Introduction:
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” was released to the United States on Wednesday, Aug. 2. The film begins with rogue scientist Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito), who successfully created a mutagen while attempting to create his own mutant family, starting with a housefly. However, Techno Cosmic Research Institute, Stockman's former bosses, break in and kill Stockman, causing his mutagen to fall into the sewer. Fifteen years after the incident, four turtle brothers, Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Raphael (Brady Noon) and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), have been raised by their adoptive father, Splinter (Jackie Chan), in the sewers of New York City. While the brothers are in the city doing a supply run, they defeat criminals who had stolen a moped from teenager April O'Neil (Ayo Edebiri). Working with their new friend, the brothers attempt to become heroes to the city, despite their outward appearance, by taking on the largest criminal in the city, Superfly (Ice Cube). However, twists and turns ensue, and before the turtles can say, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT),” they are facing off against a Godzilla level threat. The cast also includes cameos from many big actors, including Cynthia Utrom, John Cena, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Hannibal Buress and Post Malone. Be aware, there are SPOILERS in the following review.
The good:
First off, let me say I very much enjoyed this movie. I tend to say that a lot, but I normally don't waste my time on a film I have no interest in. This film, however, I had a great interest in. My father has been a TMNT fan since he was a kid and, due to that, my siblings and I grew up around it and learned to love it. Even though I, the oldest of my siblings, was born in 2002, I have seen the original movies and the 80s to 90s cartoon, as well as most of my siblings. There was quite a bit of excitement for this movie from me and, I must say, I was not disappointed. First off, let me discuss the turtle brothers. The writers of this movie clearly understood what they were writing about. One of the key parts of the turtles is that they are teenagers. This is something that recent TMNT media has seemingly forgotten. Instead of acknowledging the younger teen years, they automatically write the turtles as 18-year-olds. Michael Bay's turtle films are a great example of this: nothing about the turtles in his movie imply they are teenagers, despite it being an integral part of their characters. However, in this movie, it is very clear. These turtles want to go to high school, they want to go to prom and they enjoy filming videos and doing dumb things, like throwing ninja stars at each other's heads. All of this is a fairly accurate depiction of the simplicity of a teenager's life. Furthermore, the four turtles are brothers. Family is a complicated thing to portray in media, but also an important thing, as family is the bedrock of all society. Brotherhood means a lot of things as well. Men who aren't biologically related will call other men “brother” to show how close they are to that person. The writers understood all this and showed how these four boys are both friends and brothers. They understand each other on a deeper level, they understand each other's pain and jokes. They know how to work well with each other and they have a desperate need to protect one another. They would die together before they would abandon one of their own. This is all shown in a hilarious and accurate script; the dialogue from the turtles is top tier. It almost feels like you are sitting next to four 14-year-old boys in the cafeteria, listening to them talk about their lives. It truly feels realistic to the modern adolescent. Finally, the story itself is unique. For years, we have watched the origin story of the turtles, which I can summarize quickly. Radioactive ooze falls in the sewers and grows a rat and four turtles into humanoids. The rat, named Splinter, trains the four turtles in the martial arts and secretly, in the night, they fight the Foot Clan and the leader of the clan, The Shredder. However, this movie doesn't follow that formula. Sure, the creation of the turtles is largely the same, but they are not heroes in the night. They stumble across that in an attempt to be accepted by the world around them. Now, every turtle fan loves Shredder and his character appearance is teased at the end, but it was a fresh, unique take on the turtles to start with an assortment of mutants. I also greatly appreciated the many references in this film. There were many intended for adults, which alluded to famous films from the past, but it also seemed the writers understood the generation the film was being shown to. Instead of what felt like forced attempts at speaking to the younger generation, it felt like the writers took the time to comprehend what they were writing and how viewers might understand it as being legitimate, as opposed to shoe-horning in phrases and sayings to try to appeal to the younger audience. Audiences aren't stupid, and if more companies would follow a similar formula and attempt to understand their target audience, films would be more successful. Finally, I was a big fan of the score for this film, which had hints here and there of different turtles theme songs. Plus, I tend to be a big fan of action film scores, and this did not fail to deliver.
The bad:
TMNT is definitely a strange story, and similar to a character like Spider-Man, no one really expected the idea of four humanoid ninja turtles to become the cultural phenomenon it has been. Yet, it remains well known everywhere; very few people don't know about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. However, that doesn't mean failure in storytelling does not appear, nor failure to stick to the brand. The known film and TV brand of the turtles is, of course, the four brothers, Splinter, The Shredder and Krang. This is what general audiences know, so the introduction of lesser known mutants may be a turn off for some viewers expecting a classic Shredder storyline. The other bad part I might mention isn't necessarily bad, as I touched on it during the good. However, the writers clearly wrote this version of TMNT for the current generation, meaning there are things that may be less appealing for the adult fans of the turtles. People, like my father, while they enjoyed the movie, were not as fully impressed with it as they are with the nostalgia they feel for the original.
The ugly:
I enjoyed this movie quite a lot, so for the ugly, there is only one thing I will mention, though it is ugly in the fullness of the term. The animation style for this movie I found incredibly off putting. The only characters that I think fit well with the animation style were the turtles themselves. Every other character, especially the human ones, were just straight-up ugly. It struck me as an attempted rip off of another film, “Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse,” which I loved largely for its animation style. Even in viewing the trailers for this film, I had this feeling. Not everyone may feel this way, but it definitely was an ugly for me.
Conclusion:
Ultimately, this is a good movie. It is far from perfect, but that does not detract from its quality as good family fun. It felt original and unique, while still staying mostly true to the turtles that everyone knows and loves. For once, a well branded character such as the turtles didn't feel like a soulless cash grab, but instead a film where the creators cared about what they were creating. Of course, this is a family film, meaning its perfect for the parents and the kids. As I begin my foray into the world of child-rearing and family-leading with my wife and 8-month-old son, I am always on the lookout for something for all three of us. While he is still too young to enjoy this movie right now, in a year or two, I have a strong feeling it will be a top contender for his favorite movie, and that is a huge selling point for me. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is a recommendation from me with 7 out of 10 gator tails (or should it be turtle tails?).