Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been a strong piece of pop culture since first being written in comic books in 1984. After having so many memorable television adaptations with each of their own respectable fan base, it’s crazy to see that it took so long for at least one film to hit the mark we've been waiting for.


PLOT


The 2023 adaptation dubbed Mutant Mayhem gives another retelling of the iconic superhero team. The four turtles (Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello & Michelangelo) have been raised by the rat Splinter for the past 15 years after being exposed to mutagenic ooze that triggered their mutation. They reside in the sewers of New York and only come out to retrieve supplies. The reason comes from being quickly feared by humans in their first encounter. This would inspire Splinter to teach ninjutsu for self defense. During one grocery run, the turtles get grounded for breaking their only rule by watching a film outdoors where they could’ve been spotted. A month after this, they return to their routine but have their first fight against a gang of criminals who stole a moped from human teenager April O’Neil. Although she would be surprised of their appearance, she would quickly accept them and show gratitude by offering pizza. This gives the turtles the chances to explain the origin to her. O’Neil would also share she’s an aspiring journalist who hopes to move past a viral incident of vomiting on camera out of the feeling of nervousness. Ever since this, she’s been investigating a case involving a criminal known to the streets as ‘Superfly’ whose been stealing technology from TCRI and kills those who see his face. Hearing this, the turtles become inspired to stop Superfly from whatever he’s planning and with April reporting, they could be publicly accepted as heroes. They are able to encounter after intercepting another piece of stolen TCRI tech and using it to meet the criminal under Brooklyn Bridge. The turtle brothers would only find themselves surprised to discover not only is Superfly an actual mutated house fly, but leads his own brethren/gang of mutants: a warthog named Bebop, a rhinoceros named Rocksteady, an armored bat named Wingnut, an alligator named Leatherhead, a frog named Genghis Frog, a manta ray named Ray Fillet, a lizard named Mondo Gecko and a cockroach named Scumbug. Superfly would himself ecstatic that the turtles are mutants as well, choosing to bond with them and share the origin he shares with his gang: The ooze was made by TCRI scientist Baxter Stockman who went rogue and preferred to make a family out of the mutants. When his superior Cynthia Utrom sent a task force to capture him, he would only be killed in the process. Ever since his demise, the mutants have been living in an abandoned ship in Staten Island. In their youth, even they were repulsed by humans. It is in the said ship where Superfly plans to use the tech he’s stolen to weaponize the ooze & mutate all wildlife to enslave humanity. Since the turtles do not share that feeling of hatred, they go against him by retreating with the equipment they intercepted. However, the said equipment had a tracker, resulting in them to be captured by Utrom. She would take them to her HQ to extract their mutagen she hopes to weaponize. Thankfully, all four are saved by April & Splinter, after the teen former tells their father they’re in danger. Together, they go to Superfly’s hideout and try to convince him to not act on his plan. They’re able to convince the mutants to go against him, but although their actions would lead to him destroying his machine, the ooze would merge him with marine wildlife nearby that would make him a hybrid Kaiju. Shortly after this unlikely upgrade, he would quickly attack the city and also merge with zoo animals, causing the turtles and the other mutants to try stopping him. When April alerts him she got access to a retro-mutagen that can undo his mutation, the turtles would plan to use it against him. Although the public would quickly mistake the rest of the mutants as dangerous, April would overcome her anxiety by commandeering a news broadcast, assuring to the public that the mutants are friendly and are trying to help (despite still vomiting during the report). Together, the turtles use their traits to the needed advantage to expose Superfly to the anti-ooze. It would work as not only does it un-fuse him with the other animals, but also turns him back to a regular housefly. Their actions would officially deem them as heroes to the public. Some time after this epic battle, the other mutants would move into the sewers, whereas Splinter would fall in love with Scumbug and the turtles would enroll at April’s school, in which everyone still embraces them for their heroism. The film would end in a shocking mid credits scene, showing Utrom watch the heroes under surveillance, keeping the un-mutated Superfly captive. Still wanting to weaponize the mutagen, she decides to recruit ‘The Shredder’ to recapture the turtles.


THOUGHTS


I’ve had a fair share of content related to this franchise and I get a kick out of each adaptation, however the quality turns out. I was hesitant to check this out because it never felt that the past films were ever patient, which surprises me a lot to see this one actually be so. In fact, I had so much fun with this I ended up shouting "That was totally wicked!". Directors Jeff Rowe & Kyler Spears pull off a big feat in making an extravagant adventure that’s naturally fun from beginning to end. Since the 21st century is the era of making remarkable computerized animation, I couldn’t believe how remarkable they were here. Like Sony’s Spider Verse films, the colors are so ecstatic, it felt like I was looking at pages from the 80s comics come to life. So even for an animated film, each character is so lifelike you would feel bound to connect with each one you get to see. Of course since this is a superhero film, this benefits the action scenes big time as each one is uniquely edited in their own way. I am also in awe when hearing the score by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, sparking the most epic atmosphere to date. The reason I prefer this film as the best of the franchise in comparison to the past goes to because of how pure it’s heart is. The heart comes from its theme of how satisfying it can be accepted by those who choose to take the time to understand you and being aware only you can set your own limits. That is exactly everything the turtles are all about, they're brothers that enjoy being themselves and push themselves to the limit to prove they're worth noticing. Since they've always been teens benefits the case because that's the mindset most of them have. And knowing this would be the first they would be played actual teens here is refreshing and authentic. The chemistry they all have felt all natural because you just sensed they're living in the moment like many teens would. Yet each of them differed from one another not from the color of their apparel and weaponry, but for having different mindsets apart from wanting to fit in. They love the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off because the lead character is one who 
is proud of being himself and doesn't care how others feel. Nicolas Cantu gave an interesting approach on Leo because he's one who enjoys being strict upon himself. He has to stick with the rules in order to inspire himself to be a firm leader. I think he does a fine job overall because by the time it mattered most, his brothers respected him enough to listen. If he is able to lead his brothers into battle, it only shows him to be the most honorable. Brady Noon was great as Raph because he accurately shows how mixed of feelings teens can be when excited and riled up with aggression at the same time. Since he only targets bad people, it comes to show how he has boundaries he sets upon himself. Those exact feelings arguably makes him the bravest of the bunch, which I'm sure his brothers notice as well. I totally enjoyed Micah Abbey's take on Donnie because apart from acting as the smartest, he also catches up on the wit his brothers communicate with while figuring out how to be ahead of everyone else. And I think the way he tries to be self aware arguably makes him the wisest because he knows better than Leo you don't have to be on top of yourself at every possible second. Since Mikey is arguably everyone's favorite turtle, you knew they had to cast somebody that was naturally funny, and I for one believe Shamon Brown Jr. was just that. The whole time, he had me smiling for coming off charming with everything he chose to say. He was the most upbeat amongst his brothers and that showed him to have the biggest heart. When he and his brothers took off their colored masks on their first day of school, I almost choked up because it represented exactly how comfortable they are with being themselves. Since they're heroes, this moment of peace will be temporary but we all know they'll make the best of it for now. Of course, neither of these turtles would not have been the best versions of themselves had it not been for the one parent who raised them to do just that. What Jackie Chan does different as Splinter is that he's the most protective version. This Splinter spent his life dealing with discrimination, being afraid of humans and doesn't want his sons to go through constant rejection like him. That is how he differs from Superfly, where he is upset of how people give their first reaction towards him but avoids letting that consume him. When he saw how that significantly affected the villain, he knew he had to change his way of thinking to ensure his sons stay on the right path. Luckily when people saw his passion to be there for him, he got his long awaited acceptance. And from there, everyone was on the same page that different is good. Going back to the masks being removed, I'm sure he is proud of all his sons making such a step in their lives. The turtles knew being accepted by one human will lead to everyone else coming along, which is why it became a blessing for them to first be accepted by who was going through a similar struggle. I felt that Ayo Edebiri shook things up for making April one who is dedicated in helping people through information, the gift of journalism. You relate to her feeling nervous because it is a challenge to put your skills to the test when necessary. She becomes close with the turtles because she becomes impressed with the confidence they have in being themselves and she took that to notice when defending them on the news. When her locker graffiti went from "O'Puke" to "O'Hero", that gave me a big smile at the end because her part showed there is no limit in how you can help people. Another refreshing element this film does differently is shaking up the rogues gallery because although Shredder is an iconic villain, it was very creative for the turtles' first villain to be one vastly different in comparison to the evil ninja. Since Stockman & Superfly we’re always written to be one and the same in past adaptations, it was a surprise to see them be separate characters for the first time. That would only make it much of a relief to see it pay off. Ice Cube's take on Superfly is all the anger that was accurately missing in Giancarlo Esposito's depiction of the misunderstood Stockman. Both wanted to be accepted, but there is a big difference between their shared goal of acceptance: Stockman wanted to be left in peace, whereas Superfly wanted to gain dominance as an act of revenge towards past discrimination. Because there was nothing but hate within him, he was far from having second thoughts and didn't care who he'd have to kill to keep out of his way. A lot of fans wanted this franchise to get dark, well boy did they ever when Superfly briefly yet disturbingly became 'Super Duper Fly'. On the other hand, it was refreshing to see his mutant siblings differ in more ways than one, which benefitted us in entertaining fashion. It felt ironic for Seth Rogen to voice Bebop since he had voiced Pumba from The Lion King prior to this. Nevertheless, it worked for him to play him as one who didn’t understand his own aggression only to realize he only acted such because his leader was all the time. The same can be said with how John Cena voiced Rocksteady, which worked for him as well. The irony of these two being mad without reason has me chuckling, especially when Rock damages the arcade session of the bowling alley to prove he can. The chuckling just kept on going for me whenever I saw Genghis Frog because although he looks cute, Hannibal Buress intentionally changes that though whenever making him sound dissatisfied nonstop. I was surprised to realize Natasia Demetriou played a vampire in What We Do in the Shadows before voicing Wingnut. Apart from that, she and Rose Byrne’s Leatherhead were interesting enough for making the characters nonchalant of the bunch. Alex Hirsch caught me off guard like everyone else did when it came to voicing Scumbug because he’s accurately recognizable when speaking vermin. I don’t know how the other mutants communicate with that character, but at least they all get along. The biggest laughs I had with the mutant gang has to Ray Fillet and Mondo. I can hear Post Malone sing Fillet’s name and I wouldn’t get tired of it. And I never got through the movie with a straight face whenever hearing Paul Rudd voice Mondo. The role is the most ironic because he comes off as the upbeat and has no hatred compared to the rest, hence bonding with the turtles so fast. Seeing how all the mutants came to accept that Superfly was overdoing it with his motives proves how big their hearts were deep down. They choose to hide in the sewers now because they don’t need to roam the public to enjoy themselves, nor do they want to. And if they want to keep it simple, I don’t see a problem with it. While Superfly was the main threat, it’s visible it wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for a true mastermind. Maya Rudolph nails it in making Cynthia Utrom an intriguing villain by portraying her to be quite cunning. Unlike Stockman, she’s hungry for power and knows it would be high for her if having a mutant army to control. Her goals were set and she was mostly on top of herself to ensure they’d succeed. Since she was close, that only drives her to keep going. And with the Shredder by her side, there’s no telling how close she can get by the time we get a sequel. The same can be said with whatever she has in store with Superfly captive. This movie is better than it should be, which doesn’t surprise me when I say that I caught onto some things that bothered me upon re-watching. Like for example, how did no one notice the vial fall out of Stockman’s sleeve? I know this gets the story in motion, but it’s not like the thing wasn’t glowing so it shouldn’t have been missed. Utrom does seem pretty smart of a villain, yet she still makes her own set of mistakes. While I can keep asking how did she pull off confiscating Superfly, I’m more thrown off on how it took so long for her to put trackers on her shipments. If she doesn’t want her tech to be stolen, that should’ve been a top priority. Also, how come the first thugs that the turtles fight don’t report what they saw? I mean they can play victim for saying the saw monsters. On top of that, why didn’t other gangs tip each other off that there were outsiders coming for them? I don’t want to root for the bad guys, but you’re messing up an opportunity to maintain an alliance. Another thing, why did the TCRI soldiers wait until the ride of the raid to know what Stockman? The truck barely look lit, so they're lucky to know what the target looked like in advance. That's just as much of a mistake as not handcuffing Stockman. Had someone done that, he would've not died. And why didn't Utrom put trackers on her equipment after the first time they got stolen? That could've helped her find Superfly sooner. Moving on, why didn’t Splinter ever follow his sons at least once? I know that would only prove how overprotective he is, but it would’ve prevented them from getting milked as he feared. That's more of a surprise than the turtles not having a cover story when they start hanging out with April. But of all the mistakes the turtles actually make is stopping by April’s school and saying hi to her during campus hours. I mean that’s asking to get caught. I also didn't like the idea of Leo thinking April was using them when she had to retreat? He may have not known she was gonna go to Splinter for help, but he took too big of an assumption because they got caught and can't judge her for wanting to avoid that. And lastly, how come that bowling alley didn’t have any alarms go off when all the mutants broke in for themselves? Even that is asking for business to get destroyed. I know animation is known to bend reality, but I refuse to believe April's electric scooter can catch up to a high speed chase involving mutants. That just looked way too fast of a chase to do so. Ignore this, and you’ll still be having a blast by the end of it. In short, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is the franchise’s superior film adaptation for being nothing but patient with its storytelling, giving us the chance to be in awe with it all. Whatever kind of fan you are, this film is totally worth watching.