Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem: Movie Review

Vocal cast: Jackie Chan, Ayo Edebiri, Shamon Brown Jr, Brady Noon, Nicolas Cantu, Micah Abbey, Seth Rogen, John Cena, Rose Byrne, Natasia Demetriou, Ice Cube, Maya Rudolph, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone
Director: Jeff Rowe

There's an anarchic element to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem as the animation revival continues in 2023.

But with visuals that have a scrappy almost punkish vibe to them, this latest outing is a pleasingly messy movie that sparks with creativity and captures the vibe of both New York City and its titular turtle heroes - even though its third act smacks of rote CGI-driven superhero movie denouements.

Setting up a cinematic universe it may be thanks to some post-credit scenes, but loosely the story of 2023's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sees Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michaelangelo keen to break free from their overprotective father's shackles. Desperate to do what normal teenagers do around New York, the turtles find themselves in the middle of a plan to come out to the city after newly discovered friend April O'Neill convinces them to try and take down a crime syndicate headed up by the mysterious Superfly.

With animation that feels like a cohesively chaotic mix of claymation, CGI animation and also rotoscoping, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has a distinctive look that marks its aesthetics out from its somewhat familiar origin tale and its formulaic superhero storytelling toward the end.

While it could be argued the shell brothers have the lightest of characterisations, the script gives them enough time to riff, talk rubbish and capture the vibe of a group of teenagers in a relatable and enjoyable way - albeit one that feels familiar.

Blessing the soundtrack with the likes of De La Soul's Eye Know and peppering the story with pop culture references, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem encapsulates the New York vibe to a tee; from a melting pot of style, this film has a substance that's hard to deny and will easily see family audiences swept up in it for some 90 minutes or so.