Review: 'Mutant Turtles' movie shines

Four out of Five Stars

By Michael Leek
Sports Editor

If you are looking for a nice, funny and entertaining kids' movie, then “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” is the movie for you.

Being released on Aug 2, 2024 “Mutant Mayhem” is a new rendition of the famous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The last rendition was an underwhelming live-action movie not specifically targeted at kids. This new movie is the exact opposite.

The story follows the Turtles as they meet a high school student named April who is trying to become a journalist. Both the turtles and April come up with a plan to help each other. The Turtles want the world to see them as “good guys” or normal, and April wants to be known as a journalist.

The first thing viewers will notice is the movie is animated with the “Spider-Man into the Spider-verse” type of animation. It fits perfectly for this movie, giving it more of a kids' feel.

Even though the movie was targeted for kids, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie from start to finish. The pacing was excellent, the voice acting was great and the action scenes were appealing and engaging.

Another aspect of the movie that makes it seem more targeted for kids is the voice acting. The voice actors for the Turtles are actually teenagers, hence the title of the franchise. Having the voice actors be teenagers made the Turtles in the movie feel like teenagers, and the modern slang and trends used in the movie did not feel forced.

The story tackled some real-world issues like discrimination, for example, while not pushing them to the forefront of the movie.

“Mutant Mayhem” has a one-hour, 37-minute run time and is available on Paramount Plus.

This movie is perfect to watch for a family night, or if you are just looking for something to watch with little siblings. I rate this movie four stars and will be watching the second one when released.