Movie Review: 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem'
The Heroes in a Half-Shell are back!
The Heroes in a Half-Shell are back!
I can’t remember if I saw an ad for it or randomly happened to be tuned in at the right time, but I do remember catching the first episode of the original five-part miniseries cartoon done to introduce the world at large to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I thought it was an insane concept and I loved every minute of it.
Over the years, the franchise has given us some highs (The original cartoon series and the original live-actions films) and some lows (the latest attempt at live-action). Now, it’s time for another reboot, subtitled Mutant Mayhem.
Scientist Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito) has developed an ooze he plans on using to mutate animals into humanoid form to become the family he never had. Before he can finish his work, his lab is attacked and a vial of the ooze falls into the sewers, where four baby turtles and a rat are exposed to it.
Fifteen years later, the rat, now going by the name Splinter (Jackie Chan), has raised the turtles as his sons. Their names are Donatello (Micah Abbey), Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) and Raphael (Brady Noon). Because of how they were treated by humans the one time Splinter took them above ground, he keeps the boys secluded in the sewers and has taught them martial arts so they can be stealthy when going above ground for supplies.
Meanwhile, a mysterious criminal gang is baffling the authorities, led by someone calling themselves Superfly (Ice Cube). April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri), a teenage aspiring reporter, has been on the trail of the gang. When the Turtles accidentally cause her scooter to be stolen, the five agree to team up to find out who Superfly is.
Mutant Mayhem is a return to the fun insanity that caused the Turtles to become pop culture icons. It also attempts to create its own visual style through a combination of 2D and 3D animation, a la the Spider-Verse films.
The story really puts an emphasis on the teenage part of the titular heroes, through not only the way they act, but also by having teens do the voice acting for the first time ever. In another departure from the norm, the four boys would be together in the recording studio, which allowed their natural teenage camaraderie to influence their performances.
Going into the movie, I wasn’t all that onboard with the art style, feeling it was trying too hard to emulate what everyone praised about Spider-Verse. I do kind of get what they were going for, basically continuing with the teenage theme and having it look close to the untrained doodles and sketches one might do at that age. Still, even after sitting through the entire film and hoping I might get used it, I’m not one hundred percent with the choice. Luckily, the story and characterizations were strong enough to hold my attention.
The voice cast director Jeff Rowe and producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg brought together is fantastic. In addition to those I mentioned above, there’s Rogen himself (of course), John Cena, Rose Byrne, Paul Rudd, Mya Rudolph, Hannibal Buress, Natasha Demetriou and Post Malone.
The score is also incredible. Created by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the music explores not only their techno/industrial/electronica roots—even occasionally dipping into a 16-bit video game style, but it also incorporates some of the lighter jazz piano sounds of their more recent score work. In fact, the piece played over the final scene has a Vince Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” feel.
Animation reservations aside, Mutant Mayhem is full of pure Turtle Power.
Post-Credit Lowdown:
There’s only a mid-credit scene.