{"id":26779,"date":"2023-08-01T01:34:40","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T08:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=26779"},"modified":"2023-08-01T01:34:40","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T08:34:40","slug":"teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-could-use-more-turtle-mayhem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=26779","title":{"rendered":"TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM Could Use More Turtle Mayhem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 99 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This animated feature from Paramount Pictures opens\nexclusively at theaters on August 2nd<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the late 1980s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles<\/em>\nhave been a staple of kid\u2019s television programming and the silver screen. So\nmuch so that even this reviewer may be overly familiar with the characters and\ntheir backstory (even going to their comic book roots). Teenage Mutant Ninja\nTurtles: Mutant Mayhem<\/em> is the seventh movie featuring the heroes and serves\nas a reboot potentially introducing a new series of films to the public. The\nvisuals are unique, but the fact that it serves primarily as an origin story\nmeans that there isn\u2019t as much, well, ninja turtle action as one might hope\nfor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A prologue depicts rogue scientist Baxter Stockman\n(Giancarlo Esposito) creating an oozy substance that mutates animals and gives\nthem human qualities. While those employing him hope to use the substance for\nmilitary purposes, its creator has other ideas. Years later, ninja turtle\nbrothers Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Leonardo (Nicholas Cantu), Donatello\n(Micah Abbey) and Raphael (Brady Noon) live with rat and adoptive parent\nSplinter (Jackie Chan) in the New York sewers. Despite Splinter\u2019s insistence\nthat humans are dangerous, the lonely kids want a more normal existence. After\nlearning of a group of mutant criminals committing robberies, the quartet enact\na secret plan with high school reporter April O\u2019Neil (Ayo Edebin). The teens\ndecide that if they can get press coverage of themselves stopping the crooks,\nthe public might warm up to them. But as it turns out, the nefarious mutants\nhave relatable issues with humanity, leaving the turtles conflicted about what\nthey want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The most striking aspect of this animated film is its visual\nstyle. To some degree it seems as if the filmmakers were inspired by the look\nof the original comic books. Yes, the film is in color, but it employs a\nrougher appearance with characters and backgrounds that have a sketched-in\nlook. The technique is a bit jarring at first and occasionally distracts, but\neventually one becomes accustomed to it. And this eccentric presentation does\nadd an air of uniqueness to many of the shots (particularly a late sequence\nfeaturing a sizably monstrous character with surreal physical traits).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As expected, there is also amusing bickering between the\nheroic turtles, who often tease each other in enjoyably playful ways. Jackie\nChan\u2019s Splinter also gets in some winning lines (and is on the receiving end of\na few comebacks) when the character continually suggests a bizarre and\nseemingly nonsensical way in which the turtles could be harmed. In fact,\nthere\u2019s an amazing assortment of voice talent present, including the likes of\nIce Cube, Rose Byrne, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Natasia Demetriou, John Cena and\nHannibal Buress, to name but a few. Rudd stands out in particular as Mondo\nGecko, the dizziest member of the criminal band.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yet, in spite of some impressive visuals and some yuks,\nthere are plenty of sticking points. Almost all of the characters, including\nthe turtles, the mutant gang and April O\u2019Neil are social outcasts who have\ntrouble fitting in. It\u2019s fine to tie some similar issues between characters\ntogether, but hearing every figure complain about how different they feel\nultimately becomes repetitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet my biggest gripe comes as a result of this movie being\nan extended origin story. What took less than one minute in the animated series\nand movies is overly padded out here. Anyone hoping to see these ninja turtles\nuse, well, their ninja turtle skills in battle, will ultimately be\ndisappointed. When the heroes decide to become crime fighters, viewers see a\nbrief montage of them taking out foes. They essentially become spectators when\nthey meet the mutant posse and only become active during the finale. It\u2019s\ndifficult not to feel a little frustrated that the screenplay doesn\u2019t derive\nexcitement and laughs from the characters attempting to use their learned\nmartial arts skills for the first time on the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film has its moments and benefits from unique visuals\nand a talented and funny voice cast. But the main story isn\u2019t as compelling,\nnor does it take full advantage of delivering on its heroes\u2019 unique skill set. Teenage\nMutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem<\/em> ends up being something of a mixed bag\nof tricks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 99 minutes This animated feature from Paramount Pictures opens exclusively at theaters on August 2nd. Since the late 1980s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been a staple of kid\u2019s television programming and the silver screen. So much so that even this reviewer may be overly familiar with the characters and their backstory […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[213,697,1455,2119,3401,4660,8851,9630,10133,10838,13752,14597,14789,15707,15833,16766,17370,18035,18073,18137,19670,19677,19678,19679,19680,22953],"class_list":["post-26779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-213","tag-action","tag-animated","tag-ayo-edebin","tag-brady-noon","tag-comedy","tag-hannibal-buress","tag-ice-cube","tag-jackie-chan","tag-john-cena","tag-micah-abbey","tag-natasia-demetriou","tag-nicholas-cantu","tag-paramount-pictures","tag-paul-rudd","tag-reboot","tag-rose-byrne","tag-sequel","tag-seth-rogen","tag-shamon-brown-jr","tag-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles","tag-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem","tag-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-film-review","tag-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-movie-review","tag-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-review","tag-tmnt"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}