Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle: Mutant Mayhem Movie Review

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been a household name for close to 30 years. Over these three decades, we have seen many different iterations of the characters, from children’s TV shows, family-orientated movies, more teen orientated content, with the gritty early 2000s show and a foray back into live-action with the 2014 film and its 2016 sequel. There has never been a long period of time where the turtles haven’t been either on the big-screen or somewhere on the small screen. After the recent Nickelodeon 3D-animated series concluded in 2017, Paramount and Nickelodeon were quickly in development of another adaptation, this time with self-proclaimed, permanent-teenager Seth Rogen on board as an executive producer. Seth Rogen has openly discussed his love for the turtles and how much they have inspired him over the years, so his pitch and inclusion for this new adaptation made perfect sense and sounded like a match made in heaven.

This latest film is a completely new take on the franchise, incorporating the awesome animation stylings popularised by the two recent and successful Spiderverse films. As the Ninja turtles have always had that comic book feeling to them, this style made complete sense to be incorporated here. The story is a very typical TMNT story, the titular turtles are outcasts once again, marginalised from society. They befriend an up-and-coming school journalist April O’Neil, who is also an outcast at her high school. April starts to help the turtles with their public image, but as a new threat presents itself, the turtles must band together to stop it, even if they aren’t accepted by the residents of New York City. With a re-worked story and a throwback to the turtle’s comics and series of old, with an updated and unique style and actual teenagers voicing the turtles, I was very excited to see this film and boy didn’t not disappoint.

TMNT: Mutant Mayhem is one of the best animated films in recent years, throwing the ‘Pixar’ style of animation, which definitely still has its own place in cinema, but TMNT: Mutant Mayhem creates its own unique style that feels on-brand for the turtles. The animation is gorgeous, almost feeling like graffiti has come to life. This art-style is the biggest selling point for the film and is the best takeaway. The colours are vibrant, the character designs are unique, innovative and memorable. We have seen so many different interpretations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so it really is something special when the characters can look so different from previous versions of the characters we have seen. This version of New York is lived in and unique, again feeling like a version of NYC where the turtles could live.

The villainous characters were also a lot of fun. Whilst there is a mid-credits tease for Shredder, we get a group of villains we haven’t really seen on the big screen before. Super Fly, voiced by Ice Cube, is a standout. His character design is great, his motivations are well-realised, and the vocal performance is wonderful. The supporting group of characters are great as well, we have Beebop voiced by executive producer Seth Rogen, Rocksteady voiced by John Cena, Leatherhead voiced by Rose Byrne, Wingnut voiced by Natasia Demetriou, Ray Fillet voiced by Post Malone, Mondo Gecko voiced by Paul Rudd and Genghis Frog voiced by Hannibal Buress. The stacked cast and the amazing character designs make for memorable versions of these beloved characters, and quite possibly my favourite iteration yet.

Our 4 main characters are fantastic and a standout in the film. All 4 of the turtles are played by actual teenagers, which adds to the overall feeling and tone of the film. Micah Abbey plays Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. plays Michelangelo, Nicolas Cantu plays Leonardo and Brady Noon plays Raphael. They are all great, displaying amazing chemistry with one another, their interactions and banter with one another is what makes them feel so real. It’s not just the fact they are voiced by teenagers, it’s the writing for each of the characters with one another. Another standout is Jackie Chan as Master Splinter. He has a lot of scene stealing moments, it was a lot of fun to see or in this case hear Jackie Chan again. He is awesome casting here.

Overall, ‘TMNT: Mutant Mayhem’ is a wonderful experience. It’s fun, fast-paced, heartfelt, and overall, just super entertaining. If you’re a fan of the turtles, this is one of the best adaptations to date and one of the most enjoyable animated films of 2023.

Pick-up your copy on DVD, Blu-Ray or 4K Ultra HD today from Sanity from the link below. This is a must-own for turtles’ fans and would also make for the perfect stocking stuffer for kids, teens and fellow permanent teenagers as well. Sign up to Sanity’s newsletter so you don’t miss another major release and for all things movies, music, merchandise, shop Sanity!

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Buy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem on DVD, Blu-ray or 4K UHD here

Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here