The last two live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies were a big miss for Paramount. It also shows that you need the right formula for a live-action film to be made in this franchise. However, the animation is usually incredibly successful, as seen in this Mutant Mayhem review.
Animated TMNT films have more chance of success than live-action. Look at the Rise of the TMNT film on Netflix as an example. Moving on to Mutant Mayhem, it was exceptionally well done. While we were not a big fan of the overall art style in large amounts, it was perfect for the story being told.
Baxter Stockman Serves As The Reason Mutants Exist
So, some of the characters’ origins differ from their original comic counterpart, which is good. How many times were we going to get an evil Baxter Stockman? Surprisingly, he appeared so little in Mutant Mayhem, given he is usually a massive foe for the Turtles in the comics.
The mutants were fascinating, as you don’t see many in the same place in other screen media. The villain, Super Fly, might be an original character, but he’s unlike other TMNT antagonists. He has a lot of similarities to Splinter and the Turtles; however, the difference is that he wants to wipe out humanity, whereas the others don’t.
Splinter And The Turtles’ Backstory
Speaking of Splinter, his backstory wasn’t what we expected. He wasn’t a pet like he usually is portrayed. Our favourite rat dad was a common rat who lived on the street and tried so hard to make friends with others but failed. He ended up in the sewer one day and found four baby turtles covered in green ooze. He adopted them, and they became a family and mutated like they were.
Splinter had already mistrusted humans but decided to give the boys their wish to go out amongst them. The humans became scared of them, which led to a more profound hatred he had, but unlike Super Fly, he never wanted them eradicated.
The Turtles Struggle With Their Sewer Life
As the turtles age, they find their existence in the sewers sad and depressing. Splinter has become overprotective of them and expects them to stay in the lair forever.
The boys have dreams of their own. Leo wants a girlfriend, which is the one that stands out the most, though they all want to interact with teenage humans and go to high school. They become friendly with April O’Neil, an adolescent journalist who struggles to fit in because of an on-air mishap – she vomited due to nerves. This interaction leads to Leo developing a massive crush on her.
Mutant Mayhem
When the Turtles meet the Mutants for the first time, they believe they’ve hit the jackpot as they, too, don’t fit in. However, they quickly realise there is something majorly off. When they run into trouble, April runs to Splinter, though it leaves them to think she has abandoned them.
Splinter mistrusts April, but when she tells him that his sons are in trouble, he quickly swallows his fear and leaves the lair for the first time in years. Though, he finds that the humans are way more accepting than they had been.
Mutants Turn On Super Fly
The Mutants turn against Super Fly as they have become sick of him pushing them around. Splinter also finds love with Scumbug, which the Turtles find super gross. The boys also get their chance to go to school like normal kids.
A post-credit scene reveals that Cynthia Ultrom has recruited the Shredder to end the Turtles.
What was interesting about the movie was this is only the second time (in animation) that the Shredder has not been the villain. The first time was in the 2007 film where the Shredder was dead by the time the events occurred. However, Mutant Mayhem was done in reverse, where the Turtles have to earn their boss fight.
