I know what you’re thinking: the late Eighties comic-strip characters have been repackaged so many times. Why would anyone over the age of 10 – especially adults who shuddered through the dire 2014 live-action film and its sequel, willingly endure more turtle tat?
Quick answer: because famously irreverent producer/co-writer Seth Rogen knows what he’s doing. This New York-based cartoon (about a bunch of sewer reptiles transformed by a test-tube’s worth of bright-green slime) is peppy, anarchic, doesn’t talk down to teens, looks scrumdiddlyumptious, boasts an impeccably laconic soundtrack and gives us April O’Neil as we’ve never seen her before.
The origin story of brothers Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo (all voiced by actual adolescents; a first for a TMNT project) has been tweaked, placing more emphasis on the chronic anxiety of mutated rat-turned-parent figure Splinter (a wonderful Jackie Chan). Splinter – haunted by the idea that hostile humans, given the chance, will “milk” his beloved offspring to harness their power – refuses to be reassured by his sons, who wail, “But we don’t even have nipples!”
Other changes: Donatello now has glasses and all four turtles have a soft spot for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. As a four-eyed fan of Ferris, I applaud these moves. As for mutant anti-hero Superfly (Ice Cube), he and his grungey cohorts, including a tactile gecko (voiced by Paul Rudd) are profoundly appealing and Maya Rudolph – as evil-to-the-bone baddie Cynthia Utrom – is spry.
The revelation, though, is April (The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri). As in the 2012 CGI series and the 2018 TV cartoons, April is a droll, cute teen who arouses lust in one of the turtles. But this time round, she’s not super-skinny.
Perhaps predictably, there’s been online resistance to the new version of April, while the fact that she’s African-American has prompted a depressing amount of hate. But forget the haters, Edebiri is brilliant and her April is three-dimensional. A budding journo (inclined to barf when nervous), she’ll make you laugh throughout.
Last but not least, the scrappy and flamboyantly colourful animation style mixes the wildness of Gerald Scarfe’s drawings with the chunky textures of Raymond Briggs’ Fungus the Bogeyman. It’s all so murkily bold and, of all the surreal set-pieces, the milking machine deserves a chef’s kiss.
True, Mutant Mayhem isn’t as mind-meltingly deep as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Or Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. But that’s fine: for a summer kids movie, it oozes intelligence.
In cinemas
99 mins, cert PG
