'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem' is the franchise's best adventure yet

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
4 out of 5 Stars
Directors: Jeff Rowe, Kyler Spears
Writers: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe
Starring: Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
Rated: PG for sequences of violence and action, language and impolite material

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) – Studio Synopsis: After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O’Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.

Review: Just before the film started, a friend turned to me and asked who my favorite turtle was. I didn’t have an answer. I’d never even considered it. I found that to be incredibly odd. I’ve seen every film, watched the original animated series, flipped through a comic or two, and occasionally played the arcade game at the bowling alley my freshman year at college. How do I not have a favorite turtle?

That said, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is my favorite TMNT film. Not even the nostalgia aspect of the original 1990 movie can compete with the fun to be had in Mutant Mayhem.”

We’re living in a post-Spider-Verse world where anything inventive or slightly unconventional will be compared with Sony’s animated Spider-Man films. “Mutant Mayhem” embraces a modern visual aesthetic that isn’t afraid to scribble outside of the lines. I suppose it is somewhat impressionistic. It is distinct by being a bit chaotic. I love the way it looks and how the visual style both reflects and enhances the personality of the story. It’s beautiful.

The narrative is a step away from the story that I remember from the films, but it’s not so much of a departure that it has become unrecognizable. The biggest change that I can see is that they’ve made April O’Neil an aspiring teenage journalist, rather than a television reporter. She’s still looking for a scoop but making her younger and less experienced works incredibly well for me. It just makes sense in this version of the TMNT universe.

Another interesting decision was to not go with The Shredder as the villain, that privilege goes to a mutated fly known as Superfly, and there seems to be more nuance to characters like Rocksteady and Bebop. It’s all ridiculous, but it was always ridiculous. That’s the point. This isn’t a Norman Rockwell biopic.

If Hollywood is going to insist on rebooting, remaking, reviving, or otherwise repurposing old intellectual properties, I’d just ask that they make films that are different and/or better than the original. That hadn’t been the case with the TMNT franchise. It’s just been a regurgitation of the same story. “Mutant Mayhem” changes that. It’s fun, family-friendly, and as bizarre as ever. More of this, please.