Film Review - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is awesome. The heroes in a half shell are fresher than ever with breathtaking animation and comedy that will definitely go over the heads of anyone over 30 years old.

Directed by Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears, Mutant Mayhem follows Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and  Michelangelo as they yearn to escape the New York sewers and be a part of the human world above. They believe the only way to do that is by taking down Superfly, a new crime boss. But the situation gets complicated when it turns out Superfly and his syndicate are actually a mutant gang who’d rather wipe out humanity than be accepted by them. 

The plot doesn’t feel fresh at face value, but underneath its surface, there’s layers of so many awesome elements throughout. This film purposefully emphasises focus on the teenage element of the Ninja Turtles and  does so successfully. Producer and Co-Writer Seth Rogen and his fellow screenwriters understand the tone of how kids talk today as the script aims for more of a coming-of-age of film about acceptance, than some generic comic book movie. These turtles really feel like teens with their dark and edgy sense of humour, constant references to memes and using Attack on Titan knowledge to defeat supervillains. It also really helps that the turtles themselves are voiced by actual teenagers. Newcomers Nicholas Cantu, Brady Noon, Micah Abbey and Shamon Brown Jr. have so much chemistry in their dialogue with one another, as if they improvised the whole film and the filmmakers just took the credit. It feels that relatable.

The coming-of-age element of Mutant Mayhem is also further elevated thanks to its gorgeous animation. While most animated films strive to look as clean as possible, this film does the opposite. On one hand, it looks and feels slightly juvenile at the same time, as if the whole film was drawn by that one quiet kid in high school you knew who sat in the back sketching in their exercise book. On the other hand, the unfinished and sketchy quality of the background and character designs bring the Ninja Turtles back to their underground 90s comic book roots in a way that’s also emphasised by the soundtrack.

While the turtles are voiced by up-and-coming actors, the rest of the voice cast is quite stacked. Among the supporting cast, Ice Cube as Superfly and Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil have the stronger voices in terms of character given their role in the story. Jackie Chan as Splinter is also a revelation as he plays the goofy and caring dad role so well that you forget he is also playing a giant rat.  Unfortunately, Superfly’s mutant gang only get about two lines each, wasting  hilarious voice talents such as Paul Rudd, Post Malone and  Rose Byrne. Rogen and Cena are particularly wasted as Bebop and Rocksteady, who are incredibly funny characters in Ninja Turtles canon. It ultimately feels like Rogen called in favours from all his celebrity friends, rather than using the performers to their full capacity.

Evidently, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is made with passion and love for the franchise, offering a familiar but modern perspective about a group of kids who just want to fit in and throw ninja stars.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is screening from Thursday 7th September. For tickets and more info, click here.