CINEMA | 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem' Oozes Charm

"The peoples, zey got to go!"

Paramount Pictures / Nickelodeon Movies

Produced and co-written by comedians Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem resets the once ubiquitous comic book and toy franchise aimed at kids back to its basic elements. As the title strongly suggests, the computer-animated superhero adventure focuses on the mutations of its characters while also highlighting them as immature teens and outsiders done in a flat, sketchbook-like animated style in the vein of the Spider-Verse films.

Animator Jeff Rowe (also a co-writer) makes his feature directorial debut with plenty of flash, influenced by classic hip-hop tracks and New York City street culture. There's an economical pace to the breezy film where audiences are quickly and organically introduced to familiar characters like high school reporter April O'Neil (Ayo Edebiri) and the villain Superfly (Ice Cube).

Voiced by actual teenagers, Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Ralphael (Brady Noon), Donatello (Micah Abbey), and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) have distinct character designs and personalities that set them apart through the fluid animation. They feel like actual brothers who share complementary sensibilities as a result of their sheltered and strict upbringing by a literal rat of a dad, Splinter (Jackie Chan), in the sewers.

Mutant Mayhem is a fun and zippy reintroduction to our favourite anthropomorphized adolescent martial artist reptile heroes. Rowe, Rogen, and their collaborators focus on the light fun and scatological humour of the four central characters as teenagers. There's not much fat or excuss to the animated film thanks to a brisk and refreshing setup of who these turtles are with new little twists to their personalities.


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