With its far-reaching references, “Mutant Mayhem” is much like the brand new wave of animated movies, like “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” and the Spider-Verse movies (and even perhaps going again a couple of years, with “Ralph Breaks the Web” and the Lego motion pictures), that enjoy a popular culture pastiche of emojis, gifs, viral movies and chatspeak.
And the music is at all times on-point; Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross produce a killer rating of their signature wild, industrial rock combined with a couple of softer piano-heavy interludes. Different sequences leap off the display due to the addition of quintessentially New York hip-hop, corresponding to DMX and Blackstreet.
The casting is a factor of magnificence, with extra comedic expertise than I’ve the area to name out right here. Listening to Paul Rudd, Rose Byrne, Seth Rogen, John Cena, Hannibal Buress and Submit Malone (as a reluctant dangerous man who simply desires to sing) as numerous colourful — and I imply that actually and figuratively — mutants is like, say, getting a free order of breadsticks along with your pizza.
In actual fact, the solid of aspect characters nearly outshines the turtles themselves within the comedy division, with Chan’s endearing Splinter and Ice Dice’s Nineteen Seventies Blaxploitation-style funky-fresh villain, Superfly, being the prime examples.
However in the long run, there’s little complexity to the characters and no shock to the plot. And even the messaging, about tolerance, good intentions and outsiders discovering their brood, is so unimaginatively expressed that it feels cliché.
A movie unintentionally caught in its personal form of adolescence, “Mutant Mayhem” has loads of charms however tries so arduous to be cool, humorous and related — so completely on-line — that it forgets to relax with a slice, some buds and simply, you realize, vibe.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant MayhemRated PG. Operating time: 1 hour 39 minutes. In theaters.
