TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM: A Mostly Mondo Revival

There were two types of Ninja Turtles I knew growing up with them. There was the late ’80s cartoon show with its silly nature of pizza-obsessed heroes who battled the fantastical forces of ninjas and mutants, posed with rounded features and colorful depictions of New York sewers. Then there was the mild grit of the early ’90s live-action movies, where the Turtles were posed in grimy darkness amid their joyful nature. Having watched both, the play with the action figures merged the two tones beyond the fact that toys were made for both iterations.

Mutant Mayhem has the style of that imagination at play. It merges the coolness of the dark graffiti style with the boisterous behavior of the four teenage turtles. It’s loaded with stylistic action and astute pop-culture slinging fit for its demographic. And it does all this while still having a refreshing technique, distinct from its franchise contemporaries and animated movies.

The Ooozy Origins

As a new generation of Turtles, we once more get the origin story, but in a different light. By now, the legions of fans know the tale. Toxic Ooze mutates four turtles and one rat into anthropomorphic heroes. This time, however, there’s a better focus on the bond that spans further than sensei and student. Splinter’s (Jackie Chan) affections are birthed from fatherly love and fear. He wants what’s best for his kids, but his paranoia about the human world has made him a strict dad regarding the surface world.

The Turtles still have their playful personalities intact. Leonardo still fancies himself a leader with a conflict towards striking out on his own and following the teachings of Splinter. Donatello is still a tech wiz, favoring the heavier side of geekiness with his love of anime. Michelangelo wants to be the life of the party, which in this case means improv. Raphael is still the bold one with anger issues. All of them have dreams of having the typical teenage lifestyle. Namely, they want to go to high school, and that’s probably a brighter future than seeing movies in trenchcoats when they get older.

Of Turtles and Flies

The desire for acceptance directly plays into the goals of the film’s antagonist, the bold and vicious Superfly (Ice Cube). Born of the same ooze, the fly monster bands together with his fellow mutants to strike back against humanity. The villain and his cohorts are somewhat sympathetic for harboring the same longing for acceptance, ala X-Men. Superfly is also such a towering and grotesque villain of major attitude that he could almost intimidate the Turtles into going along with his plans for enslaving humans.

April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri), posed in this version as a high school student aspiring to be a journalist, showcases humanity’s brighter side. Bogged down by peer pressure and stage fright, she must overcome the odds to prove her worth and lift the Turtles to be more widely accepted. I liked this framing of her as a similar underdog trying to bridge the gap between humans and mutants. That said, it is a bit displeasing that her plight is reduced to an extended vomit joke, funny as it may be.

A New Generation of Attitude

True to form, this batch of crime-fighting Turtles are ridiculous slingers of pop culture. They equate high school to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, compare themselves to Mark Ruffalo, and gush about Attack on Titan. They also speak in the vocabulary of the modern teenager, using words like “sus” when speaking of their sneaky nature. While I can’t speak on the accuracy of the dialogue in the ever-changing zeitgeist of Gen-Z’s social-media-fueled lingo, the tone and personality of the four leads feel on point, making the teenage aspect of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles far more prominent.

Part of the problem with a film like this is that its themes overshadow the characters. While I love the idea of the central heroes and villains having bigger ambitions than the safety of New York City, there isn’t as much time to spend with compelling mutants to appreciate their situation. When I remember how much I loved the first TMNT movie, I recall the simpler moments of Michelangelo waiting for a pizza delivery by a sewer drain, Donatello exchanging alphabetical insults with Casey Jones, and Raphael’s quiet confessions with Splinter. There’s rarely a moment like that in Mutant Mayhem as the manic rush of the animations zooms straight to the following one-liner or action scene.

Character development goes on autopilot by the second act when Superfly introduces his onslaught of mutant brethren. This includes familiar mutant characters like Bebop, Rocksteady, Genghis Frog, Leatherhead, Scumbug, and Mondo Gecko. So many of these characters crowd the screen and are voiced by such talents as Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, John Cena, Seth Rogen, and Paul Rudd. With all of them fighting for screen time, the greater focus gets bogged down by how many mutants can be crammed on the screen for fast-paced chases and fights.

And that’s not even counting the side villains. The instigating scientist Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito) and the conspiring TCRI executive Cynthia Utrom (Maya Rudolph) play such minor roles, given how little we see of them. They progress parts of the story but feel more like afterthoughts tossed aside for future films.

A New Style

Where the film fumbles in its writing, it more than makes up for its style. The animation has its sketchbook vibe, where smoke and lights feel alive with scribbles, and characters have the look and feel of graffiti come to life. This works on a level of making the animation feel more like classroom doodles, but also better plays into the urban environment and establishes the tone that wants the danger to be as viable as the zingers.

Another crucial aspect that sells this new look so well is the addition of the soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. They deliver a strong dose of gritty and pounding synth that rocks about as hard as any Reznor + Ross collaboration of the past. They’re not just making music safe enough for an animated kid’s movie; they’re making exactly the type of music you’d expect them to compose for a Ninja Turtles picture. Consider how the soundtrack features such tracks as “Dipshits on the Roof” and “Megamind, Gru-Type SH*T.”

The editing should also be addressed as well for how smoothly it proceeds. One of the best sequences in the film is where the Turtles and April seek criminal connections for clues to Superfly’s whereabouts. The various raids they perform are all slammed together with dynamic cuts between the different locations and thugs, all set to “No Diggity.” The film finds its comfy groove of street heroism, wit, and coolness in scenes like this.

Conclusion: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Mutant Mayhem gives the Ninja Turtles a fresh coat of paint as a welcoming revision with unique animation, compelling characters, and rap music that isn’t just Vanilla Ice. There is a brief nod to the Ninja Rap, but for the most part, the film doesn’t feel bound by nostalgia. Director Jeff Rowe gives the Turtles an original voice for this generation so they won’t have to delve back into the past to appreciate the appeal or decipher the word “Cowabunga.”

As a childhood fan of the Ninja Turtles, it’d be easy to scoff at what the mutants have mutated into with the 21st century. But this is an iteration aimed at the younger crowd and gets the spirit of TMNT right on that level. If I had this type of movie as a kid, it’d probably be a top contender for VHS I watched until the tape eroded. While the original Ninja Turtles movie is my gold standard, Mutant Mayhem still has that comforting dose of Turtle Power.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is currently playing in theaters everywhere.

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