Jonah Naplan   August 1, 2023

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” comes to us bearing plenty of boasts in its repertoire. Not only does it come from “permanent teenager” Seth Rogen (by that we mean producer, co-screenwriter, and prolific Ninja Turtle enthusiast), but it’s also the seventh TMNT film to hit the big screen, a franchise spanning multiple generations that has reinvented itself four different times. Amidst all the comics, TV shows, animated and live-action features, “Mutant Mayhem” spins the sword for a new generation of fans. It’s animated, jumpy, high-energy, hyper, and also a good bit of fun.

In an effort to ensure that the prospect of a possible new TMNT franchise covers all its bases, “Mutant Mayhem” is yet another origin story, employing most of the classic villains to streamline into one movie. The Ninja Turtles—Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Raphael (Brady Noon), Donatello (Micah Abbey), and Michaelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) are all fifteen years old, and live their lives in secret, sneaking out at night to collect groceries, and tiptoeing back into their hideout in the sewers. Their father, or guardian for that matter, is Splinter (an expertly voice-cast Jackie Chan), an also mutated rat, who’s very strict on the boys, forbidding them to make contact with any humans in the outside world, still reeling from his own attempt to communicate gone awry. In the opening scene, we see just exactly how these mysterious creatures gained their mutations. A scientist named Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito) created an ooze that spilled into the Manhattan sewers when authorities infiltrated his lab, leading to its consumption by four adolescent turtles, and a timid rat.

Splinter took the younglings under his wing and taught them self-defense, turning the turtles into the infamous ninja warriors we know today. But as the screenplay by director Jeff Rowe and co-writers Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit posits, not only did more creatures get exposed to the epochal ooze spill incident, but they each responded to human criticism and rejection in different ways. The powerful crime lord Superfly (Ice Cube) reaches for vengeance, assembling a team to create a weapon capable of mutating every critter, who will then collectively join hands to overthrow the human population. What Splinter sees as something to hide away from, Superfly wants to confront and destroy.

Superfly’s assets: Bebop (Seth Rogen) and Rocksteady (John Cena), Genghis Frog (Hannibal Buress), Wingnut (Natasia Demetriou), Leatherhead (Rose Byrne), Mondo Gecko (Paul Rudd), and of course Ray Fillet (Post Malone). This quirky group of misfits provides some of the movie’s biggest comic relief, each provided with their own unique gimmick. Maya Rudolph plays a mysterious figure closing in on the turtles’ heels, and the lovely Ayo Edebiri is April, the nerdy, clumsy, aspiring reporter who helps the turtles see life above the sewers.

Even while “Mutant Mayhem” takes the time to establish all these characters and important notes of exposition, it’s all done in a wildly innovative way, that allows each voice actor, small nod, reference, and action setpiece to shine. We’re thrown into the thick of things almost immediately, as the film settles us into its frenetic, non-stop pace. “Mutant Mayhem” is always moving. When the turtles are jumping, skipping, and running about the New York City skyline, we too are along for every exhilarating leap. When they’re merely sitting in a stationary position, discussing life, love, and other affairs, the movie cuts back and forth between each turtle, sometimes doing circles around the group, never letting us breathe. Even simple moments—serious scenes—are fitted with the same energy, if only about 10% toned down, as the action sequences.

This hyper but not abrasive style reminded me quite a bit of both “Spider-Verse” films and of the terrific “Mitchells vs. the Machines” and “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” respectively. Some segments of “Mutant Mayhem” look curiously claymation-y, while others seem computer generated, and others hand-drawn. The fascinating animation technique often looks as though it’s the work of a blooming young artist, experimenting with any and every medium they can get their hands on. It’s the mixing of styles, moods, colors, and hyper-activity that gives “Mutant Mayhem” its greatest feat. On a visual level, this film will be most engaging for younger kids. If I were about eight years old, this would likely have been one of my favorite movies, and I’d have eaten up every delicious minute of it. But as a teenager, I can also recognize how well the movie represents actual teens, as opposed to succumbing to notional stereotypes and caricatures.

I enjoyed my time with these four turtles far more than I expected, and you will too. The script analyzes exactly how Gen Z teenagers actually talk, examining the slanguage, and pop culture phrases that I hear used by my peers in everyday conversation. If anything, I wish that “Mutant Mayhem” dove even more into the camaraderie between the bunch, defining each turtle beyond two or three character traits. Within this tribe, you’ll find, are four different personalities, and a longer film—though I’d argue the movie is the perfect length—could have explored their relationship to one another more thoroughly.

Of course, in a movie with this many characters and ideas bursting through the frame, not everyone and everything can receive due process. But “Mutant Mayhem” does a pretty good job at handling everyone’s screen time, plot threads, and funny one-liners, balancing it all into one fizzing, never-flagging multi-narrative. As a movie, it’s not the most inventive, and even the youngest audience members will likely catch onto its convention in story. But as many an infamous impresario has affirmed, it’s not so much what a movie says or does, but how it goes about saying and doing it.

While “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is never the most original movie narratively, it is always the most entertaining. The film takes more creative risks in 100 minutes than the average Marvel flick does in 140, and as a coming-of-age tale for these turtles, it packs a surprising emotional wallop. Impeccable voice acting all around, and a powerhouse score from the world-class musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross makes this perfect family entertainment for anyone wanting an air-conditioned theater this sweltering August. It’s fun, it’s frantic, it’s funny. It’s a rollercoaster you’ll never want to get off.

Now playing in theaters.