REVIEW: The Mutant Ninja Turtles is fun for parents and children alike

Exactly 40 years ago, the creative duo formed by comic artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird started what, at first, would be an irreverent parody of the stories of the Marvel hero, Daredevil, but which, to the surprise of both, became a worldwide phenomenon that has not left the minds of its fans since then. 

Now, in the hands of Seth Rogen, eternal Hollywood boy Evan Goldberg from The Boys and Jeff Rowe, known for the animated hit The Mitchell Family and Revolt of the Machines, TV's most beloved mutant group receives a new cinematic origin with a colorful, light, uncompromising and very pleasant to watch.

Holy Turtle! Look at them! 

Em Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, we once again have the story of how the four brothers, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo, went from being mere turtles in the sewers of New York to the mutant heroes who live on the fringes of urban society, and it is told in a relaxed and fast, to make room for all the good-natured action the group is so well known and loved for.

The 99-minute animated feature film not only manages to reintroduce the brothers and their dad, Master Splinter, but also a large group of villains at the time, led by the enigmatic “Super Mosca”, who shares this credit with Cynthia Ultrom, the leader of the organization responsible for the goo that started all the trouble. 

The cast, despite being numerous, gets enough attention from the film to build the personality of practically all the participants of the story and to give even the enemies of the Turtles something more than simply being the brainless henchmen of the cartoon, as in the case of the lovable Rocksteady and Beebop, who together with many other mutants created by Baxter Stockman, end up reviewing their concepts during the course of the adventure.

A simple, no-roll weave

Speaking of which, the story of this animated feature is simple but effective: pursued by Ultrom soldiers, Stockman is defeated and loses the valuable vial of mutagen, the same that changes the lives of the four turtle brothers. In the fifteen years that passed, behind the scenes, his creations, which managed to escape, including the scientist's pet fly, also grew up.

The fly, now calling itself “Super Mosca”, takes responsibility for several robberies in the city, targeting shipments from Cynthia's company in order to assemble a machine capable of transforming animals from all over the world into mutants like him. His hatred of humanity for killing his creator parallels Splinter's fear for the safety of his adopted children. 

This relationship, even if treated differently between the two characters, generates both the conflict that the ninja-brothers see themselves as the only way to avoid and the overprotection that leads them to desperately try to make contact with the outside world.

Such a search leads them to meet the clumsy April O'Neil, a medical student aspiring to be a journalist, with whom young Leonardo falls in love at first sight, who finds himself among the mutants after his motorcycle is stolen and recovered by them. , in their first big performance as good ninjas, apart from Splinter's routine tasks.

References could not be missing

In the midst of this, they learn of the robberies taking place across New York and decide to put an end to it, to finally be revealed to society as the heroes they so want to be. Between one blow and another, we see how they turned into such skilled fighters, one of the big changes from the original plot. 

In this version, Splinter taught them not as a disciple of a grandmaster, but as an enthusiast of Hong Kong martial arts films, a funny parallel to the actor who lends his voice to the original version of the film, Jackie Chan, who has a short appearance in a cut of the classic The Invincible Master. In the meantime, the rat itself also learns some moves, as we see in the middle to the end of the film.

When they finally come across the person responsible for the thefts, the four Ninja Turtles come across other mutants, who, like them, have been transformed thanks to the mutagen, and right away they all identify themselves as brothers, in very funny scenes in the bowling alley that serves as their base. of the moscoo.

After the games are over, the two groups soon fall out, which leads them on a wild chase through the city streets. But that's where the big twist of the film happens, because seeing that they are all mutants and that they have suffered the same fate, despite living in separate environments, everyone, except Super Mosca, is against his great plan. 

Allying under a common cause, the two groups set out to fight the villain, who finds himself cornered and, at least for the moment, defeated, falling into the waters of the East River, along with his apparatus and a gallon of mutagen. Of course, that wasn't able to stop him, and big as Godzilla, totally transformed into a crazy mix of different animals, he goes all out against the city.

Captured by the film's other villain, Cynthia, the four turtles are rescued by Splinter, who begrudgingly teams up with April to save his children. During the fight, they get hold of a rifle with the ability to reverse mutations, and with it they hope to save the city from the desperate attack of the super version of the gadfly. 

They just want to be loved

In another crazy chase, now with all the mutants together, with April broadcasting on TV that mutants are not a threat but the saviors of New York, with the most welcome help from New Yorkers, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles achieve the impossible and put an end to the Mosca threat, and with that, finally gain the respect and admiration of humanity. And, on top of that, they start going to April's school as classmates.

Despite the simplicity and innocence of the script, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem brings an extremely pleasant feature film to watch, with funny jokes that both children and older people can enjoy together. 

It is worth mentioning the exquisite work of the adaptation team, which was able to translate and modify some of the catchphrases and jokes into something more Brazilian, as in the case of “açaí with granola”, which drew a lot of laughter from the audience in the press booth .

Following the wave of the saga films Spiderverse, the new animated feature of the Ninja Turtles has an extremely stylized look, full of color and exaggerated lines that really bring to life what many of the other productions of the four brothers left aside: their childishness. 

Mutant Chaos not only does it make room for their mental age, but it uses that as the bedrock of the plot and the starting point of the team's identity throughout production and also for its inevitable continuation. Not to mention many characters, especially among the Turtles' opponents, who were never part of the first echelon, but who, thanks to their greater role in the film, manage to have room to develop.

Another noteworthy point of the animation is its soundtrack, which plays with established songs from the 1980s, including the go ninja go, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze and other hand-orchestrated adaptations by Trent Reznor, who continues to impress in his career as a Hollywood soundtrack musician.

Brazilian dubbing, on the other hand, is not as remarkable as that of TV animations, especially those of the original cartoon, but it still has its charm, especially the parts with the jokes, which are so well adapted. You can see that everyone had fun in the recording process.

our verdict

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem it's the kind of feature-length animation that parents and children will love to watch together, even more so if those parents grew up watching animation on television. There's a lot to enjoy in this one, which everything indicates due to the success it has been, will most likely be the beginning of a new series of films on the big screen. 

And if the mid-credits scene hinted, we'll soon see another old-fashioned bad guy showing up in the next adventure of the husky brothers, with the villainous Cynthia's call to the masked Destroyer, who will help her put her diabolical plan into motion, given that at a glance in this film, which is to assemble his army of obedient mutants.

Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures hit it off with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, which from head to toe pays homage to what brought it here, in these 40 years of history and opens the way for what is to come in future appearances of these ever-living and trendy reptiles that are still very much in fashion.

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Source: IMDB [1], [2], [3], Looper e Wikipedia

Text proofread by: Pedro Bomfim (21 / 08 / 23)