FILM REVIEW: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" is the sleeper hit of 2023
What keeps Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a pop-culture juggernaut is the brilliant versatility of its premise; point to any kind of person on the street and there’s a Ninja Turtles show, comic or movie they’ll get a kick out of.
Looking strictly at the series of movies though, you wouldn’t think this, with the initial 1990 effort having unquestionably reigned supreme for over 30 years. But TMNT: Mutant Mayhem might be the best cinematic realization of the heroes in a half-shell yet.
Taking much inspiration from the Spiderverse movies’ animation style, and imbuing the Turtles with endearingly frenetic and authentic teenage energy, Mutant Mayhem is a breezy success. To be sure, the plot is pretty barebones, nothing original, really, and could be the premise of any kind of Ninja Turtles pilot episode.
However, where it delights is in the details. Master Splinter was slightly re-imagined as less of a stoic sensei and more of a melancholic single dad. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ tense, funky and emotional score. Ice Cube’s genuine menace as scuzzy, domineering supervillain Super Fly. The grunge-y, eye-popping animation embraces imperfection and grotesquerie like an uninhibited art kid. And, for the first time, actual teenagers voiced the Ninja Turtles. Apparently, they had quite a bit of input regarding the dialogue scenes, and boy was this the right call because it might be the first time “Teenage” actually applies, here.
For Ninja Turtles fans, this is a beautiful re-imagining that, by its ending, takes things to uncharted territory despite mostly following a pretty standard plot. For the uninitiated, give it a whirl. You might just understand why these freakish turtle kids, born from radioactive muck and raised on a diet of pizza and discarded pop culture ephemera, hold a special place in a lot of people’s hearts.
