Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Review

4 star fresh and modern return of the turtle power.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a 2023 computer-animated feature film, based on the beloved characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. It is directed by Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells vs. the Machines) and Kyler Spears (Amphibia).

It is available now in the UK on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD, and 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Steelbook courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.

“My friends at T.C.R.I. wanted to use you as a weapon. I couldn’t allow that. But we’re safe now. Soon, I’ll make you brothers and sisters. A real family for both of us.”

Dr. Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito – Breaking Bad (TV Series)) used to work for the T.C.R.I. but has gone rogue, taking his scientific advancements with him. He has created a mutagen which has enabled him to create a mutant named Superfly (Ice Cube – The Book of Life, Boyz in the Hood), from a housefly. H.Q. are not happy with this and Cynthia Utrom (Maya Rudolph – Disenchanted, Luca) has sent out a crack team to retrieve him, armed with Anti-mutant neutraliser guns, designed to unmake his creation.

Baxter is killed, but Superfly escales with his brothers and sisters and the mutagen, glowing green “ooze”, runs into the sewers, where it is encountered by four baby turtles, Leo (Nicolas Cantu – The Fabelmans), Raph (Brady Noon – Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Donnie (Micah Abbey – Cousins for Life) and Mikey (Shamon Brown Jr. – The Chi), who are mutated to become humanoid. They are saved by a rat, Splinter (Jackie Chan – The Police Story Trilogy, City Hunter) who is also changed.

He raises them in the sewers, training them in the art of Ninjutsu. He is nervous of how they will be treated by humans, but as they get older they yearn to be normal teenagers. While out stealing supplies they meet human April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri – The Bear, Bottoms) and help her to retrieve her stolen moped. She accepts them and they realise that if they can be seen as heroes, they could be able to live above ground with the humans. Together they hatch a plan to take on the now criminal mastermind Superfly and his army of mutants, but soon find out they are way out their league.

“Humans are the demon scum of the Earth. Avoid them, don’t say hi. They love to murder that which is different to them. To interact with them is to die. And hey, I know that’s objectively prejudiced, but that’s what Dad taught us.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is an excellent reboot of the much loved turtles franchise. It’s animation style is unusual, dynamic and very colourful and with it’s rough edges strangely adding more detail and a real feel of being part of the action. This is enhanced by an excellent score from Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and Atticus Ross, as well as an brilliant version of What’s Up by 4 Non blondes which is used to great effect in a chase sequence. There’s also lots of hip hop, including No Diggity by Blackstreet.

The voice acting is fantastic too, the decision to cast teenagers in the role makes the character interactions feel natural and not at all forced. There are a host of big names, including Seth Rogen (Long Shot, An American Pickle), John Cena (Barbie, Fast X), Paul Rudd (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Ant-Man) and Post Malone (Wrath of Man), all of whom throw themselves into it with great enthusiasm. It’s laugh out loud funny in places and the script is well written.

This is a really good reboot, which will introduce our turtle friends to a whole new generation and also providing welcome nostalgia for the adults in the household. Really good fun and well worth a watch.

“Boys, you left the sewer and got milked. You helped some evil fly man create a machine that’s gonna destroy the world, kill the only good human, April. So, we’re gonna clean up your mess then go home and stay there forever.”