Checkered Ninja 2

Checkered Ninja 2 (Ternet Ninja 2) is a 2021 Danish computer-animated action comedy film directed by Anders Matthesen and Thorbjørn Christoffersen. It is a sequel to Checkered Ninja (2018), and based on Matthesen’s 2019 book Ternet Ninja 2.

The film was released on August 19, 2021, to positive response and box office success.

The film was dubbed to English in 2022, with an Irish cast by Moetion Films who also dubbed the previous film to English as with the international sales of the film being handled by LevelK Film.

Plot
Some time after framing Phillip Eppermint for drug possession, Alex Stenstrøm becomes a vigilante, securing his neighbourhood in Albertslund, Copenhagen. Alex’s stepfather, John, has made a breakthrough at work after creating a digestion app which earns him a cheque of 150,000 kroner. He decides to use this to treat Alex’s family to a vacation and that they should vote the destination. Alex, meanwhile, has been less in touch with his girlfriend Jessica. When visiting her, she tells him that she is going to a party with older kids. He also hears Jessica’s friends, Tina and Gina, talking about a boy named Marco whom they call a “bad boy”, upsetting Alex who thinks that the type of person he is isn’t enough.

On Alex’s way home, a lightning bolt strikes a hedgehog which possesses it with the spirit of Taiko Nakamura, happily reuniting the two. Nakamura informs Alex that he has returned due to a negative feeling of their mission. Alex finds out that Eppermint is being released from his prison in Thailand the following week due to lack of evidence (his corrupt lawyer, Jimmy Wonta Gana destroyed the previous ninja doll which contained the cocaine and killed the child labour factory owner to retrieve a list of the children who witnessed Eppermint murder Quang). This prompts Alex to convince his mother, Sirena, to vote for Thailand and also to make Nakamura a new ninja doll body. Thailand ultimately wins the vacation vote, upsetting Alex’s stepbrother Sean who wanted to go to Spain. Nakamura possesses the newly made ninja doll body and is angered due to its feminine appearance. In Bangkok, Alex and the Ninja sneak away to the prison just in time to see Eppermint being released. They follow him and Jimmy to a cafe where they hear them discussing meeting up later that night at the strip club that Jimmy owns, the Lucky Fucky Club, to give Eppermint the list of children and their locations. Alex’s friend Odysseus informs him that Jessica has been cheating on him with Marco, shocking him.

That night, Alex gets the family to eat at the restaurant across from the club and sneaks off. Jessica calls Alex and breaks up with him due to him not being the “bad boy” type, angering him. In the club, Jimmy gives Eppermint the list; they find Alex whom Eppermint recognises from the cafe and takes off with the list. Nakamura abandons Alex to retrieve the list but fails. Alex is about to be tortured by Jimmy but is saved by his Uncle Stewart Stardust who is on shore leave. Alex takes Stewart to the family, much to John’s dismay. Earlier on, Alex heard the first name on the list of children: a girl named Honey Bee who lives on an island near Bangkok called Koh Ho-Ann. Alex uses this as a way John can get away from Stewart. The family leaves for the ferry the next morning but Stewart tags along anyway as there was one ticket left (he was made aware of this after Sirena called him when she was drunk). This also apparently cancels Eppermint’s to get to the island as well.

Arriving in Koh Ho-Ann, Alex searches for Honey Bee but fails. During the search, he meets a man named Jasper who owns the diving centre and is Eppermint’s interpreter who also witnessed Quang’s murder. Jasper arranges to meet up with Alex again later when he finds Honey Bee’s location. Returning to his cabin, Alex and Nakamura are caught by Sean talking to each other. Instead of snitching however, Sean offers to help and Alex allows him to accompany them to their meeting with Jasper. Arriving at the diving centre, Alex and Nakamura are ambushed by Eppermint and Jimmy after being sold out by Jasper. Jimmy traps Alex, Nakamura and Jasper in the storage room and puts a gas tank on a boiler to blow up the diving centre. Sean arrives and saves the three before the diving centre blows up and they see Eppermint and Jimmy driving to the restaurant where Honey Bee lives; they give chase on a scooter. Arriving at the restaurant, Alex and Sean distract Eppermint but Jimmy sabotages the lights and kidnaps Honey Bee. Honey Bee manages to run away into a shed containing cobras with Alex and Eppermint following whilst Sean and Nakamura deal with Jimmy. In the shed, Eppermint corners Alex and Honey Bee but is distracted by Sean allowing Alex to knock the gun out of his hand. Eppermint attempts to kill Alex but is beaten by Honey Bee. He tries to kill them again but is apparently killed when he falls into a cage full of cobras.

Sean reveals that he live-streamed Alex fighting Eppermint on the internet, revealing Eppermint’s true nature. Alex gets a call from Jessica who saw the video and says that he was like a “bad boy”. Alex realises that there is nothing wrong with the way he is and he was just being the way he has always been and dumps Jessica. The next day, Alex and his family are treated to a dinner with Honey Bee and her family for rescuing her. Alex finds out that Nakamura hasn’t yet left his ninja doll body in which he asks to stay with Alex for a while as the two have become close over time. Alex happily obliges and presents Nakamura with a new and more slick-looking ninja doll body which possesses and tells Alex to bring on any enemy he has.

Reception
Dagbladet Information stated that the sequel "live(d) up to its predecessor, both in terms of roughness, tension and message" Ekkofilm also praised the film. "Anders Matthesen is not afraid to place scenes of interrogatory and shemales into an animated family film" noted B.T.

Music
Music for the film was composed by Christian Vinten who composed the score from the first movie, while eight original songs were written and performed by Anders Matthesen. The single "Bad Boy" was also released independently. According to the English credits, the English versions of the songs were sung by Gisli Gislason ("Next Level" and "Honey Bee") and songwriter Jimmy Antony ("Three Dots" and "Away We Go"). The latter performed some of the songs from the first movie. Paul Tylak provides the English vocals for Stewart Stardust in the song "Cook It Up Ála Thai". Tylak previously provided the singing vocals for the character in the first film.

Sequel
A third film, Checkered Ninja 3 (Ternet Ninja 3) was announced in 2023 with Anders Matthesen and Thorbjørn Christoffersen returning as directors and Trine Heidegaard and Anders Mastrup returning as producers. The film is planned to be released in Denmark on August 21, 2025.