Fellmans Movie Reviews

Red = Spoilers 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is the latest animated feature in a long line of animated motion pictures in the TMNT franchise. I have to say that this one is a whole lot better than the previous two Michael Bay movies. Although, what isn’t better than a Michael Bay movie? And better than the less-than-worthwhile 2007 flop, TMNT. 

What’s it about? We start with a swat team about to infiltrate somewhere. We find out it’s a biolab of some sort and the scientist is working with mutants and ooze (surprise). The team breaks in to try and get to the ooze and one of the mutants breaks free and beats up the entire team. A vial of the ooze is knocked down into the sewer and this is obviously the turtle’s origin story. We move ahead 15 years and see the turtles jumping across rooftops and going shopping with their ninja skills. They meet April and save her while rescuing her scooter from some thieves. And then they meet the other mutant that escaped the lab 15 years ago. Only, he isn’t as nice as the turtles. He wants to kill all humans. So, in typical hero fashion, the turtles save New York. Cowabunga. 

What’s good? Honestly, there’s not a whole lot that isn’t good. This is a very entertaining movie. It’s well written. It’s got a good plot. The dialogue is great. The soundtrack fits well. Everything is just executed nicely. 

What’s bad? I genuinely can’t think of a thing. There’s nothing I would’ve done differently. I enjoyed it the whole way through. 

The voice acting? The voice work is done by some fantastic people. It’s put together well and edited nicely. And some of the voices are surprising and you wouldn’t be able to tell it was them. Like John Cena was Rocksteady? I never would’ve guessed. And David Faustino was Normal Nate? It never crossed my mind. And Bobby Wagner as one of the people? Where is that coming from? 

The effects? The art style is unique as far as animation goes. It’s like a cross between claymation and CGI. It’s almost hard to describe. But it’s cool. And it works. It almost seems to fit with the turtles for some reason.  

The soundtrack? The soundtrack really works all the way through the movie. It was made by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross who’ve made scores for movies before and won awards doing it. Reznor is, of course, the lead singer and founder of the band Nine Inch Nails as well. The movie also introduces you to the techno remix of 4 Non-Blondes “What’s Going On?” Just in case you never heard that one… 

All the old characters. I like how they pulled all of the old characters from the toy line out for this movie. These aren’t new characters. Ray Fillet, Mondo Gecko, Wingnut. I had all those Ninja Turtles action figures as a kid. My Rocksteady’s right arm was broken off at the elbow… 

Easter egg. For anybody who didn’t notice it, the high school that April and the turtles went to was Eastman High School. The creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were, in fact, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. And in the credits it says “introducing” Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko because we all know that Paul Rudd is, of course, ageless…

So whether you’re a fan of the turtles or not, you should definitely see this movie, because it’s worth seeing either way. They’re heroes on the half-shell, and they’re coming to save the city. Turtle Power!! And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…