What’s It About
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. 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.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
Here we go again. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is the seventh theatrical and a reboot of the very popular series. That means that just like Superman or Batman, I had to sit through the same origin story told with slight differences for reasons unknown. Fortunately, their beginnings were not the focus this time, but the ooze played an essential recurring role in the story. As for the look of the cartoon, it has the new standard animation design where the art simultaneously has that rough and smooth look. Comparable to that of the new animated Spider-Man franchise. The Turtles have been around since the eighties, and ever since then, they have been prevalent. And for whatever reason, they get canceled and come back with a new show, a new look, and sometimes a new channel. This feature gives them a new look with new voice actors, along with some changes that, just like the other versions, were really unnecessary. Let us do a Turtles story recap. Four baby turtles exposed to a mystery ooze in the sewers of New York were “saved” by a rat exposed to the same ooze. That rat named them, taught them, and trained them for fifteen years. Now the turtles are teenagers and find it challenging to stay unknown and hidden in the confines of the sewers. The Turtle’s origin makes more sense than the ooze being there without anyone knowing where it originated. Then there’s what some people might think is a very unnecessary change. Why was April O’Neil a Black teenager? That depends on how much of a fan you are. If you’re a true fan, then you know Ms. O’Neil was supposed to be Asian, but they ultimately made her a White redhead. That is how she remained until the TMNT series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018-2020). She appeared as Black, although her color was never mentioned. So for all that feel April is the “wrong” color, you can take it up with co-creator Kevin Eastman. His girlfriend at the time was an African-American named April. Now back to the review. The story of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem focuses on the Turtle’s insecurities and their dream of walking alongside humans without the fear people usually associate with the unknown. Side stories include a lady wanting to create more mutants, a mutant wanting to create more mutants, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wishing there were more mutants. Throughout the film, lessons are learned that highlight the wrongs of those who feel they are doing the right things for the ones they love. Visually, Mutant Mayhem is a colorful, action-packed, and cleverly funny. Overall, it’s one-hundred minutes of turtle fun.
OUR RATING – A MUTATED 8
MEDIA
- Genre – Comic Book
- Street date
- Digital – September 1st, 2023
- DVD/Blu-Ray – December 12th, 2023
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dutch: Dolby Digital 5.1, Flemish: Dolby Digital 5.1,
- Subtitles – English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, Flemish
Extras
• TEENage Mutant Ninja Turtles— For the first time the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are voiced by actual teenagers! Hear how each Turtle was cast and how having all four boys record together helped create the authentic camaraderie seen on screen.
• The Mutant Uprising— Get to know the Turtles’ mutant antagonists, led by the wild and original character Superfly, voiced by Ice Cube.
• New York, New York: The Visual World of MUTANT MAYHEM— Take a deep dive into the breakthrough visual style of the film’s characters and environments and how they evolved over time.
• Learn to Draw Leo—Try your hand at drawing the Turtle leader with this fun tutorial!