This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the work being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Considering that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the most popular franchises, given that it originated in the eighties as a violent black-and-white indie comic by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, it always had an odd relationship on the big screen. As TMNT has been defined through the various interpretations over the decades, the films have gone through various cycles, each gaining their own fandom and whether they were commercial successes or not, all the theatrically released movies have never won favor with the critics. Years after the Michael Bay-produced live-action disasters, does the producing duo of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg bring new life to this franchise with the animated Mutant Mayhem?
Living in the sewers of New York City, turtle brothers Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello (Shamon Brown Jr, Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon and Micah Abbey) have been raised by their adoptive rat father, Splinter (Jackie Chan), after the five of them were transformed into humanoid mutants by “ooze” fifteen years earlier. Trained in the art of ninjutsu, the Turtles set out to be accepted as normal teenagers through acts of heroism, much to Splinter’s dismay due to his distrust towards humanity. Allied with the human April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri), who aspires to be a journalist, the Turtles confront Superfly (Ice Cube), who is leading an army of mutants to rule the Earth.
One of the most successful aspects of TMNT is the toy lines spawned from the many versions, and the “toyetic” nature of the franchise is something that many would feel cynical, in a similar way to the many Transformers movies that got made. No doubt a toy line based on the mutated creatures from Mutant Mayhem exists, but as learned from Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, it has something meaningful to say beyond the plastic source material. This doesn’t reach the deep existentialism of Barbie, but Mutant Mayhem has its own idea about what it has to say about the Heroes in a Half-Shell.
Having co-written and produced films like Superbad and Good Boys, the aforementioned Rogen and Goldberg wanted Mutant Mayhem to emphasize the teenage aspect of the Turtles, even going as far as casting as actual teenagers to voice them. Along with that teenage banter between the Turtles, as well as April, you have a coming-of-age narrative about outsiders trying to find their acceptance among society, whilst learning to accept who they really are. Even Splinter has his own arc where he learns what it means to be a parent and moves past his prejudice, all of which allows Jackie Chan to deliver a witty and moving performance.
Comparisons between this film and Sony’s Spider-Verse series have been made, especially towards the blending of 2D and 3D animation, though it has more in common with director Jeff Rowe’s previous entry, The Mitchells vs. the Machines. While the look of New York resembles the colorization of the original Eastman/Laird comics, the animation evokes the exaggerated drawings that you made on your school notebooks. That teenage energy is also apparent in the music department, from the hip-hop soundtrack to the pulse-pounding electronic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It’s worth noting that there is some content that might upset the kiddies, from the grotesque imagery of the mutants to the ninja-based action sequences that are influenced by Jackie Chan’s cinema.
Being the umpteenth retelling of the Ninja Turtles’ origin, there will be a sense of deja-vu for long-time fans of the franchise, and considering the fresh angle about where the mutants can go, more time for development would have been beneficial, given the incredible voice cast involved, such as Paul Rudd hilariously voicing Mondo Gecko. Whilst the 100-minute running time romps along, there are things left to be unraveled as you get the sequel set-up, but hopefully opens the door for more exploration of this fun take of the Ninja Turtles’ world.
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