REVIEW -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a 2023 American computer-animated superhero film directed by Jeff Rowe from a screenplay he co-wrote with Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit. It is the seventh theatrical Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film and a reboot of the series. The film stars the voices of Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon as the titular team alongside a supporting ensemble voice cast that includes Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Natasia Demetriou, Ayo Edebiri, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Maya Rudolph. In the film, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtles set out to be accepted as normal teenagers through acts of heroism. The brothers go on a hunt for a mysterious crime syndicate, but trouble arises when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.

Nickelodeon announced Mutant Mayhem in June 2020, with Rogen, Goldberg, and James Weaver producing under their Point Grey Pictures banner, and Rowe as director. Kyler Spears joined as co-director soon after. The animation was provided by Mikros Animation in Montreal and Paris and Cinesite in Vancouver and was primarily influenced by school notebook sketches. Seeking to explore the teenage aspect of the Turtles, the filmmakers drew inspiration from teenage coming-of-age films. The majority of the cast was announced in March 2023. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the musical score.

Mutant Mayhem was screened as a work-in-progress at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 12, 2023, and was released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on August 2, 2023. It received positive reviews, with praise for its vocal performances, script and stylized animation; several critics named it the best Turtles film. A sequel and spin-off television series for Paramount+ are both in development.

Voice cast

• Micah Abbey as Donatello, the wise and resourceful one of the Turtle brothers

• Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, the charismatic heart of the Turtle brothers

• Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, the leader and the most honorable and responsible of the Turtle brothers

• Brady Noon as Raphael, the bravest, strongest, but most impulsive of the Turtle brothers

• Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog, a mutant frog and member of Superfly's gang who wields a battle axe

• Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, a mutant alligator and member of Superfly's gang

• John Cena as Rocksteady, a mutant black rhinoceros and member of Superfly's gang who is a close friend to Bebop

• Jackie Chan as Splinter, a mutant rat who is the overprotective and skilled father of the Turtles

• Ice Cube as Superfly, a mutant housefly and leader of a gang of mutants who seeks for mutants to have dominance over humans

• Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, a mutant bat and member of Superfly's gang who is a superhero wannabe

• Ayo Edebiri as April O'Neil, the intelligent and determined new human friend of the Turtles

• Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, a genius scientist who used to work for TCRI

• Post Malone as Ray Fillet, a mutant manta ray and member of Superfly's gang

• Seth Rogen as Bebop, a mutant common warthog and member of Superfly's gang who is a close friend to Rocksteady

• Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, a mutant gecko and member of Superfly's gang who is a skater

• Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom, an executive at TCRI who has a vendetta against the Turtles and any mutagenized ("oozed") animals

Additionally, Alex Hirsch voices Scumbug, a mutant cockroach and member of Superfly's gang Despite the advertisements crediting the character as "himself", Scumbug is identified as female. Michael Badalucco, Dempsey Pappion, David Faustino, and Danny Mastrogiorgio respectively voiced criminal gangsters, Bad Bernie, Bald Bronson, Normal Nate, and Toupee Tom in minor roles. YouTuber MrBeast makes a voice-acting related cameo as a Times Square bystander.

Plot:
** SPOILERS BELOW  **

Techno Cosmic Research Institute (TCRI) executive Cynthia Utrom sends a squadron to hunt down rogue scientist Baxter Stockman, who has created a mutagen to form his own mutant animal family, starting with a housefly. Stockman is interrupted by Utrom's strike force and killed in the resulting explosion, while the mutagen falls into the sewers of New York City.

15 years later, the turtle brothers Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello have been raised by their adoptive rat father, Splinter after the five of them were transformed into humanoid mutants by "ooze" — Stockman's mutagen. Being chased away by humans led Splinter to distrust humanity and train his sons in the art of ninjutsu, instructing them to only leave their sewer home to steal supplies. Now teenagers, the turtles long to live as normal high schoolers, much to Splinter's dismay.

During a supply run, the turtles defeat a gang of criminals to recover a stolen moped belonging to a teenager named April O'Neil, revealing themselves and their origins. April, an aspiring journalist struggling to move past an embarrassing viral incident of vomiting on camera, has been investigating a series of robberies of TCRI technology by a criminal known as "Superfly". The turtles plan to stop Superfly and, through April's reporting, win public acceptance as heroes. They intercept a piece of stolen technology and meet Superfly under the Brooklyn Bridge, discovering that he is not only a mutant himself, but leader of a mutant gang. Ecstatic to meet fellow mutants, the turtles bond with Superfly and the others and he explains that they were created by Stockman, evading TCRI and living on an abandoned ship in Staten Island.

Like the turtles, they were attacked by society and an embittered Superfly has stolen TCRI technology to weaponize ooze to mutate all wildlife on the planet into the new dominant species and enslave humanity. The turtles try to intervene, but the gang escapes with the equipment while a tracker allows TCRI to capture the turtles. At TCRI headquarters, the turtles are painfully "milked" for their mutagen, but April arrives with Splinter to rescue them. At the gang's hideout, Splinter and the turtles convince them that their plan for domination will make them no better than the worst of humanity, and together they turn on Superfly, destroying his machine. However, the ooze combines Superfly with other nearby wildlife into a gigantic whale-like kaiju. He attacks the city and the turtles and other mutants attempt to stop him, but are assumed by the public to be fellow monsters.

April overcomes her anxiety and commandeers a news broadcast to explain the mutants’ good intentions and the citizens of New York come to their aid. Leonardo finds his voice as a leader, utilizing Michelangelo's gift for improvisation, Donatello's intelligence and Raphael's rage to drop a canister of TCRI retro-mutagen into Superfly's blowhole, turning him back into a collection of normal animals. Reconciling with Splinter, the turtles, April and the mutants are celebrated by the city. The mutants soon move into the sewers with them. Splinter and Scumbug fall in love and the Turtles enroll at April's high school, where they are all embraced as heroes.

In a mid-credits scene, the turtles enjoy high school life: Donatello has found the computer club, Raphael is on the wrestling team, Michaelangelo takes up improv comedy and Leonardo — who has developed a crush on April — joins her investigation into TCRI. While the five of them enjoy themselves at prom, they are under surveillance from Utrom (holding the now unmutated Superfly captive), who plans to recapture the turtles by enlisting the aid of the mysterious Shredder.

The Verdict:

This reboot is worth a watch just for the laughs and pop culture references alone.

From an artistic standpoint/perspective, I personally think that whatever oil painting filter they were going for this film makes it looks like vomit and/or visual diarrhea at points of the film, especially when there's a lot of action going on. I get it though - animation studios are feeling the pressure to come up with their own unique visual style to stand out like Marvel and Sony's SpiderVerse films and this isn't going to be the last animated film to try something out of left field to try to get more eyeballs on it. There's a few moments in this film where they don't have that filter applied and it looks like a standard 3D rendered animated film and I thought that looked perfectly fine. I hope they go with that look for the alleged spin-off TV series this is leading into.

Visuals

From an artistic standpoint/perspective, I personally think that whatever oil painting filter they were going for this film makes it looks like vomit and/or visual diarrhea at points of the film, especially when there's a lot of action going on. I get it though - animation studios are feeling the pressure to come up with their own unique visual style to stand out like Marvel and Sony's SpiderVerse films and this isn't going to be the last animated film to try something out of left field to try to get more eyeballs on it. There's a few moments in this film where they don't have that filter applied and it looks like a standard 3D rendered animated film and I thought that looked perfectly fine. I hope they go with that look for the alleged spin-off TV series this is leading into. 

Characters

The Turtles
Leonardo (Voiced by Nicolas Cantu) Raphael (Voiced by Brady Noon)
Donatello (Voiced by Micah Abbey) Michelangelo (Voiced by Shamon Brown Jr.)

The four Turtles are essentially what the 1987 cartoon introduction song said:

🎶 Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines (That's a fact, jack!)

Raphael is cool but (c)rude (Gimmie a break!)

Michelangelo is a party dude (Party!) 🎶 

Leonardo leads the team, but struggles with the burden that comes with leadership and being the most responsible of the four Turtles, bringing him at odds with his siblings at times.

Donatello doesn't do much with machines in this film, but he's still the team's resident geek/nerd. His expertise even extends into anime references in this film, which causes him to concoct a plan inspired by the Attack on Titan anime in the film's climax to ultimately defeat kaiju-sized Superfly. He's even seen wearing some JoJo's Bizarre Adventure merchandise at one point of the film for one hell of an Easter Egg for those who catch it. 

Raphael is the most impulsive of the four Turtles and always itching for a fight or some outlet to unleash thirst for violence into. His wise cracks and oftentimes sarcastic humor echoes how he came across in the 1987 cartoon series. 

Michelangelo doesn't come across as a complete airhead/moron in this series, so I guess that's an improvement. The film describes his strength being the gift of improvisation out of the four Turtles. 

That's the thing with this film. This film captures both the essence of the vibe of the 1987 cartoon series AND the fact that the four Turtles all act and interact like genuine teenagers. 

It still irks me since the first trailers for this that I can't understand for the life of me why does Donatello (my favorite Turtle FYI) sounds like he's five years old in comparison to the others. I gave them a pass in the 2012 Nicktoons series for him having buck teeth and his stereotypical redesigns in the Nickelodeon live-action films and that Rise of the TMNT animated series, but boy they are testing my tolerance in terms of how much they are going all in on the nerd label for him visually. C'mon, this isn't the '90s or an episode of The Big Bang Theory. We know most nerds don't look like that anymore, at least by todays standards. 

I'm surprised that one particular scene in this film isn't getting more attention in relation to the Turtles. I found myself thinking about it a lot over the following weekend after the premiere of this film. 

There's a lot of moments in the film where the Turtles seem like they don't have the slightest idea of how to fight back or defend themselves in any capacity. That's the impression I got as far back as the first fight scene against the gangsters in the chop shop at the start of the film. I was under the impression that it was a case of opening night jitters where the Turtles have been training in ninjitsu their entire lives but never actually put those skills into practice against a legitimate opponent outside of themselves or each other. In that regard, it was totally understandable, but rather in bad taste that it's played off for comedy to such a degree in this film that you have to question whether or not these Turtles are capable of properly defending themselves at all. 

I know people would then be quick to point to the montages throughout the film that showcase the Turtles making quick work of the numerous hired thugs, gangs, and goons under Superfly's employ, but once again, we see the Turtles fall apart when cornered by Superfly in a "real" fight a few minutes later. Their skill level lacks any consistency and comes across as amateur hour as if the Turtles lack any sort of confidence in their own abilities and skills altogether. It's a weird vibe to portray in this film that's going to get a pass from a lot of people but I found it to be troubling if it's going to be a long-term issue, especially when this film is enamored with the notion of the Turtles "abandoning" those ninja ways in favor of being accepted into the lives of "normal" teenagers. I hope I'm wrong when it comes to the future of this reboot as I don't want to see the Turtles in what would be a series of teen angst and very little action. That's where The CW steered a lot of these superhero adaptations onto television wrong and I would hate to see TMNT go that route.

In 1986, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird made deals with Playmates Toys and Murakami-Wolf-Swenson Productions. Playmates would create a line of action figures based on the property, and Murakami-Wolf-Swenson would produce a cartoon promoting them. When the hit animated television show debuted in 1987, April again appeared pale-skinned and red headed. Speculation mounted that Eastman and Laird had been pressured to whitewash April in the colorized comic book reprints to tie-in with her upcoming cartoon portrayal. When Judith Hoag was cast as O’Neil in the 1990 film adaptation, the character’s appearance was cemented. The Black April gave way to an Irish April and would not return for thirty-two years.

The Mutants
Ray Fillet (Voiced by Post Malone) Mondo Gecko (Voiced by Paul Rudd)
Wingnut (Voiced by Natasia Demetriou) Rocksteady (Voiced by John Cena)
Bebop (Voiced by Seth Rogen) Genghis Frog (Voiced by Hannibal Buress)
Scumbug (as Himself) Leatherhead (Voiced by Rose Byrne)

The thought that I kept coming back to by the time the credits rolled in relation to all of the characters that were introduced into this film was the following: "did we really need to introduce THAT many mutants into this film when they were just in this film just to flood your local Walmarts and Targets with toys?" 

The majority of the mutants introduced into this film didn't do much of anything in terms of action nor outside of a few comedic bits. That's a damn shame too from the sheer amount of celebrity talent that was brought in to voice these characters. John Cena was probably just thrilled to do more TMNT stuff after voicing Baron Draxum in Rise of the TMNT series. 

I don't understand what was the point of introducing Bebop and Rocksteady in a film like this when Turtles fans have grown accustomed to them being featured as prominent villains/sidekicks throughout the franchise's history. The inclusions of Leatherhead, Mondo Gecko, Wingnut, Genghis Frog, and Ray Fillet felt like they were merely namedropping TMNT characters just for brownie points just to draw in the hardcore and/or long-term fans into the mix. 

Much like with Superfly, it felt like another missed opportunity not to portray these mutants as prominent figureheads in Superfly's criminal empire instead of mere lackeys and underlings. They were all Superfly's "family" and yet they switched allegiances from him to the Turtles with next to any resistance in the film's climax. This can be contributed to the fact that the Turtles showed and offered them a better world view than what they had only known and experienced with Superfly for the past 15 years. In all honesty, they were trading one life in seclusion to another with the Turtles, but aiding them in the defeat of Superfly allowed not just the Turtles but all mutants be accepted in the public eye. 

I will say that the film lost a few cool points from me from some dishonest marketing in terms of the toyline and merchandising. The four Turtles are bundled in 2-Packs facing off against the other mutants in the film who ultimately don't even pose as primary antagonists at all for the most part. Their inclusion were here just to sell toys first and foremost. If that's not the most '80's toy marketing strategy that I've seen in YEARS, then I don't know what is. 

Closing Thoughts

For all of its strengths and flaws, I thought Mutant Mayhem did a great job of getting the point across concerning the message of acceptance (especially in today's culture and overall social landscape as a whole). It echoes the lessons of being true to yourself and opting to do the right thing regardless of others might think. When all hope was lost that the world and all of humanity would see them as monsters, the Turtles still collectively decided to protect humanity at all costs, even if they would have had to make the ultimate sacrifice to do so. By the end of this story, both the Turtles and the audience clearly realize that there's no way to please everyone all the time. That's just life in general and definitely echoes the ups and downs of the public reception of this franchise across three decades. We all just have to have faith that those in charge will do the right thing and their hearts are genuine/authentic in terms of what they want best for this franchise going forward. Overall, I think the future of TMNT is definitely in great hands for a new generation going forward. There's enough to like here to even bring some older fans back too.