Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, 2023
Directed by Jeff Rowe.
Featuring the voice talents of Nicolas Cantu, Shamon Brown Jr., Micah Abbey, Brady Noon, Jackie Chan, Ayo Edebiri, Ice Cube, Seth Rogen, John Cena, Paul Rudd, Natasia Demetriou, Rose Byrne, Post Malone, Hannibal Buress, Maya Rudolph, and Giancarlo Esposito.
SYNOPSIS:
Follows the Turtle brothers as they work to earn the love of New York City while facing down an army of mutants.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem wouldn’t exist.
Although Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is directed by The Mitchells vs. the Machines‘ Jeff Rowe (working alongside co-director and art department specialist Kyler Spears) and carries a similarly distinct animation style alongside frenetic pacing to the story and jokes, it’s the screenplay from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (with contributions from the director, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit) with the most DNA all over this joyous treat.
The duo’s sense of humor has always involved referential pop-culture jokes, which wonderfully works here, considering the titular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, once again transformed that way by an encounter with an ooze as babies, live in the sewers and are strictly forbidden from interacting with humans whenever they pop out to the outside world to pick up some snacks, their favorite food, pizza, or anything else their oversized, anthropomorphic rat guardian Master Splinter (also a mutation from the ooze and voiced by Jackie Chan) might be requesting. The turtles consume various entertainment mediums from afar (sometimes disobeying Splinter, getting as close as they possibly can to these things above the sewer), so it often feels natural whenever they make jokes about popular films, singers, sports athletes, or speak like modern-day teenagers.
As such, the line between Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg comedy and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles blurs into something that feels refreshingly familiar, bursting with new energy, dazzling animation, and a moody electronic score from Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross that continues to prove that they can step into any genre and conjure up hypnotic music that feels true to themselves while also fitting into and eliciting emotional responses for the project they are working on. The jokes are also often amusing in their self-aware attempts to poke fun or ask questions about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lore.
There is also an animation style that, while resembling a transfixing comic book in motion (every animation studio seems to be upping their game in the wake of the original Spider-Verse flick), also appropriately goes with a darker color palette, comfortable presenting human criminals as gross, greasy, and slimy, playing into the question of who the monsters really are here. If grunge had an animation aesthetic, this would be it.
It’s also crucial to note that while the film is busy spitting out jokes rapidly (including a running gag about how humans might want to milk the turtles despite having no nipples), each of the four turtles has a spirited personality. There is Leonardo (voiced by Nicolas Cantu) discovering how to be an effective leader without being a buzzkill to his overly curious brothers, aspiring improvisational comedian Michelangelo (voiced by Shamon Brown Jr.), the intelligent and dorky Donatello (voiced by Micah Abbey), and the rambunctious Raphael (voiced by Brady Noon), who eventually become intertwined with another beloved character, April O’Neil, here voiced by Ayo Edebiri and portrayed as a teenager with dreams of being a journalist (another intriguing spin on the source material, at least to me.) It’s a take on April O’Neil, allowing her and the turtles to relate to one another more.
A band of criminals is going around stealing top-secret technologically advanced equipment for a syndicate boss known as Superfly (voiced by Ice Cube), an enlarged fly in charge of a ragtag group of mutants (voiced by an array of glorified cameos, ranging from John Cena to friends of Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg such as Rose Byrne and Paul Rudd) who has a much deadlier way of dealing with his hideous kind not being accepted by humans. Admittedly, these characters occasionally have something funny to say, but also an overcrowded bench without leaving much of an impression. The story is most engaging when operating on a smaller, grounded scale. As entertaining and pleasant as this movie is, even during its modern blockbuster formulaic third act, the ending teases something much more tantalizing.
Fortunately, even when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem narratively stumbles, there are more than enough spellbinding visuals, arresting action, and heart. Each character gets a noteworthy action sequence, whereas the climactic battle comes with character focus for the turtles to click into place as a team with individual strengths based on their quirks and traits. It’s a moving story of acceptance that imaginatively and cleverly updates the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the modern era, with plenty of laughs, emotion, and sumptuous, controlled chaos on display, all of which are elevated by another outstanding score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
