It feels as if it's been forever since the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has had a solid film released that properly captured the spirit of the characters. Besides the classic 1990 live-action feature (Which still holds up today) and its fairly decent sequel, The Secret Of The Ooze, the series has experienced its share of ups and downs in regards to their recent film's overall quality with the 2007 TMNT animated film managing to be serviceable, and both Michael Bay produced adaptations committing a major disservice to the source material. With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Paramount Pictures avoids the same fate and delivers what's arguably the best reiteration of the story in years.
Mutant Mayhem has the Turtle siblings going on a hunt in pursuit of a mysterious crime syndicate, but trouble arises when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them. Much like the 1990 live-action Turtles, Mayhem is less of an origin story and more of a reintroduction of the classic characters this time in animated form. Though nothing still tops the 1990 live-action classic, Mutant Mayhem successfully brings the series up to modern day standards while maintaining the spirit, charm, and heart of the characters that makes it an extremely enjoyable experience for the whole family while exhibiting massive visual appeal.
When it comes to the voice performances, Mutant Mayhem's cast delivers terrific work with each actor/actress being completely spot on with nailing their characters personalities. Michah abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon all churn out terrific work as the four goofy and fun-spirited turtle brothers with Jackie Chan making for an ideal casting choice as Splinter along with Ayo Edebiri as a younger and more relatable April O'Neil. Other noteworthy voice additions to Mayhem's cast include Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom, Seth Rogen and John Cena as Bebop and Rocksteady with Rose Byrne as antagonist turned protagonist, Leatherhead, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Giancarlo Esposito as mad scientist Baxter Stockman, Paul Rudd as antagonist turned Turtle ally Mondo Gecko, and Ice Cube as the Turtle's main antagonist, Superfly. Mayhem's charismatic cast, everyone does fantastic work here and brings something to the story that makes it feel fresh and energetic with the core four's chemistry being on-point.
When it comes to the animation, director Jeff Rowe crafts a unique visual feast that's hard to take your eyes off with the films colors being extremely vibrant with the images being well-textured in a way that makes the images come alive and engulf young audiences in its world. The violence shown ranks as being standard for an action-packed animated film with lots of hand-to-hand combat shown along with characters being blown around during explosions. With a 1 hr and 39 minute running time, the story is always kept moving at a fast-paced with the soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross doing an effective job of matching the films gritty feel as well as providing an energy that matches that of the new teenage heroes. While the films animation doesn't rank as being anything groundbreaking nor stand out on the same level as Across The Spider-Verse, it still provides a visually striking experience that its young audience will undoubtedly be drawn to.
With Mayhem's script, the story explores themes pertaining to family, acceptance, and the desire to fit in. The Turtles are shown to have been sheltered from the human world for most of their upbringing by their father-figure Splinter, whose reasons for mistrusting humans is explained in a powerful flashback. At it's heart, Mutant Mayhem's story is about the Turtle siblings setting out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and ultimately be accepted by society as normal young teenagers. The relationship between the Turtles and April O'Neil is well-deserved, and stays true to the comic book storyline with the latter helping them take on the mysterious crime syndicate much like the 1990 live-action film. Whereas that film has Shredder be the main villain of the story, the newest reboot has the Turtles battling an army of mutants that have been unleashed upon New York City. As a whole, Mayhem's script is well-written and reintroduces the Turtles in a way that makes them relatable to today's newer generation. Along with the films action and heart is a ton of hilarious gags and one-liners delivered by the Turtle siblings that captures their wacky sense of humor along with making them feel like actual teenagers.
As a whole, Mutant Mayhem entertains audiences while delivering a poignant message for children which says that it's ok to not fear something that's different and how people can change for the better if given the opportunity. The friendship that the Turtles share with April O' Neil is an example of this and adds an emotional layer to the story that both Bay produced films were largely devoid of. It doesn't beat the previous best Ninja Turtles film (The 1990 film still proudly wears that crown), but as a reimagining of the Ninja Turtles story that isn't afraid to embrace the modern era with little bits including kids using Tik- tok or April O' Neil being switched to African-American, or the addition of numerous Easter eggs for fans, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem represents a welcomed return to form for the franchise as well as its ironic heroes in a half shell.
Final Verdict: A must watch for fans of the series and a totally enjoyable experience for families.
Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures
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