Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem marks the seventh big-screen appearance of the beloved reptile brothers. But for those who've been living in a sewer, there are also plenty of direct-to-video and streaming films, various TV series, including live-action, CGI, and traditionally animated attempts to capture the turtles, video games, comics, and more merchandise than you can shake a green, three-fingered fist at.
Who would've guessed, least of all Turtles' creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, that the shelf-life, or rather, shell-life of these characters would see them appear regularly in new iterations since 1984? It's either testament to some innate conceptual brilliance (how else would a name as ridiculous as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles become a household name), unparalleled merchandising, or the amalgamation of options, that these characters have continued apace for four decades.
With any property with cross-generational appeal, fans have their favorite eras, and those eras remain the gold standard to which all subsequent interpretations are measured. Mutant Mayhem's story won't do much to persuade those who beat up the Foot Clan in 1991's Turtles in Time arcade game, but this was never meant to be a series that grew with its audience. With a marketing sensibility that Matthew McConaughey's Wooderson in Dazed and Confused would approve of, Mutant Mayhem wants young people to have their own Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michaelangelo.
As with any attempts to indoctrinate young people to the cause, Mutant Mayhem begins with an origin story. We see an armored van en route to a raid on Baxter Stockman's (Giancarlo Esposito) lab, in which he's been working on a green ooze that will turn animals into anthropomorphized versions of themselves. During the raid, an explosion kills Baxter Stockman, but before stock can be taken, Stockman's pet project, a baby-sized fly, takes off with other lab specimens, and a cache of ooze. During the subsequent clean-up, a lone vial is knocked into the sewers, and the rest is history.
Years later, the turtles, now living under the overbearing eye of their father, a rat named Splinter (Jackie Chan), go out into the world under cover of darkness to procure groceries, catch a flick in the park, and gaze longingly at the human interactions that remain verboten for anyone a bit different. Years prior, the family's one sole outing as a hodgepodge unit ended up souring Splinter to people, and instilling a lifelong fear of being milked (yes, milked). Even for New Yorkers, there's a limit.
In an inspired choice, Mutant Mayhem's turtles are voiced by actual teenagers (Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, and Brady Noon) who have the frenetic cadence of actual youth as they jettison across topics, including Adele, Beyoncé, bacon, egg, and cheeses, BTS' hit song, "Butter," having "rizz." No one said they were going to be particularly introspective. The turtles bemoan their place in the world as they observe humans living life, entertaining themselves with pop culture at a remove.
However, an opportunity presents itself when a young woman, later identified as April O'Neil (Ayo Edebiri), has her scooter stolen. The turtles descend from the rooftops to stop a gang of thieves who have ties to a mysterious benefactor named Superfly (Ice Cube), the now-grown version of Stockman's pet/child, who is working on something big. Through this scene, they meet the first human who doesn't seem as bad as Splinter made them seem. They also cross paths with Superfly, who takes an immediate liking to the turtles given their similar origin story, and introduces Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey to other sideshow attractions, including Mondo Gecko (Paul Rudd), Bebop (Seth Rogen), Rocksteady (John Cena), Ray Fillet (Post Malone), Leatherhead (Rose Byrne), Wingnut (Natasia Demetriou), Genghis Frog (Hannibal Buress), and Scumbug (purportedly voiced by himself).
Throughout TMNT's history, many stories have brushed against the idea of found family and what it would be like for Frankenstein's monster(s) to seek human connection. Still, Mutant Mayhem comes the closest to offering a franchise version that feels like an earnest attempt to reconcile the need for acceptance and the desire to stand out. There are threads of ideas, but they won't give an adult audience a new perspective on these matters.
Above all, the reason for franchise fans to give Mutant Mayhem a chance is that the animation is the best it's ever been. Taking cues from Spider-Man: Into and Across Spider-Verse, the TMNT action figures, and rendered in a digitally hand-drawn style that seems both half-finished and overly poured over; there's enough here to overwhelm even the most formidable of occipital lobes. Perhaps it's designed so young people can pay more attention to the generation-savvy references, viewing the actions as not a series of frames but sweeping gestures more than the actual craftsmanship. Still, for those who love to see the odd squiggle added as a flourish to an otherwise perfectly drawn image, there's more than enough nourishment here to have doodlers clamoring for a notepad.
In a sea of films that broach similar topics -- teens coming out of their shells -- albeit with less razzle-dazzle, there's not much that another origin story can offer fans who've outgrown rote storytelling mechanics. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' most potent power is that the toys allowed millions of kids worldwide to build their own worlds, crossovers, cliffhangers, and applied sense of logic. No story that seeks to cast a wide net of appeal can possibly access that super-specific feeling of first-person storytelling. But for those who believe that style can be the substance, Mutant Mayhem will be a fine day at the movies.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is now in theaters.