Rating: PG
Runtime: 1 hour, 39 minutes
Directors: Jeff Rowe, Kyler Spears
Writers: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jeff Rowe
Quick Impressions:
School starts next week, so we were excited to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem as a last hurrah of the summer. My son has been refreshingly hyped for this movie, and I’ve been excited, too. Directors Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears both worked on The Mitchells vs the Machines, a film we all loved, and Rowe was a writer for Gravity Falls, one of the few shows all of our kids enjoy watching. My eight-year-old and his fourteen-year-old sister recently completed a full re-watch of the show (and have now turned to The Golden Girls).
Plus, I love Superbad (mainly for the weird emotional honesty of its, “This is what we planned, and this is how it happened,” portrait of teen life). (And I have happy memories of showing it to my older son when he was a tween, thinking surely he was old enough to watch it. But I didn’t realize I’d purchased the extended director’s cut. He had so much fun laughing at my discomfort as again and again, I was like, “Uh oh…um…ohhhh…oh dear…um…I forgot this, too! Ohhhh my God! Oops!”) (I’m really bad at remembering what’s appropriate even when I buy the version I intend. Everything always seems pretty fine to me.) So I was reasonably excited to see a spin on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that involved Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
The other night, my husband told me, “This new one has better reviews than any other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.” And I was like, “You know what? That does not surprise me,” because I’ve seen all those other movies. Plus, if there’s one person who seems perfect for being involved in creating a new Ninja Turtles movie, it’s Seth Rogen. He has a wonderful, gentle, vaguely stoner goofiness that just fits the source material so well.
The Good:
We all really liked this. I did spend probably the first three-fourths of the movie stressed out, full of self-recriminations. But that’s kind of typical for me.
Interpersonal relationships are not easy for me. I get confused too easily. I wake up every morning, with a thought that cuts in with the tone of Cate Blanchett saying, “But they were, all of them, deceived.” I suddenly consider a new, sinister reading for a past situation. Then I’m never sure if I’m kidding myself, refusing to face facts for reading it the positive way, becoming a self-indulged nuisance because of my inability to take critique, or if the new sinister reading is just my mental illness talking to me. This has happened almost every morning for the first hour that I’m awake for the past two years. It makes me dread going to sleep, though I have learned that if I wait an hour, it goes away. (I promise this is relevant!)
This movie’s persistent themes of being misunderstood, being hurt by others, possibly lashing out and hurting others—these themes really spoke to me. In moments of clarity, I truly believe that most people want to get along together, and that if we’re all willing to speak out truthfully in our own voices, we’ll see that we have a lot in common. And we’ll be able to work together to find common solutions to the world’s problems (many of which we may even discover to be illusory when we start interacting and trying to understand others’ viewpoints).
But when you say stuff like this, you sometimes get looks like, “Ohh I see…you’re an idiot!” (Or sometimes, “This poor trainwreck of a woman!”) But I still think it’s true. I do.
In the first two-thirds of this movie, the turtles yearn so much to be a part of human society, but they’re warned repeatedly that people will hurt them, that they won’t understand them. (And I mean, this is kind of true. Human beings love leaning into knee-jerk reactions and attacking stuff that threatens them with the strongest weapons they have handy.)
When we meet the villain, Superfly (so compellingly voiced by Ice Cube that I was immediately on his side), he appeals to the fears and longings the protagonists have. He’s a bit like Killmonger in Black Panther, the kind of villain with whom the audience (and even the heroes) can easily empathize. People were cruel to him and his family, so he created a family where he can feel safe and loved, and now he’s going to hurt those mean, bad people.
Frankly I was on his side. (Conflicts like this are so heart-wrenching to me. Like in The Departed—I don’t like to see people get betrayed and emotionally wounded even if they’re the bad guy. After the movie, my daughter told me, “Mom, you cannot be friends with the evil fly. He is very evil and trying to destroy the world.” And while I know this is true, part of me turns into the persona of the song “Leader of the Pack.” My heart breaks for that poor, sad fly. I keep thinking maybe after they spend some time with him, they could gradually bring him around to a less murdery way of thinking. I know April O’Neil is right. He’s making his weapon right now. This is why I shouldn’t be a diplomat. I’m like a cross between Neville Chamberlin and…that Fly. (I’m not really like Superfly, but he seems so cool, like he’d be fun to go bowling with, and then you can relax and forget nuance exists and accept his impossible, unbending worldview. He’d get annoyed with me, though, because I’d constantly be like, “Superfly that black-or-white thinking might not be serving you. Let’s imagine the opposition and consider some nuance.” Ultimately, he would just squash me.)
I think most people in the world—once they’re not in a position of fear or pain—want to get along with others. But some people don’t. Some people just want to make noise and prevent understanding. Some of us are the oldest daughter in Home Alone, trying to count all the kids, and some are Buzz, yelling out random numbers, obfuscating for fun. In this film, the issue is not really that Superfly wants to hurt people. It’s that so many people believe mutants like Superfly should be hurt and keep attacking him, reinforcing his negative view of humanity and driving him to extremist violence.
In this world, there is so much noise that sometimes, the truth has a hard time reaching people.
This film presents that situation beautifully and shows how cooperation and communication benefit everyone. I always struggle with the intense fear that I will accidentally hurt or fail to protect someone I love. (I mean, quite literally in my case. For years, I felt crushed by guilt that I couldn’t carry my daughter to term. Then I tried to keep my mom safe during the pandemic, and she dropped dead inside my house. These readings of the world, I know, are due to mental illness. Always I am deeply afraid that I will hurt someone I care about (perhaps through the act of caring like Barnabus Browning who was scared of drowning). Or that perhaps because I’m too naïve, unwise to trust, I’m gonna get milked for blood. (That’s a reference to the plot.) This is blatant paranoia, and I’ve always struggled with it. It’s worn many disguises throughout my life, but underneath, it’s always the same. (My husband helpfully tells me, “People who are actually evil, do not constantly worry about being bad and hurting people.” I feel guilty about what I do, and guiltier for no reason. I’m just fun like that. Being able to articulate it rationally doesn’t get rid of it, but unless I’m in the depths of depression, I can function in spite of it) (though I feel I’d have more time in my day if I didn’t have to keep giving myself pep talks).
In a more abstract way, the mutants in this movie are suffering from the same kind of thing. Superfly thinks people will hurt him. And they do. So he hurts them. And then they hurt him more. And he hurts them.
Probably everyone in the world can relate to this. But you know who relates to this particularly well? High school students! The themes explored in this film are so spot on. What adolescent hasn’t thought at some point, “I’ll never fit in. People don’t like me because I really am different. Look! That proves they don’t like me! I’ll always be different. I’ve tried to be friends. Now I’m their enemy!” Adolescence is a time of life marked by such deep insecurity (much like every subsequent time of life).
Like Barbie, this movie genuinely has something of substance to say to its audience, and it’s a message teens crave, understand, and need to hear (again and again). The idea that we should speak out in our own voices, try to understand one another, and come together as a community to solve problems is a lesson that deserves reinforcement. This approach may not solve every problem immediately, but with persistence (and the discovery of the right community) it will always help.
To me, this film seems highly effective since its “moral” actually worked on me and turned around my thinking as I experienced watching it.
I also liked the fact that the four turtles are voiced by actors who are actually teenagers. Some iterations of these turtles get a bit buff and menacing for my tastes. I find the authenticity of the young cast charming. I also really liked Ayo Eidebiri as April O’Neil. This may be my favorite incarnation of April yet. (I think I’ve seen most Ninja Turtles projects, though the only one I truly love remains the 90s cartoon.)
For sure my favorite performance is Ice Cube as Superfly. (Honestly, I liked the character as written. I was persuaded to be his friendly cousin in the same way I was not entirely uncurious about the cult in Midsommar.) Paul Rudd is also very fun as Mondo Gecko, and Jackie Chan makes a wonderful Splinter. (His surprise party for them touched me deeply.)
The music in the movie could not be better. What I like best is the way it all kind of blends into one big song. I mean, I’m extremely familiar with most songs in the soundtrack, but they all kind of run together in a relaxing, atmospheric way. I found the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross quite appealing, too.
Also, I’m almost sure I spotted a cardboard cutout of Chris Pratt is the background, and we have one of those haunting our house, too. (My husband and kids only saw Chris Pine, but the one on the back left looked like Chris Pratt to me.)
Best Scene Visually:
I love the art style of this movie. My daughter remarked on how it doesn’t have a “cookie cutter corporate Disney look.” I agree with her that there’s a wonderful expressiveness to the drawing. At one moment near the end of the film, when all the turtles enter dressed for school, I thought, “Wow! They look perfect! They’ve done a great job with their character design. Their self-presentation is reasonably subtle but fits each brother to a T.”
Best Scene:
It’s a toss up here. The first scene that made a strong impact is the flashback of April’s initial high school newscast. This reminds me of a similar fiasco I once endured. Plus, while normally I don’t find vomit funny or appealing, this scene has kind of a “Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes” quality that makes it hard to resist after a while. Then later, there’s a powerful moment that spoke so strongly to me. I love that her big break newscast doesn’t go perfectly either. But she keeps going.
I equally like the moment when Splinter hears what Superfly is saying, realizes his approach to parenting has been misguided, and enters the fray.
Best Action Sequence:
My daughter made me so happy when she whispered, “This is how we entered the parking garage at the mall yesterday.” Then after the movie, my son remarked, “Donatello drives like Mom!”
This was very cheering to me because we had a bit of a debacle parking yesterday, but I was able to figure it out and carry on with our outing without requiring any help. (Ironically, after assuming I’d entered the wrong part of the garage, freaking out, and self-soothing like nothing was wrong, I eventually discovered that I’d just misunderstood the signage, and nothing actually was wrong. That was a small victory for me.)
I think the movie gives us a cheering presentation of a realistic though comically exaggerated family dynamic.
The Negatives:
Maybe Superfly is too appealing. I’m telling you, he’s like Killmonger. You listen to him and think, “Hmm…you seem very real. I’m quite drawn to you.” Plus, it’s so disarming when you meet your enemy, and he’s like, “What’s up, bestie?” (I’m going to end up joining an evil fly army—or at least bowling with mutants. I know it!)
While I always like Maya Rudolph, her character, Cynthia Utrom, isn’t in it enough for me. I’d like to see more development, though probably we’ll get that in a (teased) sequel.
Also, if you like the frequent, Saturday-morning-style jokes of the 90s cartoon, this film might feel a little slow and dreamy to you. Somehow, it’s an extremely chill take on the material, even though the most high-octane stuff is happening. (Both the soundtrack, and the understated delivery of the jokes contribute to that.)
I don’t have much additional critique to add. My eight-year-old liked this a lot, and he’s a tough sell. My kids left the movie theater in deep discussion about which turtle they like best, and which turtle they are (a refreshing change from which Golden Girl they are. They both insist they’re Dorothy, and neither will budge!).
Overall:
I had so much fun going to a movie this weekend, that I was predisposed to like it. I’m sort of delighted at how much stuff I’ve managed to throw out of our house. Plus, we got my daughter’s bedroom painted, and I personally painted the toybox, bookcase, and upstairs bathroom all by myself. And I only fell in the bathtub once!