Adrianne and I saw TMNT: Mutant Mayhem over the weekend. It was National Cinema Day, movies were $4 a pop. We spent more than double on popcorn and a drink than we did on tickets. It made me nostalgic for second run theaters, a dying breed when first run theaters can barely survive.
Two dollars for a movie ticket feels like a steal, but I regularly saw movies for that price in my youth. Movie ticket prices actually haven’t skyrocketed the same as other forms of entertainment, but the amenities have. The industry priced itself out of being viable entertainment.
So, going to the movies for $30 all in was a nice change of pace. And we saw a movie the way I used to see movies. There was a decent crowd, a bunch of kids that handled the movies to varying degrees. The only thing about the modern experience that does ruin my immersion is people checking their cellphones during a movie. Shared experiences are fantastic, but people making the experience about them at the expense of everyone else really dampens the mood.
All that to say, Jeff Rowe and Seth Rogen’s take on everyone’s favorite perpetual mutant teenagers was a lot of fun and very cute. Seth Rogen has been a much better producer than I ever found him as an actor, especially lately. Invincible and The Boys are both stellar. He’s rebooting Darkwing Duck and TaleSpin. You can feel his influence on the TMNT movie. For better or for worse, he grew up on the same things I did and he loves a lot of the same things I do.
The Mayhem
How does Mutant Mayhem rank as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle adaptation? Let’s start with the good. This film does include a truncated origin story that makes a less known property accessible to a new generation. They don’t rehash another Shredder and the foot story line. We get a lot callbacks to previous TMNT adaptations, especially the animated series that really exploded the franchise’s popularity in the 90s. Mondo Gecko (Paul Rudd) and Leatherhead (Rose Byrne) are two really fun minor characters who get time to shine.
Post Malone has a few standout moments as Ray Fillet, even if the bit doesn’t land as well as it could. A musical nod to the second TMNT live action flick, “Secret of the Ooze”, is a delightful easter egg. Ayo Edebiri is a fun take on an April O’Neal backstory and her grappling with celebrity is a fun, gross out gag that will land with kids and kids at heart.
The turtles themselves are amazing. Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu) is struggling with being responsible and being a teenager. He is a natural leader, but they did a good job of showing how he learns to be a leader. Eastman and Laird were influenced and poking fun at a lot of Marvel comics history when they created the series and Leo/Raph were always a parallel with Cyclops and Wolverine. What this movie gets right is that the leaders are a part of the team, not boring and above it. A lot of adaptations of both source materials miss that.
So Leo isn’t just stoic and serious, he’s fun. He has emotions and a crush on April O’Neal, which mostly manages to sidestep the potential issues there. He has a great moment in the third act that shows character growth and humanity. Raphael (Brady Noon) is similarly a great take on a character that sometimes is a little too anti-hero. He has a quick temper and likes to push his brother’s buttons, but he isn’t outright defiant and does seem to understand he gets them into dangerous situations.
Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) and Donatello (Micah Abbey) aren’t quite as well defined but both have some of their more outlandish traits tampered down. Mikey is silly but not obnoxious and Donnie is bookish but clever. Michelangelo is put in harms way because of his class clown antics being preyed upon by his older brothers in a way that feels real. All four turtles have nuance and personality in a way a lot of other adaptations miss.
The animation and integration of real world pop culture makes the movie stand out. Spider-verse’s influence on American animation is pronounced here. Rowe’s previous work, the outstanding “Mitchells vs .the Machines,” feels outdated vs the electric animation present in this film. The soundtrack makes the movie feel alive, hip-hop and rap heavy, but it feels natural for these turtles. “No Diggity” holds court for one of the best scenes in the movie.
The Mutants
Baxter Stockman, the creator of the ooze that results in the titular mutants causing mayhem, is a quick drop in from Giancarlo Esposito. Ice Cube does heavy lifting as the villain Superfly, which is a change from the source material. Typically, Baxter turns himself into the Fly. While I didn’t mind the change in theory, I found the execution lacking.
Esposito’s Stockman really just comes in for an exposition dump at the beginning of the movie. He is wasted and Ice Cube is stuck with a hamfisted motive for his actions. The plot borrows a little too liberally from the live action X-men movies for my tastes as well. Although a lot of this was not to my liking, the meeting of the mutants was well-executed and the best part of the overarching plot by far. It played against expectations and did some of the best character work in the movie.
Character overload also plagues the film as there are SO MANY moving parts most of them don’t get time to develop. Jackie Chan as splinter feels like a wasted opportunity and his plot of being a helicopter parent doesn’t pay off in a satisfying way. Maya Rudolph plays Cynthia Umtron, a tertiary villain that felt wholly unnecessary. A part created for this venture that continued to bloat the character count without giving them space to develop.
Most disappointing for me was Bebob (Rogen) and Rocksteady (John Cena), two iconic characters in the history of TMNT that felt like window dressing. As much as I appreciate moving away from the Foot, I would have liked to have seen a much smaller cast. More focused direction of the plot.
Eight new mutants - Superfly, Bebop, Rocksteady, Mondo Gecko, Ray Filet, Genghis Frog (Hannibal Burress), Wingnut (Natasia Demetriou) and Leatherhead plus Umtron and the introduction of Stockman at the open of the film is overwhelming when you still need to get to know these four turtles, their father and their human best friend. Compared to “Into the Spider-Verse” with thirteen characters, it feels overwhelming. They could have taken a cue from that film and pared back a bit to allow the minor characters room to breathe.
Overall
What a great experience, I really enjoyed the movie. It doesn’t quite reach the highs of Sony’s animated masterpieces, but “Mutant Mayhem” is a huge leap forward in family animation. I would definitely recommend seeing it and with some refinement they could have a modern classic with a sequel.
Recap:
Story - 3. Some highwater marks, but a bloated cast list means some characters don’t get proper development.
Cast - 4. The teenagers are amazing, some excellent actors were left with little to do and end up feeling mailed in.
Animation/Direction - 5. Some of the best American animation of all time.
Overall - 4. I really enjoyed the movie and the few moments that pulled me out weren’t so egregious that it damped my fun.
Final Score - 4/5. Turtle power!