By DANA EYRE

Note: This movie review contains spoilers.

There have been many Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and each one adds something new to the franchise. Whether it be new characters or new settings, they each bring something new to the table, and Mutant Mayhem is no different. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is a new TMNT movie produced by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe, Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit. It was recently released on Aug. 2.

It is a coming of age movie centering around the four turtles: Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Raphael (Brady Noon), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.) and Donatello (Micah Abbey). The movie follows the turtles as they go about their daily lives, until they eventually meet April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri). After their meeting, the turtles decide to help April take down a criminal stealing advanced technology known as Superfly (Ice Cube).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is an incredibly fresh take on the franchise. It differs from previous films because it focuses more on the turtles and how they develop rather than the enemies they are facing. It introduced Superfly, a never seen before villain, instead of the Shredder or Krang because the producers wanted the movie to focus more on the turtles and how they grow as characters.

A collage of the main characters in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” created using canva.com. (SORA REYNOLDS/ Ethic News image)

The movie features many mutant characters, all from previous iterations, though some are more well known than others. These mutants were created from the same ooze that created the turtles. In this version of the turtles the ooze that mutated them was created by Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito).

Superfly, the main villain of the movie, was the first mutant Stockman created. He is shown as a baby in the movie’s opening scene where Stockman is talking about how he has perfected the ooze. He is a mutated housefly, hence his name. There have been fly mutants in past versions, but Superfly is an entirely new character. He was originally intended to be Baxter Stockman in this movie, but was later changed to be a separate character.

Alongside Superfly, Stockman also created other mutants. In the beginning scene there are shots of him looking up at a wall and that’s where pictures of a warthog, a rhinoceros and an alligator are. These are some of the animals Stockman wanted to mutate, and they are later seen as the mutants Bebop (Seth Rogen), Rocksteady (John Cena), and Leatherhead (Rose Byrne). These are not the only mutant characters you will see in the movie. There is also Mondo Gecko (Paul Rudd), Wingnut (Natasia Demetriou), Ray Fillet (Post Malone), Genghis Frog (Hannibal Buress), and Scumbug (Alex Hirsch). 

Bebop and Rocksteady are iconic mutant villains seen in practically every version of the turtles over the years. They are always depicted as the loyal henchmen of the Shredder, but not in Mutant Mayhem seeing as he isn’t in the movie. Because of this, they instead follow Superfly. 

Leatherhead is also an iconic recurring TMNT character. She has appeared in several other versions, but each has a different take on her character. An example of this would be in the show that came out in 2003 where Leatherhead is a scientist that mostly hangs out with Donatello. This is different from the show that came out in 2012 where Leatherhead is not a scientist and instead is mainly Michelangelo’s friend. This movie’s version of Leatherhead is different just like the others, making her another fresh take on this beloved character.

Mondo Gecko has been seen in a multitude of previous TMNT media. He is almost always depicted as Michelangelo’s best friend, and Mutant Mayhem is no exception. Upon first meeting, Mondo goes and hugs each of the turtles and when he hugs Michelangelo he says that he likes Mondo’s “vibes”. Mondo returns the compliment and the two go back and forth for a while, and this interaction solidifies their friendship.

Wingnut is a bat mutant that was originally made when TMNT was first created as a parallel to Batman. She is a fun and interesting character that always provides comic relief during tense situations with her dialogue. 

Ray Fillet is a stingray mutant, and he is very passionate about his singing. Almost all his scenes he is shown to be singing, though for the most part he has only sung his name. The exception to this is in one scene after their first interaction with the turtles where he and Mondo Gecko are singing sadly.

Genghis Frog is, as said in his name, a frog mutant. He doesn’t speak too often in the movie, and is never really the center of attention in any scene. 

Scumbug is the only character who doesn’t speak English. She instead speaks “vermin”, as Superfly called it. No one seems to understand what she is saying, except for Splinter (Jackie Chan) who can speak vermin from his time as a regular rat. Like Genghis Frog, Scumbug is never really the center of attention in any scenes, but she still plays a vital role in the movie.

Based off of these characters, it is clear that the movie is taking a new approach with its characters, and the turtles are no different. The turtles all have their own key characteristics that can’t be strayed from, otherwise they wouldn’t feel like the same characters. And while Mutant Mayhem has kept these characteristics, the movie has also added other characteristics that previous iterations have not had.

An example of a characteristic that can’t be removed would be the fact that Leonardo is almost always the leader and seen as the oldest of the four turtles. Because of this, Leonardo is also seen as a stickler for the rules. This is even addressed in the movie. About ten minutes into the movie the turtles are caught sneaking back into the lair by Splinter. They immediately started spouting lies but Leonardo quickly comes clean. This causes some tension between the turtles in the next scene, but it is resolved by the next time they are seen.

Alongside the characteristics that Leonardo has brandished in previous versions, there are also new ones. One of these would be his more anxious demeanor. This can be seen in the first fight scene of the movie when the turtles are chasing down someone who stole a woman’s scooter, who is later revealed to be April O’Neil. Right before they enter the building they saw the thief enter, Leo tries to plan the beginning of the battle out, telling the others where they should enter from to achieve the element of surprise. Unfortunately, Raphael has never really been shown to follow Leonardo’s orders. This is shown pretty obviously in this scene, as when Leonardo is explaining his plan Raphael cuts him off and just runs inside the building.

Raphael is notoriously known for being the angry turtle, and his temper is shown throughout the movie. Several comments are made by the other turtles about him needing to “chill out” or that he needs therapy to deal with his anger. Though that isn’t to say his anger is inherently bad. His anger helps the turtles win fights, as Raphael’s anger gives him the strength to fight. This can be shown towards the end of the movie, when the turtles rally against Superfly after a demoralizing event. Leonardo inspires the other turtles to fight again and with Raph he specifically spoke about his anger. Leonardo told Raphael to use that rage of his, to which Raphael responded positively. As a result, Raphael flipped over a van for them to use. This sparked a nice little moment between the two, which was a nice change compared to previous versions where they are mostly seen fighting with each other.

Michelangelo is generally seen as the jokester of the group, and that is true, as he has made several jokes throughout the movie. But that isn’t all he is. He’s a kindhearted character that always tries to see the good in people. This can be seen in the scene where the turtles and Splinter go to confront Superfly and the other mutants and upon not seeing them, he assumed they had given up. Unfortunately, he was quickly proven wrong, but he still tried to convert the other mutants onto their side alongside the other turtles. Thankfully, the mutants did see reason and did end up turning on Superfly.

Donatello is known as the smartest of the turtles, and he is no different in this movie. Several times Leonardo looks to him for a plan and he always delivers. An example of this would be when the turtles first learn of Superfly’s plan. They need to get part of his device away from him so Donatello offers up a solution. He pretends to be on Superfly’s side in hopes that he would allow them to drive the device to where Superfly has the rest of the device. Of course, they’re not actually going to do that, and instead turn around almost instantly. This results in a car chase.

These are all traits that the turtles have exhibited in previous iterations, but what makes them different is the fact that they are more laid-back in this movie. The turtles aren’t as serious as they used to be, and that is because the producers of the movie wanted to lean more into the teenage aspect of the franchise. This causes them to goof around more frequently, which is what caused them to meet April O’Neil in the first place. They were messing around with their weapons, playing games with them. Eventually Raphael suggests that they try to slice a watermelon in half with a ninja star. They do this successfully, but the ninja star doesn’t stop, and it continues to fly in the air until it eventually hits someone. And it did. It hit April O’Neil, though she was wearing a helmet so she wasn’t harmed.

The turtles aren’t the only characters that are more laid back in this movie. Splinter is more lax in this movie then he is in any other iteration. Usually he is a strict father and sensei, but he is quite the opposite of that in this movie. In most TMNT movies there are at least a few scenes of the turtles training with Splinter watching, but that is not the case in this movie. There is only one scene of the turtles training, and that is during a flashback to when the turtles were first learning martial arts. There is no other time where the turtles are training, with or without Splinter.

This is a new take on Splinter’s character. In this version he’s more of a father to the turtles instead of a sensei. This is shown through the fact that Splinter is only one referred to as “Master Splinter” once throughout the whole movie, and that was when Leonardo was trying to dramatize their shopping trip. This contrasts other versions where instead the turtles repeatedly call Splinter “Master Splinter” or just sensei.

The movie has done exceptionally well, according to Rottontomatoes.com. The movie received a rotten tomato score of 96% and an audience score of 90%. In just its first week the movie made 28 million dollars at the box office, and as of now it has made 180.5 million dollars worldwide.

Overall, the movie is a very refreshing take on the franchise. It has great animation and is the first iteration to hire actual teenage voice actors for the turtles. It’s a sweet coming of age story that has a nice message about acceptance.

Featured image: ‘Cover image of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ was created using canva.com. (MIA CALIVA/ Ethic News image)