Throughout their existence, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have always used the lightness of its premise as an asset. There has never been attempt to reimagine the Ninja Turtles with a gritty, realistic origin story; no passes at making them more dramatically palatable. There’s an almost foundational opposition to that kind of take, considering the utter absurdity in their existence. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem does freshen the franchise, putting a slick 2023 polish on decidedly Twentieth Century IP. Mutant Mayhem really emphasizes the “Teenage” part of the TMNT group, highlighting the childish naiveté with which they view their world. Pairing that with a 90’s hip-hop soundtrack and an eye-popping animation aesthetic, this new film rebrands by embracing everything that made TMNT so fresh to begin with.
The choice to voice the turtles with actual child actors gives the characters a major touch of authenticity. There’s the leader, Leo (Nicolas Cantu); the charismatic Mikey (Shamon Brown Jr.); the resourceful Donnie (Micah Abbey); and the rambunctious Raph (Brady Noon). The shortening of the famously ornate turtle names is perhaps the biggest creative change that Mutant Mayhem makes, suggesting a more contemporary attitude in how this story will be told. They are still sewer-dwelling mutants, raised by a rat named Splinter (Jackie Chan). They venture out into the world to collect groceries and other supplies needed to survive underground, but the four boys yearn to experience actual life outside. Staring at the world on their smartphone screens, the life of a regular teenager is their ultimate goal.
The paranoid Splinter has been traumatized by hostile human reaction to him and the turtles, forever preaching heavy fear of human interaction, but his protestations only make the boys more interested in living among them. Across town, another group of mutants – led by a murderous mutated fly named Superfly (Ice Cube) – has a plan for mutant supremacy, and killing off the human race completely. Initially enamored with Superfly’s vision and charisma, they soon realize that his plan amounts to essentially genocide. They team up with a high schooler named April (Ayo Edebiri), who dreams of journalistic stardom (and repairing a severely damaged reputation). Together they hope to both stop Superfly from taking down the human race, while also teaching Splinter that things in the outside world might not be as scary as he thinks.
No doubt influenced by the Spider-Verse films, Mutant Mayhem‘s animation style is grungy, said to be influenced by the everyday notepad sketchwork of an urban high schooler. The effect is something that looks both hand-drawn but also very dimensional, a visual duality that pops with vibrant energy. The style makes the humans look just as grotesque as the mutants, drawn in extreme unsymmetrical angles. In actively creating unattractive imagery, the film actually forms a cohesive visual palette that supports the film’s central thesis against prejudice. Mutant Mayhem‘s themes are mostly arbitrary screenplay necessities, but director Jeff Rowe (co-director of the great 2021 film The Mitchells vs. The Machines) is talented enough to know that in animation, how it looks is part of how you tell the story.
Like the original Spider-Verse film, Mutant Mayhem pays credence to working class New York City, and it’s inclusion of 90’s East Coast rap tips its hat to the halcyon days of a more hospitable New York that existed long ago. (As much as I enjoyed the music, I did wonder how well it fit within a movie that often, and explicitly, states it takes place in 2023.) The film was produced and co-written by Seth Rogen and his creative partner Evan Goldberg. Rogen also has a small voice role as a member of Superfly’s crew. I think it’s smart that Rogen does not make Mutant Mayhem a nostalgia parade. Outside of the soundtrack, this film seems more interested in starting anew, creating a different vision of the Ninja Turtles in a way that still highlights what makes them special: they may be turtles and they may be superheroes, but the first word in their title is still teenager.
Directed by Jeff Rowe