Fresh Take - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem (Spoiler Free Thoughts)

 Available in Theatres

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

I have been a fan of the TMNT franchise for a while and while I didn't start with the comics -I came in with the Saturday morning cartoon- I have been a fan of the material. Granted the movies have been hit or miss (looking at you 2014 & 2016), they, for the most part, have been fun films. This time around the film is animated and follows the brothers wanting to be accepted into the human world. Overall, I thought the film was fun. The animation is different and stylized, which I think works for what they were going with here in regards to the story being centered on the mutants. The soundtrack was amazing and I liked that they stuck with the New York City flow as I think it fits well. From a story perspective, it was pretty decent. It's not an overly complicated story and I think a lot of people will be able to relate to its themes. The voice acting is a highlight of the movie for me. I think they did a great job with the cast and they all did a great job with their roles. 

My only issue with this movie is that this is the Teenage Mutant Self-Defense Turtles. They're not ninjas and I think that is a big problem. It was one of my problems with those 2 Michael Bay-produced movies and a large reason why I think they didn't do well. There is no Hamato Yoshi and no Foot clan here. I understand that they wanted to focus on the mutants for this movie but the fact that for some reason the last 3 movies have left out this part of the story is, in all honesty, stupid. If this movie gets greenlit for a sequel and they bring in the Shredder he should mop the floor with them. None of them even Splinter should stand a chance against a trained ninja. 

For Parents

The movie is rated PG and has a runtime of an hour and thirty-nine minutes. The movie is paced very well, so there are no points where it drags. The action is well done and the animation is very well done too. There isn't any real gore and the jokes are funny as well.

Overall

I would give this a solid MATINEE. It's a fun film with a lot of good animation and action. The voice cast is very good. The soundtrack is amazing and I really think that fans both young and old will enjoy this one. Have you seen TMNT Mutant Mayhem? What's your favorite TMNT movie? Leave a comment and let's talk about it. 

Trailer