TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Review
Four baby turtles. Ooze. Mutation. Ninja Training. You know the story, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem aims to resurrect the series with a really daring reimagining of the Turtle brothers and the vast cast of people and mythology that surrounds them. This incarnation of the Turtles is weird, gross, and all the most fun parts that came from the evolution of the comics and the wacky 80s cartoon series, co-written and co-produced by Seth Rogen (among others) and directed by Jeff Rowe, the director of the wonderful Netflix animated film The Mitchells vs. The Machines.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is absolutely different from all prior installments, both physically and plot-wise, and this is coming from a critic who has seen every Turtles animated series and movie ever produced. The essential features of the Turtles' roots are generally preserved, but bold choices like having the brothers voiced by teens and endowed with truly young teen personalities are a refreshing departure.
Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, and Brady Noon as Raphael are relatively unknown actors who have placed their stamp on these characters and will hopefully voice them for years to come. It would be amazing to watch them age with the characters in the same way that the Harry Potter franchise did.
Comparisons to the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse franchise will undoubtedly abound, and they are not entirely unjustified. Like those flicks, this one is a visual feast, with an aesthetic reminiscent of a Laika Studios stop-motion animated picture with a Van Gogh filter overlay. It's gorgeous and scary at moments, but nothing on this scale has ever looked quite like this before. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem isn't as "pretty" as the Spider-Verse films, but it fits with the grimy, sewer-laden fun of this environment and misfit characters.
Although not all of the daring options work for everyone's enjoyment. Some of the talent engaged in the story's creation and presentation pushes the envelope in their own unique way. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem isn't afraid to use low-brow, gross-out humor and infantile jokes that will only appeal to small children. For example, Ayo Edebiri's portrayal of developing teen reporter April O'Neill, who throws up on camera, is mostly endearing. Some fans may also object to how certain characters, like as Master Splinter (Jackie Chan), are performed exclusively for silly laughs, while others, such as Michaelangelo, are missing crucial aspects of their personalities - much of Mikey’s happy-go-lucky “skater dude” traits went primarily to Paul Rudd’s take on Mondo Gecko – at least for this first film.
Occasionally, the film's story and large cast of characters threaten to deviate from the plot. Ice Cube as the primary villain Superfly takes the plot in unexpected directions (apart from the normal Shredder stories) and his gang of merry mutants get into some strange pranks that earn the Mutant Mayhem label. Thankfully, Rowe always brings the story back to the beautiful closeness between the brothers and their desperate teenage quest for acceptance before things go too far. None of this works until there are emotional family moments to ground all of the brightly colored lunacy.
An impressive first installment that kids will go nuts for while taking the characters into a future with big potential, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is gross and weirder than the Turtles have ever been and that’s why it’s awesome.