TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Review

Photo Credit - Paramount Pictures

If we’re being honest, there needs to be more conversation about the staying power of Turtle Power. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) first hit the scene in the days of the Reagan administration and quietly built one of pop culture’s strongest brands. Its run of relevancy has been near flawless except in one area – film, specifically theatrical releases.

To understand the cinematic journey of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film franchise is to know the law of diminishing returns. Their 1990 silver screen debut still ranks among the top movie memories of younger Gen-Xers and older millennials. Its follow-up, The Secret of the Ooze, wasn’t quite as good but still stood as a worthy sequel.

Everything after that? Rife with the disappointment of biting into a Chick-Fil-A brownie. That brings us to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, the franchise's 6th film and second reboot. Mutant Mayhem is comedy hitmakers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s shot at righting the TMNT cinema ship and their take on the Heroes in a Half Shell’s origin story.

Again, the TMNT brand has remained strong across all mediums despite not producing a good movie in over 30 years. Are Rogen and Goldberg what the Good Guys Who Always Wear Green need to crack the cinema code?

Chief among the plethora of issues dogging the TMNT franchise is the look of the foursome, and Mutant Mayhem is a godsend in that sense. Going the animation route gives the Turtles a more adolescent appearance that’s a departure from the freakish superhero looks prior films gave them.

It also helps from an overall style perspective as it instantly takes millennials like me back to the days of the OG animated series while featuring a texture that’s still fresh enough to impress younger eyes. Think Kid Cudi’s beautifully animated Entergalatic with a dose of stop motion.

In that same vein, Mutant Mayhem also works magic on the other ever-present issue of faulty, even problematic at times, storytelling. Rogen and Goldberg, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, and director Jeff Rowe crafted an original story, unlike anything in prior TMNT cartoons or live-action films.

It departs from the previous TMNT entries by leaning into the Turtles and, shockingly, April O’Neil being teens with teen personalities, goals, and shenanigans. That tweak gives those characters an awkwardness and naivete that offers the franchise humor and heart at a level never reached by a TMNT movie.

That change does come at a cost because there isn’t much in Mutant Mayhem regarding action or combat. Still, the laughs that come with watching the Turtles figure things out away from the sewer more than makes up for the lack of butt-kicking.

That also carries over to the voice talent as teens finally portray the Turtles instead of adults pretending to be young. The foursome of Micah Abbey (Donatello), The Chi’s Shamone Brown Jr. (Michelangelo), Nicolas Cantou (Leonardo), and Brady Noon (Raphael) carry most of the film and do so with an undeniable chemistry usually seen among siblings. Their age-appropriate riffs and interactions with Jackie Chan’s Splinter and Ayo Edebiri’s O’Neil easily earn cross-generational laughter.

The adult side has Ice Cube as their scene stealer. Playing Superfly, a newly created villain introduced in this film, Cube is in rare form and arguably the most fun you’ve ever seen him in Mutant Mayhem. Paul Rudd’s Mondo Gecko is also a highlight, albeit in a more limited capacity.

By remembering that the Heroes in a Half Shell are still children giving them and the viewer room to be just that, Mutant Mayhem makes itself the best TMNT film ever. It’s more character-driven than action-packed and more charming than explosive, but the hijinks that those trade-offs present are more entertaining and suitable for this stage of the franchise.

No need to do this one in a larger format screen, but 3-D could be a good watch where available.