Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is hard not to like. I have been vocal for years that I am not a fan of animation or Ninja Turtles. This one had a lot of sewer to cover if it wanted me in its camp. It did a lot right, and even though I am not running out buying merch, I am at least a satisfied movie goer.
The film is computer-animated which seems a lot less messy that clay, ink, or puppets. I had to look it up since it really felt like a hand drawn comic book adaptation. The characters felt old school – especially the henchmen – with their distorted features. My worry was that it would feel too much like a Saturday morning episode instead of a big screen flick. Somehow it did both nicely.
The story was a plus too. Those who know only the pop culture basics of TMNT get a solid introduction and back story. When we meet them here they are not the beloved heroes they became. Instead they are outcasts trying to be accepted. This give sympathy to the turtles plus makes the rest of the story something to latch on to.
Speaking of pop culture this one does not shy away from making the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles grounded in our modern world. The tale could have been about four human orphans; it is that relatable. It is also blanket into a killer soundtrack of original recordings and well produced remixes. Having Ice Cube voice the mutant Superfly was icing on the cool cake. His is the most recognizable voice. I normally don’t like it when animated characters have obvious voices. But here I loved being able to meld Ice and Fly into the same character.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is 90-minutes long and rated PG. Two super smart decisions. In a summer of too long films it was nice to take my younger son and his friend to a movie that they loved, and held their short attention spans. As I said earlier, this one his hard not to like. Cowabunga for sure, bros.
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