Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem Movie Review!
Story by StormShadow_210
I remember fondly the day’s of getting off the school bus and running home to watch my daily TMNT 87 cartoon series. From the very first pilot, I was in love. Then came the arcades, the NES, Genesis and Snes releases, the Pizza Hut commercials , and ultimately the 1990 live action movie which became a trilogy. Needless to say I am giving this review of TMNT Mutant Mayhem as a huge fan of the franchise. All though I love almost all of the rebooted cartoon series, video game reboots and follow up rebooted movies, that does not mean I love everything. In fact the recent animated TMNT Rise series is a great example of me simply not liking at all a iteration of TMNT. So how does the new movie stack up for a die hard TMNT fan? The film is not perfect and there were some eyebrows raised a few times, but I can honestly say I walked out the theatre a satisfied customer and am very excited about what this new TMNT universe brings us in the future with not only a green lit sequel but a animated series as well.
From the opening scene, the new art animated style jumps off the screen like a graphic novel come to life. It just pops. Few times during the films 90 min run time I often just got absorbed into the animation and had to snap myself out of it to return to the films plot , which was also fantastic.
Ice Cube plays the films villain, Super Fly. Both Ice Cube and Jackie Chans Splinter stole the show in just about every scene they were in for me. Not to say they were the only highlight from the superb cast. Every single character was amazing. Especially including the turtles themselves sounding exactly like young, high energy , and sarcastic teenagers. Too many cast members to spotlight due to the films all-star cast, but take peace knowing there is no weak armor in the films voice acting.
The plot is just as refreshing as the the animation and voice acting. Was a smart choice by Seth Rogen and company as well to save Shredder for a sequel build up and just focus on the mutants for now-which are in great supply. Lot of easter egg cameos make an appearance such as Wing Nut for example. Any Seth Rogen fan will recognize the films humor right away. You can’t help but imagine the writers sitting in living room with bong on coffee table and note pads out fully unchained to write THEIR ultimate TMNT script-and it was a smashing success. The humor hit a home room with everyone in the audience, both adults and kids. I never will spoil a plot twist in a review, but just know you are in for a treat.
For those that may have read on the internet some hate due to character changes and uncharted plot lines, remember this…Even the “original” 87 cartoon series was a far cry from the original comic source material. TMNT has evolved constantly over the years from movies, animated series, and video games. Mutant Mayhem is no different. In fact, one word I keep coming back to is “refreshing”. The entire film felt like a breath of fresh air for this now almost 40 year old franchise and I can not wait to see what comes next. COWABUNGA DUDES!
I give TMNT Mutant Mayhem a 9 out of 10.