I don't think I ever really cared much for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Growing up, I don't think it really had much presence on the few television shows I did have access to, and when it did air, other things seemed more interesting to me. I don't know why I never really gave it a chance, I knew the general basics of the show, but it was something that just never stood out to me. But these days I'm a lot more open to checking things out, both new and old. I found myself curious about how this new animated film might end up being, especially with the success of the recent animated Spider-Man films. The world of animation is troubled, but shows some promise. I had some optimism for the film despite not following the production at all, and I ignored all the controversy that seemed to arise as a result of people discovering the character change of April. But again, I was never a major fan of the franchise. And I guess the film, for most, is more of an entry to the franchise than something to follow up on for the now much older fans. A different crowd, perhaps.
I went into this not really anticipating it, honestly. I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't even know it had been released until a few hours before. But for someone that has never been a fan of the franchise, I actually really enjoyed it. Perhaps even more than I did the Spider-Man films. To which the only downside of this was that it clearly existed to set itself up for a broader narrative, clearly hinting at the intentions of turning this into the next big thing, with many more entries to come. It felt uncertain, however. All dependent on whether the film would be a financial hit or not, and I have no idea if it actually was. That said, with the story out of the way, this was great fun! Even from this point I would happily recommend it to anyone that likes animated films and is in the mood for something more stylistic. As for whether existing fans may like it, that I can't really cover, given my lack of knowledge regarding the previous entries in the franchise. You may have to take a gamble on that one!
As always, beyond this oojt, the post may contain spoilers. If you don't want to see any spoilers, don't read on from this point, watch the film first.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Being an introductory film to set the stage for upcoming releases, the doesn't feel like it has a main story to it, but I don't think this really ends up being a negative at all. It seemed more like a long episode rather than a full length feature, introducing the characters and their history, how the mutant turtles came to be, as well as their rat mentor. Showing their struggles growing up, as well as the teenage mischief they get up to. For the most part, this is what the film is about. More slice of life than anything else, but it somewhat attempts to introduce the idea of a larger threat at hand, while the turtles beging to take on the idea of being vigilantes in society, lurking in the sewers but coming up into the chaotic streets of New York City at night to hunt down those who plague it. In this instance, it's primarily a crime syndicate. The film even dives into this idea from the very start, showing a SWAT team being briefed on an operation. Though this belongs to a corporation seeking out their own agenda to cause disruption to a scientist going a bit wild.
This sets up the foundation to the story: the operation leading to a spill in which a mutating liquid falls into the sewer, affecting four turtles and a rat. The rest? Well, I'm sure you know where it goes from there. I quite liked how the story was formed, the reasons for learning martial arts and the fact that society above the sewer was a dangerous, judgemental place. In order to protect themselves, they had to learn a defensive art. Not primarily to solve and fight crime, but to protect themselves as a result of poor experiences above the surface with fellow humans. It didn't portray them in a negative manner, which was also nice. To follow, the film showed us the history of them learning and growing up together. It was pretty funny seeing how the characters were designed, 80s hair and clothing, a rather relaxed setting in which they had managed to build a safe, cozy home for themselves. There was definitely some coming of age inspiration here. Pulling influence from similar films of the past.
With a relatively wholesome story, I think the thing I loved the most was the animation and character design. This film has a style I don't think I have ever really seen before, albeit with some minor influence from the Spider-Man films, but with a lot more detail and messy structure to it. I really liked that you can actually see the textures of (digital) brush and pencil strokes. Looking like actual sketches in both the foreground and background. Even smoke and dust was a mass of scribbled lines to imply their presence. I don't think my screenshots do it justice, something is a bit off with the colours that came out, perhaps a result of the version I saw. But when I say this is a beautiful, very colourful film, I mean it. You'll find yourself looking all over the screen to appreciate minor details, from small objects to larger ones with more meaning to the story. Carefully taking in the style and being able to see how something came to being created, the strokes of the pen and the colours that work together. If you have any appreciation for art, you'll likely really enjoy it for this reason alone.
Though, I will admit that some of the characters in the background has some strange designs. Some off proportions that made them look a bit like nightmare fuel. Probably the only thing I didn't really like about the film, but you can overlook it. Despite this, I think it was a very good adaptation, a nice reboot to a franchise that is probably very dead and niche at this point. A rare instance, if you don't mind characters being changed a little bit to fit today's odd agendas.
