Ninja Turtles: Caos mutante

Firstly, the animation for this film is exceptional. A truly unique depiction of New York. It's gritty, it's rugged but it also feel inviting. The scenic images and close up character shots feels like they have been ripped from the pages of a comic book.

Whilst this may be an origin movie, the film is well paced and doesn't dwell on any one area for too long. After an introduction and 15 year time jump, we quickly get to understand the feelings and motivations of the characters which drive the plot in a natural manner.

As a result the characters feel real which make for interesting on screen interactions. Splinter is an overly protective Father whilst the turtles are teenagers trying to grow out of their shells. Set in modern day New York, these Teenage Turtles are up to speed with pop culture which leads to funny one liners, easter eggs and mentions.

The voice acting is great all round. Ice Cube is fantastic as Superfly, a street wise villain with a disdain for humans. At its heart, TMNT: Ninja Mayhem is a film about fitting it, growth and acceptance between amongst both humans and 'mutants'. This results in a perfect mix of a fun, comedy and a heartfelt story which can be enjoyed by everybody young and old.

Things I liked:

I liked that they used actual teen actors for the turtles for the first time, and getting them to record at the same time created a natural, but at times chaotic and difficult to decipher, dialogue.

Splinter's character was more fatherly and less focused on the strict sensei/teacher role.

Superfly was a decent central villain with a bit of a backstory. He was kind of likeable to start with and turned quite dark and psychotic. Well acted by Ice Cube and gave the character some depth.

The action set pieces were exciting and fast paced.

The art style is different enough to make it visually interesting and the colours pop.

A decent soundtrack of East coast hip-hop tunes.

Things I didn't like:

April is supposed to be a vulnerable teen who is a victim of bullying, but she came across a little annoying and arrogant, with an attitude, making it difficult to warm to her.

Michelangelo wasn't "Mikey" enough, not the silly 'party dude'. Donatello didn't 'do machines' either, no gadgets or creations. There was a definite lack of distinction between the individual turtles personalities.

Many of the villains felt under used and had little screen time. With dialogue often difficult to hear clearly due to background music or sounds. They also seemed very easily swayed over their allegiance.

The origin story was changed and didn't make as much sense, but I guess it meant that they could drop Shredder and skim over it in 5 mins.

Love it or hate it, the art style is different enough to appreciate, but I hated the use of real world footage at the movie and on YouTube. It snapped you out of the world they had created. At one point I thought the cinema had randomly started playing a different film.

Some blatant product placement.

Deliberate gender and race swapping, that felt forced to appease the Hollywood quotas, and often failed to hit the mark.

Some poorly forced 'jokes' and cultural references that were often over pushed and quite literally 'milked'.

Pretty much everything I've wanted in a TMNT movie for decades, just a ton of fun in the theater. I'm as surprised as anybody that we have Seth Rogen to thank for this, but hey, whatever works. And there's plenty to be said about the art style borrowing from the Spiderverse movies, but it just fits. The Animation is vibrant, kinetic and absolutely lends itself to both the action and the humor. The whole movie looks like the margin drawings of a high schooler's notebook, that unrefined pencil and marker aesthetic.

For me, the biggest present under this Christmas tree is the age-appropriate cast. Their chemistry is incredible and the turtles actually sound and feel like teenagers for once. As much as I gravitate towards Mikey in any given iteration, Donatello had all of the killer one-liners here; I loved Micah Abbey's performance.

Maybe it's because of this Summer's frustrating movie season, but I left the theater with a real high after this. If the turtles needed a reboot, this was the way to go, and I enjoyed it from start to finish. Even that feels like an understatement ... I had a blast!

I really liked this for being a fun movie. It was a good take on TMNT with a nice looking art style to boot. The turtles and April were portrayed well, and they bantered like actual teenagers. The other mutants were also likeable, and I'd be interested in seeing them fleshed out. Also, I do have to point out that the soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is outstanding, and the old school hip hop songs were nicely implemented. My biggest issue with it was the formulaic story, with plot points than have been done 1000 times before. Hopefully the sequel will improve. Overall though, not a bad watch at all.

Prior to showering it with compliments, I'd like to address a couple of minor criticisms. To begin with, Splinter underwent significant changes from the familiar and beloved character. Certain villains were left with insufficient screen time to truly shine, and Raphael's anger wasn't adequately explored.

Moving on to the positives: The animation boasted exceptional uniqueness, accompanied by superb pacing. The humor was genuinely delightful, and the turtles authentically conveyed their teenage nature through their dialogue. The voice acting was skillfully executed, capturing both the tone and essence of teenage voices. Particularly notable was Jackie Chan's portrayal of Master Splinter, which stood out significantly. Overall, this movie provides a highly enjoyable viewing experience.