Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
The eighth TMNT feature-length escapade (and second reboot) should appeal to fans of the franchise. Expect mutants. And mayhem.
Do we really need another dose of TMNT? The franchise has oozed into almost every available crevice of popular culture and now the turtles are back for a back-to-basics origins cartoon. Originally conceived as a parody of the superhero genre, the field itself has mutated into so many forms that the new film feels redundant. Having said that, director Jeff Rowe certainly instils in it a surprising ingenuity, working with the creative minds of five credited scriptwriters, not least the fevered imagination of Seth Rogen. Rogen, who also voices a mutant warthog (ho! ho!), previously brought us the frankly filthy cartoon Sausage Party and the reek of Rogen is all over this. Had Mutant Mayhem not been animated, its subject matter and imagery would surely have necessitated a 15 certificate. The epic sweep of its violence is virtually non-stop; not that that has ever stopped a PG in its tracks.
It has been seven years since the tiresome remake/sequel Out of the Shadows, so in the interim TMNT fans have had to content themselves with the Nickelodeon TV series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Netflix ‘toon Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie released last year. Poor things. Here, the animation is the new film’s strong suit, reflecting the loose-crayoned vision of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, bringing the reboot a fresh, invigorating air.
And so it’s back to the sewers of New York (surprisingly sewage-free, unlike the rivers of the UK), where our re-branded heroes (Leon Ardo, Michael Angelo, etc) look on covetously on the human world and pine to join in the party. But their sensei rat-cum-father figure Splinter (“don’t call me Rat-atouille!”), voiced by Jackie Chan, knows that humans are quick to destroy anything that is not like them and forbids his adopted “sons” from making contact.
Then, on a routine ninja star practice, the turtles inadvertently facilitate the theft of a young woman’s scooter and feel that they must make amends. And, to their surprise, she, April O’Neil, is not repelled by their appearance. Meanwhile, New York is faced by a genuine apocalyptic threat from another group of mutants, led by the unspeakably hideous Superfly (nicely voiced by Ice Cube).
For what it is, Mutant Mayhem is a breezy, scrappy reimagining, stuffed with pop-cultural allusions and live-action clips, a terrific soundtrack of pop standards and a childhood glee for bodily fluids and the mention thereof. Nonetheless, all this is much more of the same and the mid-credit sequence would suggest that there is even more to come (a sequel is in development). However, this critic, for one, is not overly excited.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Voices of: Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr, Hannibal Buress, Rose Byrne, Nicolas Cantu, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Natasia Demetriou, Ayo Edebiri, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, Brady Noon, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, Michael Badalucco, John Capodice, Kevin Eastman, Jeff Rowe.
Dir Jeff Rowe, Pro Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver, Screenplay Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe, Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, Ph Kent Seki, Pro Des Yashar Kassai, Ed Greg Levitan, Music Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Sound Mark Mangini.
Nickelodeon Movies/Point Grey Pictures-Paramount Pictures.
100 mins. USA. 2023. UK Rel: 31 July 2023. US Rel: 2 August 2023. Cert. PG.
