Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem amplifies the fun of the franchise - REVIEW
*Slight Spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem*
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been a franchise that has consistently been rebooted and I have never minded.
While the 2003 series was my initial Turtles introduction, the 2012 series really made me a fan. It had the right balance for me of brotherly affection, drama, stakes, and weird obscure villains.
While Rise of the TMNT wasn't exactly my taste, I can appreciate the animation, comedy, and going for a different new take. Plus my god is the Rise of TMNT movie good. I'm all for making really cool characters into animes now.
Going into this movie I had extremely high hopes. Not only has this franchise rarely disappointed, but it was produced by Seth Rogen, who has worked on shows like The Boys and Invincible, and directed by Jeff Rowe, who is not getting NEARLY enough credit for this movie. He was a writer on Gravity Falls and the co-director of one of my favorite animated movies: The Mitchells vs The Machines.
And I got to say, this movie does not disappoint.
The animation style is both impressive and at times disgusting in the best possible way. This is the first time I've felt New York feel grubby and grimy. Every shot looks wonderful, and that cannot be understated.
The hardest part of the Turtles is usually the brother dynamics. I feel like if not written or performed correctly, the Turtles can come off as buddies or even acquaintances. But this was not a problem here. The idea of having all four actors in the same room clearly paid off, as the four of them riffing and mocking each other were some of the highlights of the movie.
I do think coming out of this, some of these turtles will be the definitive versions of the characters. While Mikey and Raph have their charms, Micah Abbey as Donnie and Nicolas Cantu as Leo were stands out for me.
The idea of taking Donnie from the tech guy to more of a calculating nerdy weeb was genius. Donnie often is the guy who is most made fun of because he is nerd, and I think pivoting to him being a smart-ass and respected for his brain was a nice touch.
Leonardo as the goody two shoes dork who wants to lead so bad also worked for me. Leonardo can sometimes come off a sorta bully or arrogant for even trying to be the leader. Making him unsure but wanting to be a good leader makes him charming and more likeable.
Also among our heroes are Ayo Edebiri as April O'Neil and Jackie Chan as Master Splinter.
While April does not have as much to do as I would've liked, I think Edebiri is a nice addition and I'd be happy to see more of her. She has good chemistry with the brothers, although it did take me out of the movie to think of the age gap between Edebiri and Cantu.
Jackie Chan's Splinter may be my biggest problem with the film. While he is a passable Splinter and has plenty of laughs, he does not seem as fierce of a warrior as he has seemed in the past, nor as wise. I do not mind a flawed, anxiety ridden Splinter, but he should feel like he can take on the Turtles easily, and I don't think he can.
(Also, Jackie Chan is a bad father in real life and shouldn't disown his estranged daughter for being gay. Read all about it here!)
I'm not going to go to into the details of all the villains in the movie, as there are quite a few, but I really loved the inclusion of the vast TMNT universe, and their own fun takes on them. One of the benefits of having Seth Rogen as a creative is access to all his very talented friends. A highlight for me was Mondo Gecko, voiced by the great Paul Rudd.
The main antagonist of the film being Superfly was a rather interesting choice. While I was sure we were going to have a Jekyll and Hyde situation with Superfly and Stockman going in, the idea that it was his mutant son was a weird but fun choice. Clearly Ice Cube was having a lot of fun playing a villain. He gave me quite a few laughs and felt like a proper first villain for these turtles. I'm glad they didn't just jump into Shredder or Kraang.
While all the characters are fun and interesting, what I really love about this story is the central theme of acceptance. Having them all have the goal of being accepted by society felt natural, important, and very teen drama, which is fresh to the TMNT. They are often outsiders who don't really care about that, just protecting the city. Making that at the heart of the movie made me feel for them in a way I haven't before.
Leaving the movie where it does excites me for more movies and the upcoming show they have planned. I think this version of the turtles can last us a good 5-7 years, and will end up being as iconic as the ones that came before.
Not that there is a super high bar for TMNT films, but this is definitely my favorite. I think kids are going to love, TMNT fans are going to love it, and non TMNT fans are going to be pleasantly surprised.
I highly recommend you go see this movie, I know I am definitely going again soon.
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Thinkfast fluff (bc I can’t stop thinking about them)
“God, Shepherd, can’t you do anything slow?” David moaned into Tommy’s mouth.
Tommy pulled back with a wicked grin. “Only when it’s you, apparently.”
He leaned in to steal another kiss from his boyfriend. Tommy’s hands were up the back of David’s shirt, splayed out on the toned back he had pressed firmly against the wall. David’s arms encircled Tommy’s neck, fingers burying in his hair, digging into his scalp.
Tommy liked things fast. Speed was his name after all. Most of the world moved at far too sluggish of a pace for him. And he was often so bored out of his mind by it all. Then he met David, and they became noodles-and-a-coffee friends, and somewhere after that David had brought Tommy back into existence with a kiss. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about those lips, even when he had kissed Kate that night, it was David he couldn’t get out of his head in the following months. They became friends. Good friends, surprisingly. Tommy didn’t have many of those.
And now they were here. Boyfriends.
Tommy liked how the word tasted in his mouth. David Alleyne was his boyfriend. He also liked how David’s tongue tasted in his mouth. Which is exactly where it was right now.
“You sure this is too fast for you? I mean, I didn’t initiate tongue.” Tommy pulled back to raise an eyebrow at David. He only sighed.
“You’re impossible, babe. Now come back here.”
Well that was just an offer Tommy couldn’t refuse.
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