Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 4K UHD Review
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” takes the franchise in a new direction.
Written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit and Jeff Rowe, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is a CGI animated feature film revolves around the titular turtles (Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo) who live in the sewers with their father figure/sensei Splinter. Splinter tries to shield them from the human world, but their curiosity gets the best of them. After saving a teen journalist (April O’Neil), the turtles learn about a thief named Superfly. In their plan to stop him, they discover that not only is he a mutant but that he runs with a crew of mutants that include Rocksteady, Bebop, Leatherhead, Wingnut, Ray Fillet, Mondo Gecko, and Genghis Frog. The turtles learn Superfly is stealing tech from TCRI and are plotting to mutate all animal life and overtake humanity and vow to stop him, but can they? Elsewhere in the story is a critical subplot involving Cynthia Utrom (a TCRI executive).
After going the live-action route with the past 2 movies, TMNT has rebooted with a new animated project from director Jeff Rowe that is in the vein of the Spider-Verse films with a stylish, colorful 3D animation style that is reminiscent of paintings, comic book art and teenage class doodles. This fresh approach to the franchise generally works to its advantage as there is a lot to admire here for both lifelong fans or those new to the TMNT universe.
Right off the bat, the most striking aspect of ‘Mutant Mayhem’ is that it really leans into the teenager aspect for a change. It’s no secret that the movies haven’t really dug into that very much. With this film, however, the writers give the turtles a real coming-of-age story. Not only are they learning about themselves, humanity, mutants, but they’re also growing together as a team. It helps that the voice cast also includes teens (Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Brady Noon and Nicolas Cantu) especially in terms of the humorous banter. It feels more authentic. April O’Neil also gets a teenage revamp here putting a unique new spin on the character.
‘Mayhem’ is also served well by an original villain with Superfly (voiced by Ice Cube). TMNT movies and stories tend to be heavy on Shredder so it’s nice to see a story focus on different villains for a change. It’s also entirely refreshing to see so many supporting characters from the TMNT universe make the jump to the big screen (as mentioned in the plot synopsis). Mondo Gecko in particular absolutely steals the movie here thanks to a hilarious Paul Rudd vocal performance.
There are some puzzling additions here that don’t quite land. Michelangelo is strangely not as goofy as one would expect and doesn’t have much to do here. Splinter (voiced by Jackie Chan) has a lot of memorable scenes, but the odd changes to his past and his romance are downright weird. Equally strange here is seeing Bebop and Rocksteady ally with the turtles.
It’s not perfect by any means, but ‘Mutant Mayhem’ successfully revamps the franchise as it appeals to fans old and new. If the ending is any indication, we’re all in store for a special sequel that will take the story into new territory.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 2.39:1 2160p. How does it look? The eye-popping animation wows in 4K.
Audio Track: Dolby Atmos. How does it sound? An absolutely perfect track. The thumping music score and the thunderous action really put the speakers to work.
Extras:
* Digital copy
* “Learn To Draw Leo” bonus feature.
* “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”- A featurette with interviews, clips and discussions about the film, Turtle voice casting, and core characters.
* “The Mutant Rising”- A rundown of the characters outside of the Turtles along with those cast to voice them.
* “New York, New York: The Visual World Of Mutant Mayhem”- A look at the animation style and character and production designs. Concept art is also included.
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