Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Year: 2023
Director: Jeff Rowe
Starring: Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicholas Cantu, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Ayo Edibiri & Brady Noon
Runtime: 100 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 02/08/23
Director: Jeff Rowe
Starring: Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicholas Cantu, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Ayo Edibiri & Brady Noon
Runtime: 100 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 02/08/23
I was not the biggest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan growing up. Not really sure why, it just never clicked with me, and whilst I did watch the 2003 CGI animated TMNT movie, I don’t really remember anything about it, but I do remember not really liking it.
Anyway, I only recently discovered Mutant Mayhem as the trailer played when I went to watch Across the Spider-Verse, and I have to say I was taken by the animation style and some of the humour. So, I took a chance and now I’ve seen it. Whilst I’m certainly no convert, I have to say I had some fun with it.
Fifteen years after having had radioactive ooze spilled on them, four turtles by the names of Donatello (Micah Abbey), Michaelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Leonardo (Nicholas Cantu), and Raphael (Brady Noon) have been raised by their adoptive father, Splinter (Jackie Chan) as ninjas; making excursions to the surface to steal food that they need to survive.
The boys dream of fitting in with humans but know they will be shunned because of their mutant genes. But when they meet aspiring journalist April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri) they have the opportunity to make that a reality if they help her with a story she’s been tracking involving the notorious gangster Superfly (Ice Cube).
Anyway, I only recently discovered Mutant Mayhem as the trailer played when I went to watch Across the Spider-Verse, and I have to say I was taken by the animation style and some of the humour. So, I took a chance and now I’ve seen it. Whilst I’m certainly no convert, I have to say I had some fun with it.
Fifteen years after having had radioactive ooze spilled on them, four turtles by the names of Donatello (Micah Abbey), Michaelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Leonardo (Nicholas Cantu), and Raphael (Brady Noon) have been raised by their adoptive father, Splinter (Jackie Chan) as ninjas; making excursions to the surface to steal food that they need to survive.
The boys dream of fitting in with humans but know they will be shunned because of their mutant genes. But when they meet aspiring journalist April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri) they have the opportunity to make that a reality if they help her with a story she’s been tracking involving the notorious gangster Superfly (Ice Cube).
As I’ve already said, the animation is what initially grabbed me about Mutant Mayhem, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. It had this comic-book style similar to Spider-Verse, whilst also being considerably filthier and grimier, and the way the 3D elements were incorporated were really cool.
Everything looked really rough and sketched out, almost like what the back pages of my school workbooks looked like when I was a teenager. New York looked so dirty, almost like the image itself was going to give my dysentery, and the creature designs of the mutants were downright stomach churning at times. It all looked so cool, and I felt fit into the theming of the film really well.
The way the image seamlessly transitioned from appearing 2D to suddenly having all this depth revealed by turning the camera was an awesome effect, giving the film the best of both animation styles. Obviously, I know the film was 3D animated on a computer, but unless the camera moved around the environment it wasn’t always obvious, and so when it did it felt like the film was genuinely coming to life.
The story was ok, but I can’t say it ever really gripped me. I liked the way that Splinter was this father struggling with xenophobia and struggling to let go of his boys that have literally been the only joy he’s ever known. In that sense, the boys had this really great coming of age story as they genuinely felt like teenagers. I liked that the band of mutants Superfly surrounds himself with were all distinct characters and had a decent amount of depth to them, you get so used to seeing the henchmen being just bodies to throw around that I appreciated that Mutant Mayhem took the time to actually explore their individual personalities.
I did feel like the film had a difficult time trying to maintain a consistent tone. There were a lot of times where a scene was included just because it was funny, and it kind of went at odds with the rest of the humour that felt more natural. Like you suddenly had this really goofy scene that was really just trying to be as absurd as it could possibly be, and then the story would carry on and that was kind of jarring.
Everything looked really rough and sketched out, almost like what the back pages of my school workbooks looked like when I was a teenager. New York looked so dirty, almost like the image itself was going to give my dysentery, and the creature designs of the mutants were downright stomach churning at times. It all looked so cool, and I felt fit into the theming of the film really well.
The way the image seamlessly transitioned from appearing 2D to suddenly having all this depth revealed by turning the camera was an awesome effect, giving the film the best of both animation styles. Obviously, I know the film was 3D animated on a computer, but unless the camera moved around the environment it wasn’t always obvious, and so when it did it felt like the film was genuinely coming to life.
The story was ok, but I can’t say it ever really gripped me. I liked the way that Splinter was this father struggling with xenophobia and struggling to let go of his boys that have literally been the only joy he’s ever known. In that sense, the boys had this really great coming of age story as they genuinely felt like teenagers. I liked that the band of mutants Superfly surrounds himself with were all distinct characters and had a decent amount of depth to them, you get so used to seeing the henchmen being just bodies to throw around that I appreciated that Mutant Mayhem took the time to actually explore their individual personalities.
I did feel like the film had a difficult time trying to maintain a consistent tone. There were a lot of times where a scene was included just because it was funny, and it kind of went at odds with the rest of the humour that felt more natural. Like you suddenly had this really goofy scene that was really just trying to be as absurd as it could possibly be, and then the story would carry on and that was kind of jarring.
The performances were generally pretty good. Abbey & Brown Jr. I thought in particular brought Michaelangelo and Donatello to life really well, they were equally funny as well as emotionally engaging. I don’t feel like Raphael got that much to do in the film, so it was tougher to judge Noon’s performance as a result. I really enjoyed Chan’s version of Splinter, he struck a good balance between a wise mentor figure and just a kooky old man. I also really liked what Ice Cube did with Superfly, whilst the character is reasonably one dimensional, I thought he did a great job giving the voice work as much depth as possible.
Mutant Mayhem may pale in comparison to the likes of the animated Spider-Man films, but honestly, it’s a strong start to what will hopefully be this great new series of animated films. I’m really liking this more experimental approach to animation that’s breaking away from the way Pixar and Disney established in the early 00’s and I hope to see more films do a similar thing. Whilst Mutant Mayhem certainly hasn’t made me want to rush to see more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles content, I must say I had a pretty good time with it, I think kids will love it, and I hope we get to see a sequel out of this in the next few years.
Mutant Mayhem may pale in comparison to the likes of the animated Spider-Man films, but honestly, it’s a strong start to what will hopefully be this great new series of animated films. I’m really liking this more experimental approach to animation that’s breaking away from the way Pixar and Disney established in the early 00’s and I hope to see more films do a similar thing. Whilst Mutant Mayhem certainly hasn’t made me want to rush to see more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles content, I must say I had a pretty good time with it, I think kids will love it, and I hope we get to see a sequel out of this in the next few years.