One of this summer’s biggest surprises is the pure entertainment to be found scene-by-scene in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” an inspired take on a once-blockbuster property that had previously been collecting dust in the IP toy box. The spark behind this series comes from co-writers and producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who apply the same irreverence of “Sausage Party” or Amazon’s adaptation of superhero satire “The Boys” to the story of four pizza-loving turtles that have been brought to stiff live-action existence (2014’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” produced by Michael Bay) or in drab animation (2007’s “TMNT”).
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Directed by Jeff Rowe (who co-directed “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”) and co-director by Kyler Spears, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is entertaining in its own bold, delightfully dorky way, without demanding a viewer’s prior adoration for the franchise’s heroes. As an action-comedy that cleverly voices awareness about the whole premise’s ridiculousness, the movie has numerous laugh-out-loud moments that skateboard across the tightrope of being too self-aware and help make the property as easy to love as ever. This is the weird, slightly dark, actually funny take the Turtles have long needed.
Yes, this reboot is an origin story, but it gets through this in a fast-paced beginning—the turtles were given their mutant qualities when a toxic ooze, engineered by scientist Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito), fell on them as babies 15 years prior, just as happened with their rat father Splinter. Splinter has disliked humans after they chased him away in his new form; he fears the humans will milk him (a long-running joke), which has turned into a cooled hate. And so to protect them, he trained his turtle sons in martial arts (from kung fu movies, YouTube tutorials, etc). Now, Splinter’s pizza-loving progeny Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Raphael (Brady Noon), and Leonardo (Micah Abbey) mill about in the sewers, dreaming of being regular TikToking teens, with only each other to keep company. “Mutant Mayhem” is funny and biting about this strange existence—as when one human character shouts, “I love being young and free to move around!” (voiced by Rowe), while our heroes cower under subway tracks.
Scripted by Rogen, Goldberg, Rowe, Dan Hernandez, and Benji Samit, the movie hones in on the Turtles’ goal to no longer be outsiders, to be accepted by humans—they just want to go to high school like their new friend, April O’Neil, who is voiced to perfection by Ayo Edebiri. After they meet her by chance and rescue her stolen scooter (which leads to one of this movie’s many snazzy fight scenes), they are convinced by budding journalist April to let her write about them. She’s been deep-investigating the heists of a mysterious figure named Superfly, and given their crime-fighting capabilities, they can help.
The goal of acceptance is not the best narrative force, considering how easily it looks like preaching to value what other people (human or not) think. But it does create good emotional stakes, with the later mutants like Bebop, Rocksteady, Wingnut, Ray Fillet, and others, who share the same animosity against humans as Splinter—interesting, however goofy villains, with distinct consciences are made in the process, without the movie relying on a black and white good-and-bad dichotomy. And as part of the film’s nimble story development, it lets us meet these other mutants later on as characters in which we can already see their side. The Mutants’ evil plan, under the Joker-like tyranny of Superfly, is to turn all creatures into mutants that will terrorize and/or enslave humans, and you can see at least see where these mutants are coming from. It’s more about whether the turtles can advocate for love over hate and fear. Still, in the scope of this often movie’s often sharp writing, acceptance is more a transparent goal for Rowe and others than it is a good one for these characters.
“Mutant Mayhem” knows how to constantly pop, especially with its voice cast. Its sense of pop culture might make it as dated as a For You Page scroll, but there’s a modern rush for an animated story to freely use slang like “rizz” or feature a “huh?” cameo from MrBeast. This truly teenage aspect contrasts neatly against the charms of the legends it throws in, like putting a sincere Jackie Chan in the vocal booth as sensitive rat-dad Splinter, while also showing some of his earlier clips in a montage of fighting. Ice Cube has a similar power as Superfly, helping achieve a rare feat—a well-rounded, imposing villain in an animated movie—who can push his unamused intensity (as he did in the “21 Jump Street” movies”) and be funny because of it.
With other supporting characters, “Mutant Mayhem” achieves the hang-out lightness of Rogen and Goldberg’s previous projects, only that it has them voicing characters who are cult favorites at best. It’s wildly amusing to see Rogen give sassy life to mohawked warthog Bepop opposite John Cena’s Rocksteady, or hear Post Malone croon to himself as a sweet version of Ray Fillet. Maya Rudolph, Natasia Demetriou, Paul Rudd, Hannibal Buress, and Rose Byrne also appear, contorting their voices and creating lovable, strange versions of these characters in the process. Rogen has said they often recorded this ensemble in the same room at once, and the giddy ease of this movie’s comedy makes that apparent.
But the show’s biggest star is its transfixing computer animation style. It has the depth, shading, and movement as if its characters were made in stop-motion, but it’s also not precious about detail—rays of light, casual on-screen text, and general reflections are depicted as scribbles, creating a certain roughness fitting for a story about reckless heroes who live in the sewer. Rowe and co-director Spears then apply this vision to numerous cleverly executed, cohesive action scenes, including a colossal climax. The script’s many flashbacks and hip-hop-driven montages in “Mutant Mayhem” aren’t a crutch but yet another moment for Rowe and Spears to kick up action-comedy momentum.
The style also helps create an essential tone that keeps the story properly edgy, dark, and a little off-kilter. Nor is it reverential, with its fresh perspective contrasting an innate need to play into nostalgia. This version of ‘TMNT’ is through with being ‘80s cool and more set on making them endearing, action-ready freaks and geeks. It’s incredibly fun to see them in this light, without any pressure to be charmed by the word “Cowabunga.” In this movie’s wise deconstruction of its characters, “Mutant Mayhem” does the seemingly impossible and makes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cool again. [B+]
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is in theaters now.
