The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze hit its stride after I had gotten older but I knew all about them. How could you not? They had their genesis in comic books but really launched with a popular animated series in the late 1980’s. For several years they had one of the hottest toy lines. They appeared in numerous video games. They even had a trilogy of feature films in the early 1990’s (and several reboots in the years that followed). The Turtles were a pretty big deal.
Like many, I felt the Turtles had had their day in the sun. Well, not so fast. Co-directors Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears along with producer and co-writer Seth Rogen have revived the franchise on the big screen with their computer animated feature “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”. It’s a modern(ish) spin on the classic Turtles although one that doesn’t really distinguish itself outside of its surface-level flourishes. Yet I’m betting there’s enough of that to satisfy the TMNT faithful, young and old.
“Mutant Mayhem” diverts from the original material in several areas and puts much of its emphasis on the teenage side of the titular ‘Heroes in a Half-Shell’. Most notable is the highly stylized, sketchbook inspired animation. It’s a bold choice that’s fresh and innovative but also inconsistent and uneven. The art ranges from cool and inventive to sometimes chintzy and gimmicky. It really stands out in the characters. Some are impressively designed. Others, not so much.
The movie’s biggest issue is in the writing. Sure, there is some fun teen banter, a handful of amusing jokes, and a stray heartfelt moment or two. But the script really doesn’t give us much beyond that. Our four big-hearted pizza-loving Turtles are basically all the same character but with only the slightest distinctions between them. Then we’re given a rather predictable story that channels where it’s going early on. So that leaves us with pop-culture references aplenty, countless needle-drops, and a heaping helping of nostalgia to get by.
After being mutated by a mysterious green ooze 15 years earlier, turtle brothers Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Rafael (Brady Noon), and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) live deep in the New York City sewers with their protective father and sensei, a rat named Splinter (Jackie Chan). They sneak around the city undetected, gathering supplies and soaking in the popular culture than the humans enjoy. It creates a longing within them to be accepted by the humans. But Splinter is quick to warn them of the dangers that revealing themselves might bring.
Through a bit of rambunctious goofing around the Turtles meet and befriend April O’Neal (Ayo Edebiri), an aspiring journalist and an outcast at her high school. She agrees to help them with a plan to win the human’s acceptance. Together they will track down a local menace named Superfly (Ice Cube as a literal housefly mutated by the same green ooze). The Turtles will apprehend him and turn him over to the police. April will chronicle their feat and report it, leading the city to love and embrace them.
Of course their plan goes sideways fast and the Turtles quickly find themselves not only battling Superfly and his army of mutants, but also the Techno Cosmic Research Institute and its shady (and woefully underdeveloped) executive Cynthia Utrom (voiced by Maya Rudolph). These conflicts lead to some pretty creative action scenes, highlighted by some eye-popping animation and some clever cinematic effects. Not all of the action works, but when it does it can be thrilling.
It’s not too difficult to figure out where things are heading. But there is fun to be had beyond the predictable plot. The voice cast is mostly excellent, especially Cantu, Abbey, Noon, and Brown Jr. as the Ninja Turtles. Ice Cube is handed some of the film’s more amusing lines and there’s just something inherently funny about him in such an absurd role. His Superfly isn’t a particularly memorable villain, but it’s fun listening to him nail some pretty great lines.
To its credit “Mutant Mayhem” does several things that set it apart from (and in many ways set it above) the past TMNT feature films (you could say that’s a low bar and you wouldn’t be wrong). But once you look past the highly original art style and handful of modern updates, there’s not much new about this latest iteration. That said, it’s solid enough for the Turtle faithful to enjoy and the pure nostalgia of it will probably go a long way with certain audiences.
VERDICT – 2.5 STARS
Keith & the Movies 