Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
After years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O'Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them.
Mutant Mayhem earns its standout score in Cinematography — the sketchy, hand-drawn-feeling 3D animation style is genuinely distinctive and vibrant, evoking a graffiti-and-zine aesthetic that feels fresh for the franchise and for animated films generally. The voice cast of actual teenagers gives the film an authentically chaotic, overlapping energy that works well, though the acting remains solidly above average rather than exceptional. The plot follows a fairly familiar 'outsiders seeking acceptance' arc with a crime syndicate threat — functional and charming but not surprising. Novelty is above average thanks to the visual style and youthful tone, but the story beats themselves are familiar enough to hold it back from a 4. The ending resolves satisfyingly with good emotional payoff but doesn't land with particular memorability or ambition.