[Blu-ray Review] — "TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM"

I was one of the millions of '80s youngsters obsessed with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, which aired from 1987 to 1996, though I tuned out about 1992 or 1993. Naturally, I also enjoyed the first three live-action films in the series—well, maybe not the third one as much as the others. The live-action Next Mutation series, which ran from 1997 to 1998, was a farce. I joined the 2003–2009 series late and felt the 2007 animated movie was unneeded. I did, however, watch the animated Nickelodeon series from 2012 to 2017, and I humbly believe it to be the best TMNT series. I disliked the animation style of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and there were too many unneeded alterations.

Now let's go on to the newest iteration—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem— another reboot that makes even more unnecessary alterations, such as changing April O'Neal's ethnicity, changing the characters' genders, and changing the mutation origins. And don't get me started on the hideous, eye-rolling animation. The movie is aesthetically repulsive. Seth Rogan is a producer and voices Bebop, so the film was doomed from the beginning.

After watching the first trailer, I had no intention of ever viewing Mutant Mayhem, and I was even less interested in it when it came out on Paramount+. After that, I began to hear positive reviews of the movie and became interested in seeing it when it came out on Blu-ray in December. I watched it twice and still think the animation style is unappealing.

Note: The Blu-ray (available to buy on *Amazon) has several Special Features: Meet the Teens Behind TMNT; The Mutant Uprising; New York, New York: The Visual; The World of Mutant Mayhem; and Learn to Draw Leo. (*Paid Link)

Meanwhile, the narrative is a prequel reboot in which the Turtle brothers (voiced by genuine teenagers) venture outside their secluded sewer life. At this point, they encounter April O'Neal, a black teenager motivated to become a journalist. The turtles consent to assist her in finding a shadowy criminal organization headed by Ice Cube's character, Superfly, a mutant fly. Strangely, the turtles make friends with a few mutant gang members, including a female Leatherhead, Mondo Gecko, Ray Fillet, Genghis Frog, Bebop, and Rocksteady. Then there is Scumbug, a character voiced by a male but is addressed as a female; she develops feelings for Splinter, the turtles' father figure, by the film's end. Yes, this is weird.

Listen, it took two views for me to appreciate the film's humor and what it was trying to accomplish—jam as many mutant characters as possible to sell toys and merchandise. At first, it was jarring to hear teenage voices from the turtles' mouths, but I got used to it after twenty-odd minutes. The best casting in the film is Jackie Chan as Splinter, though I don't care about the character's design. I also didn't like the new designs for the old villains turned allies.

Despite all the flaws, and putting my nitpicking aside, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was better than I expected, at least with the storyline and humor. There's enough nostalgia for old fans and goofiness for newer fans. ╌★★★✰✰