Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

The success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has evidently had an impact on the animation industry, as it led to DreamWorks Animation taking risks with The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. This new wave of experimentation has now hit Nickelodeon, with the latest installment in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) franchise, Mutant Mayhem, featuring a unique style not seen before in other TMNT media or even any major animated films of recent memory. As a TMNT fan whose entry point was the IDW comic (and whose personal favorite iteration is the criminally-underrated Rise of the TMNT cartoon), I had mixed feelings on the announcement due to producer Seth Rogen’s reputation, though the visual style and premise were interesting enough that I still went to see it on opening day, ultimately leaving curious to see more.

Fifteen years after a raid on Baxter Stockman’s (Giancarlo Esposito) experiments leads to a vial of Mutagen landing in a sewer, four mutated turtles, Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Raphael (Brady Noon) and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) sneak around to run an errand for their father, Splinter (Jackie Chan). Out of a desire to join the humans and be treated as normal teenagers, the turtles sneak into an outdoor movie screening and are reprimanded when Splinter finds out. Once they are un-grounded, they end up running into and befriending a teenage April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri), a budding journalist, and help her investigate a recent string of crimes by a villain known as Superfly so that they can both gain greater acceptance from their peers.

The increased focus on the “teenage” aspect of the Turtles leads to a rather interesting interpretation of the characters, where they not only seek acceptance, but they also want to mingle with other people their age. To this end, they also act and talk like actual teenagers (down to the slang), though some of the references they make, such as the anime/manga series Attack on Titan, may end up dating the film somewhere down the line. The film also knows how to balance its humor with the emotional core of the plot. Said humor is mostly on-point, but there are some gross-out moments that the movie could have gone without for my taste, such as an extended puking scene (likely the influence of Seth Rogen, who played a huge role in the film's production). While there are obvious plans for a continuation, the movie works well as a standalone story, with some rather bold choices that should make for an interesting TMNT universe going forward. The movie also has an interesting take on franchise staple April O’Neil, combining elements of her Rise of the TMNT interpretation with her news reporter persona from the 1987 cartoon.

 

Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.),
Donatello (Micah Abbey) and Raphael (Brady Noon) work together
with April O'Neil (Ayo Edebiri).

Owing to the Spider-Verse influence, the film opts for a very sketchy art style reminiscent of notebook doodling to fit in with the “teen” aspect, making it stand out from both its competition and other TMNT media while also being aesthetically pleasing. This style remains very consistent throughout and strikes the perfect balance of messy and clean, leading to some very interesting action sequences and at times resembling a stop-motion film. In addition to some popular characters such as Bebop and Rocksteady finally making their animated feature debut, as the duo first appeared on the silver screen in 2016’s Out of the Shadows, this film also features the film debut of several lesser-known mutants, exposing them to a new audience.

In a franchise first, the titular Turtles in this film are all voiced by actual teenagers who perfectly fit the roles, giving their dialogue and the tone of the movie a greater degree of authenticity. Similarly to Rise of the TMNT, this film’s version of Splinter also leans more into the “father” aspect of the character, a role which Jackie Chan plays well, after having previously done so with an animated version of himself in Jackie Chan Adventures. While one’s mileage may vary on Ice Cube as an actor, he plays the role of Superfly well, with the character’s laid-back, yet deadly serious attitude fitting with the film’s intent and working well with the Turtles’ personalities.

For newcomers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a good jumping-on point for the greater TMNT franchise, with its unique style and interpretations of the source material. Existing TMNT fans will also find something to like here, as it is one of the better films in the franchise, though more hardcore fans may find some of the reinterpretations of things a bit more contentious. Either way, it is worth staying during the credits.