Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

The popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Franchise has taken a break from the recent live-action updates and has returned to animation to reboot and modernize the franchise. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is a loving and updated look at the story as Seth Rogen and his creative team have shaken up the franchise but remained true to the core characters and universe. The film follows the four Turtles Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Raphael (Brady Noon), Donatello (Micah Abbey), and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), who are looking to find acceptance in the world despite their father Splinter (Jackie Chan), warning them not to trust humans and that they will never be accepted. As typical teens do, the boys frequently rebel to sneak out and use their Ninja skills to travel New York to do tasks ranging from shopping to watching outdoor movies which only fuels their desires to be accepted and have normal experiences such as High School. At the same time as a crimewave is happening attributed to a menace known as Superfly (Ice Cube), who is gathering all kinds of high-end gear for his nefarious scheme. When the brothers become aware of this while helping a human named April (Ago Edebiri), they become obsessed with her and desire to help her get to the bottom of the thefts and hope to win her approval as well as human acceptance in the process. What follows is a madcap adventure with plenty of action and humor and several celebrity voices which adds a new level of fun to the expanded cast of supporting characters. The animation style is at times a bit rough to watch over an extended period but as the film progressed I became used to it and it did much like the two recent Spider-man animated films grow on me even if it can be distracting at times. The cast is solid and the film seemed to play well to viewers of all ages as there were jokes and references for all ages and the storyline was engaging even if it did at times seem to drag in places. In the end the film is a loving and solid entry into the franchise and one that I am sure we will be seeing more animated entries from in the near future and is a must watch for fans of all ages. 4 stars out of 5