'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem' Review: Fun and charming despite cliches

It’s nostalgia galore in ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ where we meet four chaotic ninja turtles again onscreen after 2014. For loyal fans of the comic book series which has been around since the 1980s, this rendezvous with the ninja turtles is all things fun and a welcome trip down memory lane.

With the use of animated live doodles and scribbles, which might be a stark reminder of your art period in school, the film retains a lot of the authenticity and naivety needed to pull off a project like this. It is a sweet reminder of the days gone by, which we perhaps speak of in the past tense. But the film isn’t dated at all! If anything, the Ninja turtles are very ‘Gen Z’ trained and aren’t disconnected from the digital age.

Before the mayhem, the film reminds us of the four little turtles who get transformed into mutants after coming in contact with radioactive ooze. They are adopted by a RatMan named Splinter (voiced by Jackie Chan), who gives them a masterclass in ninja. Oh, the parallels! Coming back to the turtles, now all teenagers dream of a normal life where they co-exist with humans.

Hence, Raphael (Brady Noon), Doofy Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), nerdy Donatello (Micah Abbey) and their leader, Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), meet a human friend, also a student journalist named April (Ayo Edebiri). As the threat looms over New York with another mutant creature, Superfly (Ice Cube), the cute little turtles and April join hands to save New York and turn heroes to be accepted, in turn causing mayhem (or not, really!).

The film is high on pop culture references and does not shy away from poking fun at itself. It doesn’t take itself seriously. From the teenage turtles speaking about sneaking off to an Adele concert to watching 'Avengers Endgame', to anime references and Beyoncé songs, there is enough for the Internet Age. There is also a BTS’ Butter reference, which is hell ‘smooth!’ The turtles might have lived in sewers but the Wi-Fi reaches even there!

The casting is perhaps the biggest highlight of the movie. With Paul Rudd, Rose Byrne, Seth Rogen, John Cena, Hannibal Buress and Post Malone, the film boasts of talented actors who give various colours to the mutants and leave you smiling and laughing. Their overall synergy works extremely well, sometimes even more than the ninja turtles themselves. Jackie Chan is glorious as RatMan.

The music of the film is on-point and adds to the overall experience of watching the animated version. Its heart lies in the camaraderie between all the turtles when they speak about their dreams and normalcy. Jeff Rowe makes sure to leave you with chuckles even in fight scenes, giving enough moments for everyone to share a burst of laughter. But it gets tiring after a point. The film tries to ‘milk’ too much of the cool lingo.

The film, despite its best intentions, has no novelty in the story. It is the same tried and tested formula. The characters are too simplistic with almost no big conflict explored. There are hardly any high points in the movie, which remains more or less one-tonal. The messaging of the film and the climax are unimaginatively crafted.

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ gives you all the right ‘vibes’ but reels under the Gen-Z crisis (Millennial-Gen Z), trying to figure out how much of cool is ‘too cool!’