We’ve had some stellar additions to the animation catalogue this year, with the likes of Spiderverse, Puss in Boots and Nimona. Well folks, we have another to brush animated shoulders with. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem goes off script by actually hiring teenagers to play these teen turtles. All four turtles are cast pretty perfectly to me, bringing all the personality and sibling infighting we expect from these sewer dwelling, cold blooded brothers. As an avid viewer of all media from day one of birth, I have had my run-ins with these characters before, and it's exciting to see them shown in their early stages of character development, still finding their role within the team. The film sets itself up nicely to continue on their story for future films, a concept that I welcome and anticipate impatiently.

The film begins with an obligatory origin story; scientist, test tubes, military intrusion and a fall down the drain. From there, we jump straight to the teenage years, where we’re introduced to the tone of the film along with the style. The group are out to get some groceries, but they can’t just walk in and pay, they sneak and steal in a slick sequence, jumping from brother to brother all getting their section of the list.
The real plot of the story comes in when we meet April O’ Neil, THE aspiring journalist. She begins investigating crimes along with the Turtles that are being committed by Superfly, a looming and dark presence on the hand drawn New York City.
His presence as an antagonist is set up really well from the beginning, we see him in the origin sequence and then only hear of him. He’s set up as an ethereal criminal kingpin, stealing high-profile pieces of equipment to use for something the news reporters can only assume is deadly and curfew worthy.
When we meet Superfly, our perception is shifted hugely, when we hear his excitable and disarming voice. Disarming isn’t exactly the word I would use for Ice Cube’s delivery but the switch in perception subverts the way you have been thinking about Superfly up until this point as a menacing and mysterious character and takes you back a bit from what you had expected him to be.
From then on, we follow the Turtles through a moral journey of overthrowing the humans to become the dominant species. They have to face their zenophobic views of us beings and decide if they want all the power. We get a nice few jokes sprinkled in there and some excellent ad libbing along the way.
The story itself works for me, following a simple plotline of world domination and mutant mutiny. All the characters are well cast, even down to Maya Rudolph’s questionable accent.
It's hard for me to point out the exact flaws in the film that mean it doesn’t quite hit the peaks of Puss in Boots and Spiderverse in terms of emotional weight but absolutely lives up in regards to the fun factor.

I will say that this does feel like it has been marketed a bit strange, when I first saw the trailer, it felt a little bit more “older kid” oriented with the style being so dark in places and the character design being as visceral as it is. Although being in the theatre before the film, we were treated to toy ads and Illumination trailers. I don’t know who got the messaging wrong here because if I was a 6 year old watching this, most of the jokes would have flown over my head, I would have been terrified by all the mutants and the older swaying audience would have stressed me out.
I have seen some online gab about the animation style of this movie and how it’s blatantly ripping off Spiderverse. They are portraying this as a negative thing, which for me could not be further from the opposite. I am not interested in the same 3D plastic sheen that most of the modern day American animated films have. I’m sure this style could have the same effect on me if I saw it in thirty Disney movies in a row, but I haven’t, so therefore, let it stay.
I also think that the style is different enough for it to be an inspiration and not a copy. The style is 3D, yet 2D, painted, yet drawn, and all of that is then underlaid with a weird suspicion that it's made of clay. The fight scenes in particular have a dynamic and fast paced style that kept me interested the whole time, and I even wished that some went on a bit longer. I will admit that it took me a few minutes to get into the style of the film, but once I’d settled, I was all in. It was exciting, grimey and fun. I always enjoy the blending of art styles in animation. They took that drawn claymation, with some clean backgrounds and characters, and then paired it with an interesting light style, similar to a sort of watercolour or the inclusion of live action, showing movies and videos. For me, it just helps to keep these kinds of films more dynamic. I don’t need every animated film changing styles but its nice when it fits the tone of the film.

The music is a mixtape that Seth Rogan made for himself and kept just for this movie. There wasn’t a time when a needle dropped and I wasn't immediately into it. I think they used fitting music at fitting times, heightening the action. Nice job music.
To begin a conclusion, big fan, let’s do more, preferably right now. As this film builds its characters from a first introduction, we can all collectively get tentatively excited that it’s going to have a great sequel where we see these characters come into their signature traits a little bit more. The seeds have been planted, the jokes have been delivered and the style has been set. There is a great foundation to build upon and I’m ready to see the furtherment of this take on the Turtle’s story. To end my conclusion, I’m going to buy a TMNT toy, as advertised to me before the film, and you will catch me lying stomach down, legs swinging, playing the shit out of it.
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