Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ is another box office boost in support of animation cinema and reassures audiences that live-action isn’t necessarily better. Similarly to the revolutionary ‘Across The Spider-Verse’, ‘Mutant Mayhem’ has its own unique animation style whilst still borrowing comic book elements, creating a smooth blend of sketch effects that make these turtles look even more ninja.
The soundtrack is also on par with the latest Spider-Verse instalment, with hip-hop, R and B, and mellow tones creating a chill and ‘oooozy’ atmosphere working in sync with the slick animation. Seth Rogan's influence in this film can be distinctly seen through the dialogue and montages however some of the meta-comedy feels forced and lowers the calibre of this film. Being directed towards a younger audience, the storyline is understandably simple however, the dominant issue seems to be the lack of plot as the film often feels directionless and lacking ambition, taking no risks in terms of narrative.
The script's antagonists are problematic with one being irrelevant for most of the film and the other sharing the same copy-and-paste backstory as the turtles, resulting in a bland, unimaginative villain. The director’s focus is very much in favour of a coming-of-age story however in doing so, the classic hero character arc and plot are neglected and replaced with a diluted cliché of teens vs. parents, except the teenagers are green mutant turtles obsessed with school and the dad is a rat who doesn’t want the turtles to leave home.
It must be said that despite there being an absence of a hero arc, the turtles learn a valuable lesson by the end of all the chaos. Another issue that seems to be recurring a lot in modern cinema is the overwhelming frequency of other-worldly characters striving to become as human as possible, this theme works well and is potentially powerful in small doses however, the sense of escapism is definitely lost when a gang of crime fighting turtles start checking their DM’s and Tik Tok.
A positive of this human comparison is that the film becomes a source of teaching as it reaches out to its younger audience with its modern-day relevance and understanding of young people’s struggles. The introduction of the other mutants is a lifeline for this film as the character design is creative and mostly well-written as well as the dialogue. These additional characters also help develop the plot in the final third and play a vital role in delivering the mayhem promised in the film’s title. ‘Mutant Mayhem’ definitely makes for quality family entertainment, but possibly with a better villain and greater direction, it could’ve pulled itself out of the sewers and into the spotlight.
