Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem review: Sewer-dwelling heroes get the reboot they deserve
The creative teams behind Superbad and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu successfully reimagine the '80s franchise for a new generation
Film Reviews Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
With its ridiculous-sounding premise spelled out in its title, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has long been a franchise that’s at its best when it embraces the absurdity of its own world-building. Their latest big screen outing (subtitled Mutant Mayhem and directed by Jeff Rowe, with Kyler Spears co-directing) understands this from the very first frame when a nebbishy scientist coos at the mutated fly he keeps in a crib and now fears will be taken away by a corporation intent on using his bioengineering talents (and attendant neon sludge) to create all sorts of animal soldiers-turned-weapons. The cheeky, earnest tone of that first scene, which extends to the way this reimagined classic takes on our four fearless martial arts-trained heroes and their rodent father figure, immediately assures you that you’re in good hands.
Those hands include not just Rowe (also a co-writer) and Spears, but two screenwriting teams that include the minds behind Superbad (Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg) and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit). In a way, those two films work well as templates with which to understand what this creative team has done with Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. For starters, part of the joy of this recent reboot is the way these walking, talking, ninja-weapon-wielding turtles truly feel like teenage boys. Indeed, when we first meet them they’re nudging one another to break some rules and enjoy their time above ground away from their sewer life and enjoy some of what New York City has to offer. Namely, an outdoor movie screening in Brooklyn. In voicing them, Nicolas Cantu (a frazzled Leonardo), Micah Abbey (a nerdy Donatello), Brady Noon (an anger-prone Raphael), and Shamon Brown Jr (a charming Michelangelo) bring a welcome youthful energy to these siblings that makes getting lost in their shenanigans all the more fun.
Because, yes, on paper Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem plays with a number of well-worn TMNT tropes and beats. But everything around it—the voice work! the textured, play-doh-like animation! the sight gags! the Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score (!!!)—is so winning that you can’t help but go along for this gloriously bonkers ride. Thankfully sparing us from being a full-blown origin story (how and why these four teens became ninja fighters with the help of a Jackie Chan-voiced rat named Splinter is breezed over in a perfectly efficient flashback), TMNT: MM centers instead on a pretty relatable teenage narrative: how to get that cute girl to like you and how to fit in with those unlike you.
The plot really kicks off when our foursome accidentally hit unsuspecting would-be student journalist April O’Neill (Ayo Edebiri, truly having the best and most deserving 2023 around). With a ninja star, no less. As she curses them out without noticing who (or what) they are, her bike is stolen—which leads by-the-rules Leonardo to propose the unthinkable: follow the perp and restore the bike to the young woman that, as one of his brothers puts it, activated all of his hormones at the same time. It’s in that kerfuffle with a bunch of petty criminals that April finds yet another clue for her ongoing investigation. Like everyone else in New York City, she’s keen on solving a series of high-profile heists perpetrated by one “Superfly” (Ice Cube, having a ball). Egged on by his own desire to impress April, Leonardo recruits himself and his brothers to the cause.
The plot that follows, which brings the turtles head-to-head with a slew of other mutants (voiced by the likes of Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, and Hannibal Buress), will find them trying to leverage their ninja skills and brotherly chemistry to become heroes. Maybe that way they can earn the acceptance needed to attend high school like “normal kids” and, in the process, help April save her high school’s prom. And maybe that way they won’t have to sneak out of the sewers and into Madison Square Garden to watch Adele. Or, you know, make good on their training not to fend off scary humans but defend them instead from the vengeful wrath of Superfly. That intersection of playful teenage angst and kick-ass action (one fight scene is set to Blackstreet’s “No Diggity”; a chase sequence to 4 Non-Blonde’s “What’s’ Goin On”) is arguably the reason fans new and old alike will cherish this latest TMNT adventure.
The film is also an audiovisual treat. With character and background designs that stress the plastic tactility of these creations (every frame has a gritty hand-drawn feel), the film has the look of notebook sketches, the kind you’d draw in class while bored. It’s yet another reminder that this is ultimately a story of four awkward teenage boys who’ve only had each other for 15 years. Their overlapping banter is a joy to witness, making the dialogue-heavy scenes as engaging as the inventive action set-pieces (including a final one in bustling, neon-tinged Times Square).
An obvious franchise starter (a sequel and a television series are already in the works), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is nevertheless an endlessly delightful proposition. Quippy, zippy, and punchy, this teen-focused take on everyone’s favorite pizza-loving vigilantes is a refreshing reappraisal of a property that could very well have felt stale in 2023. And yes, I cannot wait to see what misadventures these boys will embark on next!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem opens in theaters August 2
59 Comments
ninja turtles were always my best dudes. i will be seated.
Are you guys gonna review and talk about The Venture Bros movie that just came out at some point?
Fanboys loved it, no one else cared, and there’s nothing there for a casual viewer?
Not really sure what your worthless opinion that I don’t care about has anything to do with my point that AVClub should’ve at least said something about it. They used to extensively write about that show a lot.
Probably not. But if you are a Venture Bros fan, I encourage you to watch it. It’s fun and answers most of of the outstanding mysteries except who Hank and Dean’s mother is. But like Rusty says, he doesn’t know who his mother is either!
I think it pretty explicitly spells out who their “Mother” was, and who their Mother was.
It does answer who the mother is, though! I don’t wanna spoil anything for Robot_Jox there, but a character has a line that explains how the final tag was able to happen.
It kinda does hint at it though. Bobbi St Simone’s daughter Debbie says she had to give something to Jonas Venture that she had no intention of using herself. That might have well been some of her eggs. Both Hank and Dean have the exact same nose as both Bobbi and Debbie.
Are you still dead in it?
Well no one retires from being on Phantom Limbs Shit-List.
God, I’m gonna miss this show. (Haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t comment and no spoilers, please!) It really, really – and I’m not being hyperbolic – felt like actual artisan TV, actually crafted with love. Doc & Jack would rather wait three years for the Koreans’ carpal tunnel to ease off rather than go to Flash animation. But man, I know a lot of the people involved are looking to move on, but jeez. And I’ve only been a fan for like 12 years. You know what? I’d love for Doc & Jack to call up Tim Schaefer at Double Fine, and get an old-school, 2D, Venture Bros point-and-click game made. Man, if there’s one video game format for the game, it’s 90s, baffling, frustrating, outright stupid in some cases, adventure games.
It is definitely an outlier in the current “crank out the content as fast as possible” streaming age. I wish them good fortune with whatever project the two get up to next.
I don’t know if the animation will please you, but the Harley Quinn show has strong Venture Bros vibes.
Thx for this. I’ve meant to watch this series for .. forever. This finale movie is going to do the trick to pull me in.
I love me some turtles, but I cannot get over the character designs. I actually enjoyed the ones for the recent netflix turtles film more. Mikey seems like he’s older than the rest and they don’t look cool at all. But OK, I also did not enjoy the last two nickelodeon redesigns either. This franchise is built on design cycles and some hit it home and others don’tThe netflix film and the recent shredder’s revenge game were already excellent servings of my favorite teenage mutant ninja turtles:)
They really don’t look cool at all. They look like a bunch of nerds. And don’t get me wrong–I love a good nerd–but they’re whole thing is being rad, cool dudes, not skinny little dorks.
Stick ‘em back in the Ooze for a few more minutes; they ain’t done yet.
*their, dammit.
The keep flanderizing poor Donnie into Steve Urkel with every new incarnation
Donatello was always my least favorite turtle when playing video games. In the new tmnt he’s slow, but has the best taunt – crouches to sheepishly play game boy. I terms of personality Mikey has always been grating, so even though I agree with you, Donnie can never be as bad as the worst chill-out whatever dude that Mikey was, especially in the original cartoon.
FahhhhQ!!! That’s Gumball’s BFF Darwin you’re draggin’, bruhhhhh
Saw it last night. Donnie is not Urkel at all. His main deal here is he’s always got his headphones on and he’s the only one who can drive.
I have the distinct feeling that a lot of the aesthetic design for this iteration was insprired by the wild success of Into The Spiderverse. I actually do like the design, but I do worry that studios might be taking the wrong lessons from that movie’s success.That said, it’s probably not necessarily a bad idea to break Disney/Pixar and Dreamworks’ stranglehold on American movie animation.
This. I will start to retroactively hate Spider-Verse if it becomes the default look for animated movies for the next ten years.
I thought the 2012 series struck a good balance between goofy teenage stuff and effective drama; this movie looks like it’s leaning slightly more into goofy territory, but with some phenomenal artwork, clearly heavily inspired by but not quite copying the recent Spider-verse cartoons. I’m in.
Ice-T, not Ice Cube.
I’m confused by Donatello’s voice and the way the character is rendered in this art-style, is s/he a girl now?
He’s voiced by an actual 15-year-old. You’re thrown off because you’re used to the Turtles being voice acted by grown men in their 30’s.
To me that seemed like the novel thing about this take – that they actually are teenagers. Not sure if other versions have done that.
They’ve always been teenagers. They also always been mutant turtles and not human so it was okay they weren’t like rEaL tEEnAgErS.
Corey Feldman was a teenager!
Happy to see this getting positive reviews. Outside of the 2012 Nickelodeon series, I’ve thought most of the reboot attempts have been more misses than hits.
Oh good,they made April age-appropriate.
Not in turtle years.
Turtle years are like 1.5x human years, so she should be in her late 20s
Age appropriate for what?? To date a mutant turtle?
Lol the fuck does this mean
I’m buying the soundtrack.
I can say, unfortunately, that I saw Turtles 2 in the theater. At least the amazing David Warner was in that movie.
The fourth Warner sibling!
Twelve year old me was ecstatic. The no weapons thing was meh and seemed to soften the movie from the first. Then 3 came along and woof. I don’t think my parents took me to that one.
My favourite crazy sea captain and crazy outcast elf wizard!
At the time I saw this in theatres, I came out doing cartwheels. I was 8 or 9 and it was a movie event. Now looking back, the first movie was a revelation and then the sequels went down hill fast.
I preferred the second TMNT movie for the same reason I preferred Batman Forever to Batman Returns: kids have shit taste.
looks like fun, and this April is African American and a blerd for once; neat! hopefully the next films will keep up the fun factor and not go dark/edgy.
I’m excited for Rose Byrne in this. She was incredible in Platonic.
Rose Byrne is great. Love her in Neighbors 1 and 2.
Give me an animated series adaptation of the IDW-verse or give me metaphorical death
Even 10 year-old me thought the original Ninja Turtles craze of the late 80s was a flash in the pan. I never imagined TMNT had the legs to get 127 different reboots over the next 30+ years.
They still make Scooby Doo cartoons. Nothing will die.
I’m sure this animation style will be run into the ground but for right now, I’m so fucking here for it for another 5-10 years. It elevated the latest Puss in Boots, obviously the Spider-Verse movies…like, let’s fucking go, people, animation is FUN again.
I’ve never seen a Turtles movie, show, anything. But this one has piqued my interest just based on character design / style alone.
This is giving every indication of genuinely being great, except for the horrible intentionally stutter-jerky animation. (Why go out of your way to make the animation look cheaper and worse?) I may just have to grin and bear that.
Saw a sneak peak showing at my local theater. Loved every minute. It was fun and the musical score was loaded with bangers. Thought Ice Cube as Superfly and Ayo Edebiri as April really stole the show. Natasia Demetriou voicing a bat character was the kind of meta joke I love, too. I feel like it’ll be even better on a re-watch because so much is happening in each scene.
Ice Cube is having a blast, huh? Glad he can take a break from being anti-vaccine, Trump supporting, Tucker Carlson guesting, POS.
https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2023/08/04/is-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-shellsational/
Althouh the original live action movie & the first CGI series are
still my favorite adaptations, this reboot remains radical. This was made by people who clearly have a lot of love for Kevin
Eastman’s & Peter Laird’s creations. It’ll be a fun ride for folks
experiencing TMNT for the first time too.
I’m still waiting for a gritty black and white adaptation that captures the borderline nihilistic violence of Eastman & Laird’s original run, hopefully finding a way to include the issue where Michaelangelo fights skeletons with Jack Kirby’s magical pencil.**I’m not actually waiting for any of that, nobody would watch it, and it would be dreadful.
Donatello had Jack Kirby’s pencil. The second animated series adapted that issue well.The Mirage turtles appeared in Turtles Forever & the 2012 cartoon.
I’m always afraid that I’m going to get confused with color palettes this broad *especially* at the tempo these stories are told but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work. It’s like magic. I love animation.Curious: I feel like I’ve seen this anime meets Aardman studios style a lot recently. Does it come from somewhere specific?