an otherwise rough pair of films, but for fans who grew up with the original cartoon, it counted for something.