Seven years have passed since the last Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie played on cinema screens, which must mean it’s about time for a new theatrical reboot. The franchise reinvents itself once every decade or so, jumping back and forth between live-action and animation with each reworking. The latest iteration, called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, comes from the pens of comedian Seth Rogen and his frequent writing and producing partner Evan Goldberg. It’s a total blast.
I’ll admit that I was probably inclined to like this movie even before seeing it. I enjoy the franchise in general, and (unlike some of the self-anointed purist fans) was not put off by Rogen’s involvement. Nevertheless, as I sat and watched its streaming premiere on Paramount+ this week, I was caught off-guard at exactly just how much I liked the movie. Before it was even halfway done, I’d already started excitedly making plans in my head to watch it again. That’s a rarity for me.
| Title: | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem |
| Year of Release: | 2023 |
| Directors: | Jeff Rowe Kyler Spears |
| Watched On: | Paramount+ |
| Also Available On: | 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (October) Blu-ray (October) Various VOD rental and purchase platforms |
I didn’t get around to seeing Mutant Mayhem in theaters, because I hardly ever go to the theater anymore these days. Apparently, neither did many other people. While not exactly a flop, the film decidedly underperformed expectations. A lot of that may have been due to the poor timing of its release too close to the Barbie juggernaut, which steamrolled right over it at the box office. Some of it may have also been due to audience burnout with the ever-revolving cycle of reboots for this franchise, both in feature films and on TV.
Sadly, quite a bit of its weak performance can be attributed to toxic segments of Ninja Turtles fandom, who couldn’t abide Rogen and Goldberg making changes to their precious canon, and absolutely lost their minds after learning that the April O’Neil character would now be… gasp… Black! Yes, you know it; the Ninja Turtles are now apparently too woke for some people. Their loss.
To be somewhat fair, the film does change up and mix around many of the details of the Turtles’ familiar origin story, perhaps needlessly so. It also ages down the heroes to the youngest rungs of teenagerdom. Considering the Nickelodeon production credit at the start, I can understand some trepidation that Mutant Mayhem might be geared toward too much of a kiddie audience at the expense of existing older fans.
That said, I’d forgotten or forgiven all those concerns very early into the runtime. This movie is just too much damn fun to actively look for things to dislike about it.
The basics of the premise haven’t changed much, anyway. We still start with four baby turtles being exposed to toxic ooze that transforms them into humanoid mutants who live in the New York sewer system and train under the tutelage of a mutant rat to become ninjas. That much stays the same, even if Master Splinter (voiced by Jackie Chan here) learned martial arts in the first place by watching TV and YouTube.
The story finds the Turtle teens longing for acceptance by humans and desperately wanting to be normal kids who do typical teenage things, like go to school and maybe not live in a sewer. This puts them at odds against overprotective father-figure Splinter, who had been treated badly in the past and fears humanity. When a mysterious villain named Superfly (Ice Cube) launches a crime spree across the city, the boys are shocked to discover the existence of more mutants like themselves. After they meet him, Superfly himself even seems like kind of a cool guy – until he reveals his master plan to build a super weapon that will kill off most of the human race so that mutants can rule the planet. That part’s kind of a deal-breaker on any potential friendship.
Mutant Mayhem is animated in a unique and dynamic visual style that (even though I’m sure it was all done in a computer) looks almost like a cross between hand-drawn doodlings and stop-motion. It’s really fascinating to look at. Just as importantly, the characters are richly developed and performed. Having the four leads voiced by actual teenagers turns out to be an inspired and very effective decision. Their banter and character interactions are terrific, supported by an excellent script loaded with funny dialogue and rapid-fire jokes blasted out almost too fast to catch them all on a first watch. The action scenes are exciting, the soundtrack is filled with great music (both the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, as well as an abundance of 1990s hip-hop), and the story delivers a very strong message about overcoming prejudice without being too preachy or heavy-handed about it.
In short, Mutant Mayhem may just be the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie yet. Anyone who refuses to give it a chance based on whatever misconceptions they may have about it is missing out.
Video Streaming
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem premiered on Paramount+ streaming this week, ahead of its physical media home video releases expected in December. Delivered in 4K HDR, picture quality is pleasingly sharp with strong colors and good contrast. The animation is pretty dark a lot of the time, but the 2.39:1 image never looks dim. Highlights, such as the radioactive green ooze, are perhaps a little subdued but generally well-balanced.
The Dolby Atmos soundtrack throbs with bass in the score and features very immersive surround and overhead usage. The sound of a fly buzzing around from speaker to speaker at the beginning of the film is a lot of fun.
As good as the streaming experience is, however, I liked the movie so much that I’ve decided to place an order for the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition. This is a title I’m going to want in my permanent collection.
The Video File Blog 
I wanted to like this one (as a big fan of the franchise since 1990), but it just didn’t click. I actually felt bad disliking it, especially after the glowing reviews. As if I had seen a different movie. Hopefully, a second screening will change my mind.
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Saw this in the theatre with my 6-year-old daughter last month and we both enjoyed it. We didn’t quite love it, but it was a lot of fun. Some random thoughts:
I’m not sure how big of a marketing push there was for the movie in the U.S., but maybe part of the reason for the disappointing box office was failure of the studio to get the word out? All of the people I talked to up here in Canada after seeing it had no idea it even existed.
I like Ice Cube, but it continues to confound me how he wound up with a movie career, he gives the same performance in every role.
I’m kind of indifferent to the change in ethnicity of April O’Neil, but I do think it was a smart idea on the part of the filmmakers to alter her character to that of a teenage reporter for a school newspaper as opposed to a 20-something adult working at the local news station.
I don’t get why so many TMNT fans seemed to be angered by Rogen and Goldberg’s involvement. They’re good writers and even their lesser efforts (like The Interview) still have a handful of laugh-out-loud moments.
I absolutely LOVED the 80s/90s hip-hop-infused soundtrack. I’m roughly the same age as Rogen and Goldberg and grew up in the same province in Canada as they did, it almost felt like some of my friends had hand-picked the tracks. The fight montage set to Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” was a particular highlight.
It’s a fun movie, but for me the original live-action TMNT movie from 1990 is still the best.
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