Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - An Awesomely Done Reboot of the Beloved Ninja Turtles

I knew about this movie few weeks ago and became intrigued since its trailer was shown in theaters few times. I was planning to see this in the cinema near our home but unfortunately it was not playing there and only in several theaters. So my wife and I decided to see this on the weekend in the cinema a bit further. All right then, let us get on with it.

Brief Story Line

After a scientist for a research institute called TCRI led by Cynthia Utrom (Maya Rudolph - Luca, Hubie Halloween etc) managed to develop mutagen that could transform animals into humans, it was thought to have been lost for good. However the mutagen somehow ended up in the sewer where a rat called Splinter (Jackie Chan - Ride On, The Knights of Shadows Between Yin and Yang etc) and four baby turtles were transformed into human. 15 years after the incident, the turtles that consisted of the leader Leonardo (Nicholas Cantu - The Walking Dead: World Beyond TV series etc), the hot headed Raphael (Brady Noon - Good Boys etc), the free spirited Michaelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr) and the smartest Donatello (Micah Abbey) were now teenagers and wanted to be accepted as normal kids by human. Though they realized it was not possible due to various reasons.

But their lives were turned upside down after they met April (Ayo Edebiri - The Bear TV series etc), a wannabe high school reporter who was investigating on major thefts in New York city. As they cooperated and did more digging, they found out that the thefts were done by criminals paid by the dangerous Superfly (Ice Cube - Barbershop, xXx: State of the Union etc) with his army of mutants.

As the turtles had to face their toughest opponents, they also had to avoid being found out by their protective father. So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

When I saw the trailers before, I already noticed that the animations in this movie were unlike those very good looking or aesthetically done kind like what you would see in other computer animated films. Instead it actually felt like watching comic books came to live. After reading more about this film, apparently it was done on purpose by the director Jeff Rowe (best known for his work in The Mitchels vs the Machines) who wanted to show this like drawn on sketch books. It might take some getting used to in the beginning but we ended up enjoying it.

I liked the story telling in this movie as we were shown few background stories of the characters in flash backs that did not feel confusing. Somehow it actually made the emotions stronger as we felt more attached to them (especially the turtles and Splinter). Oh the voice acting were really great too as the cast managed to give us strong personal attachments. I really admired the casting department for finding out the best persons to portray them and obviously the director who could bring out the best in them.

Aside from the names I mentioned above, there were plenty of support cast such as Paul Rudd (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, I Love You, Man etc) as Mondo Gecko, Rose Byrne (Peter Rabbit 2, Insidious trilogy etc) as Leatherhead, John Cena (Hidden Strike, Vacation Friends etc) and Seth Rogen (Long Shot, The Green Hornet etc) as Rocksteady and Bebop respectively whom we were very familiar with through the TV series. There were few others as well but might be too many to name them all here. In case you are not familiar with, this movie was based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman for Nickelodeon TV. It was actually the 7th theatrical movie in the franchise after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turyles: Out of the Shadows. Seth Rogen who was said to be big fan also served as one of the producers and writers.

During the movie which lasted for 99 minutes, we were quite bombarded by lots of songs in the background. Some were nicely inserted but personally for me sometimes they were a bit too loud and made me me felt like being rushed. Although it did make the movie felt very fast paced. There was a quite long mid end credit scene here that would make clear one issue that did not seem to be resolved earlier, plus a definite hint of next movies in the future. I read that a sequel was already in development.

Overall this movie was fun, with a story that was awesomely told and well done. My wife and I enjoyed seeing this film and we thought it was wonderful as well. There were few emotional scenes that also affected her. Btw the film was classified for all ages in Indonesia so I was not surprised by so many children who went to the cinema. But their voices could not be heard under the loud noise of the movie. So if you are fans of TMNT, then I think you would like this latest adaptation. It has got the heart, lots of action, emotions and amazing ending

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars