Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – Film Review
I watched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series growing up but I never saw the films. I wasn’t bothered about the latest movie, Mutant Mayhem, but the positive reviews encouraged me to check it out and I can confirm it is awesome.
As you’ll know, the film tells the story of four turtles – Leo (Nicolas Cantu), Raph (Brady Noon), Donnie (Micah Abbey) and Mikey (Shamon Brown Jr.) – who were covered in green ooze and turned into mutants. They are now 15 and their rat father Splinter (Jackie Chan) is insistent upon them staying down in the sewer and away from humans. However, the boys long to be out in the world and they decide that they will only be accepted by humans if they become heroes. To achieve this goal, they go on a mission to save the world from the evil mutant Superfly (Ice Cube).
I should have known this would be awesome given that it is co-directed and co-written by Jeff Rowe, the man behind my favourite film of 2021, The Mitchells vs the Machines. He co-wrote the film with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who I fully trust when it comes to comedy. The result is a wildly entertaining family movie that is littered with witty dialogue, zingy one-liners, pop culture references and so many laugh-out-loud moments.
I am loving this current era of animation. Just like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Turtles is a heavily stylised 3D animation and it’s glorious to watch. The sketchbook-style animation is really cool, there are some fun visual flourishes, and at times, the turtles appeared to look plasticine. At the start of the film, I must admit I didn’t follow the story because I was too busy marvelling at the visuals – but I soon snapped out of that.
For the first time, the turtles are actually voiced by teenagers and this adds a layer of authenticity that previous Turtles iterations didn’t have. They have great familial chemistry and are constantly talking over each other like siblings do. I would actually need to watch it again to absorb every line. Each actor brings something different to the table and is perfect for their character.
The supporting voice actors are well cast too. I particularly liked Chan as the cautious Splinter (who gets a terrific fight sequence), Ice Cube as the evil Superfly and Ayo Edebiri as the relatable April O’Neil. There are a bunch of familiar voices in smaller roles but it would be mean to spoil them – it’s fun trying to place the voice and there are some surprises I didn’t pick up on!
Mutant Mayhem doesn’t have the most original story, however, the voice performances, animation, fight scenes and soundtrack are so good that you almost don’t care.
In cinemas from Monday 31st July