Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

My five year old self is dancing in his shell right now.

There is no denying my childhood was impacted by the shelled heroes in green, and I won’t be able to complete this review without reminiscing. They were on at 6:30 in the morning every day before my dad would drive me to day care. Somewhere out in the ether is a photo of me as Leonardo for Halloween (I vaguely remember being upset the swords were not real). I remember countless time playing the arcade game (still one of the greatest arcade games ever made), and watching the live action films (even the third one, which was bad even when I was a kid.)

Fast forward to me now as an adult, and after a somewhat forgettable 2007 animated film and two live action films I missed (judging from what I have heard, I dodged two bullets), we are here at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Even if producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad) were about to show me a reimagining, I still had some doubts (t isn’t like the Turtles have the same money behind it as the MCU). Thankfully, most of my fears were knocked out (or ninja kicked or something like that.)

Since the turtles are not in the same realm (popularity wise) as Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man, the movie is smart to start off with the origin of the turtles, fathered by their older guardian/rat Splinter (Jackie Chan). One of the strongest aspects of this version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is it truly gets the first part of it correct: These are teenagers. Of course, all the character aspects of the turtles are basically the same: Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu) is still in the leadership position, Donatello (Micah Abbey) is still the wise intellectual one (and sounds the youngest of all four), Raphael (Brady Noon) is still the most bold and rash, and Michaelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) is the most light hearted, comical one. Despite Splinter’s strict orders not to be seen above ground, they eventually are befriended by a young highschooler, April O’Neill (Ayo Edebiri).

The cast is stacked with well known actors playing various roles (many of them non human characters), including Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, Seth Rogen, John Cena, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, and (admittedly unknown to me until I saw the credits) Ice Cube.

There are two things the movie does different from the other films that I did not expect, but help the film in the long run. The first is to have the turtles deal with discrimination and prejudice (much like mutants in X-Men). There is a nice scene in the beginning where, laying in bed, the turtles ask what they would do if they were not mutants. One of those things is the second part that helps the film: the teens wish to go to school. They even get one chance to do so, getting a glimpse of their dreams (Michaelangelo is beyond intrigued about the idea of joining a comedy improv club.)

Perhaps the key ingredient to this film being successful is that it is animated. While watching the film, I was not blown away by the animation per say (like I was with the second Spider-Verse film), but I did think to myself, “This is the right way to animate this story”.

Parents, the film is PG, but does have some things to watch out for if you take the young ones. There is some casual swearing (nothing worse than what a middle schooler may say), and some violence. Nothing sexual. 

The film is not in the same tier as the aforementioned Spider-Verse sequel: it does not go that extra mile both emotionally and artistically. Still, the film is as fresh and digestible as a pizza, and will want you to go back for seconds.

Cowabunga indeed. 

Overall: