For many of the long-time Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fandom, their entry point following the heroes in a half shell came from seeing the 1987 animated Saturday Morning cartoon and/or the 1990’s Jim Henson Creature Shop costumes of 1990. Who doesn’t love funny humanoid animals who love to eat pizza? Throughout the varying degrees of live-action continuations, animated films, and the CGI-Michael Bay produced years, the characters still have held their appeal for decades. One of the defining (and enduring) principles of Mutant Mayhem is that these characters embody teenagers – both from a voice and visual standpoint.
The classic tentpoles of what the four characters embody are still present. Leonardo is still the leader. Donatello still holds it down with all things technology. Michelangelo still likes to have fun, and Raphael is the muscle (although much less brooding than in previous installments. The voice cast comprised of Nicolas Cantu, Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., and Brady Noon all have chemistry where it feels like they’ve been lifelong friends. Mutant Mayhem’s drawings of the turtles make them look like high schoolers – something the previous live features of this story almost overlooked for a more hyper-realistic (as actually possible) style.
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Many moving parts exist in Mutant Mayhem, orbiting around some basic story principles – being an anomaly and wanting to belong. Director Jeff Rowe and the co-writing team of Seth Rogan, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit strive to ensure all these ingredients with an extensive character roster come together to serve that center. Before the ninja introduction, the turtles want an experience outside the sewers and into the real world – including going to public school and being among the humans on equal standing. However, people aren’t all that friendly to things they can’t understand. Their de-facto father, Splinter (voiced by Jackie Chan), knows this is briefly going among the Time Square streets and promptly having people gasp at his mutant rat body.
Sure, a bit of overprotectiveness comes with this parental relationship, but it’s mostly born from the film’s central themes. Sometimes it’s better to let go of the things you can’t control and seek acceptance for the right reasons. The turtles are not immediately the butt-kicking karate force we’ve known throughout many iterations of this story. In a particular fight, they almost stumble into how skilled they are (they are kids who have never seen combat, after all).
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Through that, they meet high school April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri), who is looking into the recent crime spree in New York that has shut down the high school prom due to a curfew being implemented. Due to an embarrassing ordeal with a school broadcast, April also has something to prove. Thus, there’s a shared feeling of her character and the turtles coming together to solve the mystery and carve out their place of importance in the world. It’s a simple, but effective premise once you consider the villain Superfly (Ice Cube) and his band of mutants comprised of Bepop (Seth Rogen), Rocksteady (John Cena), alligator Leatherhead (Rose Byrne), Mondo Gecko (Paul Rudd), and more.
Sure, their methods are not the greatest when it comes to implementation in society – a plot to turn all of Earth’s inhabitants into creatures. But there is a pureness concerning these mutants just wanting to belong and the different sides lead actions can take. Mutant Mayhem has plenty of easter eggs for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle faithful while being well-paced – both devoting time to a swath of action sequences and playful banter kids will love. Mutant Mayhem’s animation style is vibrant and creatively rough around the edges to give everything a unique look. The New York vibe has a 90’s edge – equality committing its soundtrack to classic hip-hop songs from MOP and A Tribe Called Quest to the synthy, exquisite 8-bit styles of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
If you do an animated reboot of something, you better find a way to provide a fresh experience while mixing in all the nostalgia while not overtaking it. The word I would use to sum up Mutant Mayhem is joy – it’s fun to see these characters on screen again where it feels like the people making it are in on the happiness, too.
