Debe usar DateTime
clase.
$create_time = "2016-08-02 12:35:04";
$current_time="2016-08-02 16:16:02";
$dtCurrent = DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d H:i:s', $current_time);
$dtCreate = DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d H:i:s', $create_time);
$diff = $dtCurrent->diff($dtCreate);
echo $diff->format("%Y-%m-%d %H:%i");
Esto devuelve 00-0-0 03:40
Ver DateInterval::format
para obtener más detalles de formato.