First Take: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - mean, green but so lovable

SYNOPSIS: The film follows the Turtle brothers as they work to earn the love of New York City while facing down an army of mutants.

Who would’ve thought that Point Grey - a company best known for raunchy adult comedy clearly written under the influence of something - would partner with Nickelodeon to make a brand new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie? Nobody did, but it’s a combination that seems to work. For the first time in years, we have an animated TMNT playing in cinemas, competing with the might of Barbie and Oppenheimer, and even with that competition… it is so nice to see it get a wide release.

Jeff Rowe is a fantastic choice to direct this one, coming in at 1 hour 39 minutes it’s short, snappy, straight to the point, and gets the job done in good time, and this is testament to the script he co-wrote with Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit - yes, Rogen has co-written a PG certificate film. And he NAILED it. This is done with a lot of love for the source material, yet the animation style is completely new and unique, obviously using Spider-Verse as a clear inspiration, right down to the score- if Pemberton could use synths on those two films, Turtles gets Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - and a very Tony Hawk Pro Skater kind of soundtrack to boot.

Onto the cast, and this is where Rogen and his mates have really excelled in creating a fun film - Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr, Nicolas Cantu and Brady Noon are outstanding choices for the turtles, actually looking and sounding like teenagers for a change - supporting them is Ayo Edibiri, Jackie Chan as Master Splinter, Ice Cube as the villain, and Rose Byrne, Natasia Demetriou, Paul Rudd, Hannibal Buress, Maya Rudolph, John Cena, and Rogen himself. It’s so obvious that they are all fans, because this is one of those kinds of films that just gets its assignment and delivers a top quality piece of big screen entertainment.

THE VERDICT

Mutant Mayhem is an absolute cracker of a way to start a new Turtles franchise - with its own style, a brilliant soundtrack, and a knowing look ahead to the already confirmed TV spinoff and inevitable sequel, there’s something for everyone if that certain ‘pink’ film gets a bit too much for audiences.

RATING: 4/5