By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
Those fun-loving turtles are back on the big screen with some new moves to reinvigorate the Nickelodeon heroes. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is the seventh theatrical film release of the franchise, but only the second one to be animated. A fresh take on a saturated enterprise, witty dialogue with great improvisation, and creative animation make for an enjoyably unique viewing experience.
The origin story remains largely the same as when it was first introduced in the comics back in 1984. Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), and Raphael (Brady Noon) are four mutant turtles living in the sewers of New York City, learning martial arts from their mutant rat father, Splinter (Jackie Chan). The pizza-craving turtles yearn to learn more about the human world above them, and despite their over-protective father’s warnings, they take reckless risks to indulge their fantasies.
As the turtles wander the city streets, keeping to the shadows, they’re drawn towards one particular human, a high school reporter named April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri). Much like the turtles, April is a teenager searching for acceptance. A string of deadly heists, led by the powerful mutant Superfly (Ice Cube), unites the TMNT and April to a common cause to become the heroes of the city with April achieving respect by telling their story. Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated than they anticipated, placing them in mortal danger from their own kind for which they’re sorely unprepared.
Directors Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears do a terrific job of bringing creativity to this reimagining of a celebrated franchise. The animation is stylistically refreshing and different from what audiences are accustomed to seeing. Similar to “Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse,” the directors employ a visual style that makes it look like concept artwork coming to life. This gives the film a gritty and flawed quality to it, which is symbolic of the characters being depicted. In addition, they bring on Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame to help produce the score, and he delivers music that wonderfully complements the animation.
Of course there would be a concentrated effort and focus on comedy with the likes of Seth Rogen as a co-writer, who also humorously voices Bebop. He succeeds in eliciting laughter throughout for all ages with cleverly written dialogue and comical slapstick style action sequences, while also touching on the sensitivity of a father’s protective nature. While the rest of the story may be fairly basic and straightforward, there’s enough laughs and thoughtful insights that keep it entertaining and fast paced.
Hiring a cast of teenagers at the time of filming to voice the turtles was a brilliant decision, because it helped capture the essence of who these characters still are at their core, which are impulsive and authority-bucking teenagers. This makes the characters so much more relatable than they’ve ever previously been depicted. Another unusual element for an animated film is that the cast was brought in to perform their voiceover work together in larger groups in order to encourage improvisation. This worked to great effect, capturing funny dialogue moments no script would have been able to duplicate.
Having Jackie Chan voice Splinter yielded a fantastic surprise in hilarity with his line delivery that makes the audience want more. Ice Cube was the other standout as the villain, infusing his own brand of comedic dialogue and motivations that encourages some empathy for his character.
Longtime fans of the franchise since the ‘80s as well as kids experiencing TMNT for the first time will enjoy this film. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is a surprising cinematic treat that balances the right amount of innovation and nostalgia to create the best film of the franchise to date. It’s one of those rare, animated action movies that everyone will enjoy. Be sure to stick around for the mid-credit scene at the end, it’s a good one.
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