Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Jul 17, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Jeff RoweRelease Date(s)
2023 (December 12, 2023)Studio(s)
Nickelodeon Movies/Point Grey Pictures (Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: B
- Video Grade: A+
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: D+
Review
Absent for seven years on the big screen after the Platinum Dunes-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequel Out of the Shadows, it was only a matter of time before the crime-fighting foursome would return for another adventure, but this time through a different entity: Point Grey Pictures. This team would bring the turtles back to their roots for something a little different, reveling more in the turtles’ teenage-ness, and developing a story that would give them a modern-day freshness. The result, 2023’s CGI-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, was successful with both audiences and critics, and managed to bring in a healthy profit at the box office, securing further adventures with this take on a classic intellectual property.
Fifteen years prior, one of the heads of TCRI (Techno Cosmic Research Institute) in New York City sends a team of soldiers to find Baxter Stockman, a scientist who has created a mutagenic ooze. Stockman is killed during the raid on his lab, but his mutants escape, and a vial of his mutagen falls into a sewer, spilling onto a rat and four baby turtles. They subsequently mutate into larger, walking-talking creatures, later studying martial arts, and hiding themselves away from the rest of the world. The four turtles, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael, dream of human interaction, often going behind their father’s (Splinter) back to observe them. After inadvertently thwarting a group of criminals, they meet April, an aspiring teenage journalist eager to prove herself. Together they hatch a plan to go on a crime-fighting spree in order for her to get her big story, unknowingly stumbling upon Stockman’s now grown-up mutants, led by Superfly, who are hell-bent on stealing technology capable of transforming all lifeforms into mutants.
The cast includes Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Micah Abbey as Donatello, and Brady Noon as Raphael, as well as Jackie Chan as Splinter, Ayo Edebiri as April, and Ice Cube as Superfly. Providing other voices are Seth Rogen, John Cena, Paul Rudd, Rose Byrne, Natasia Demetriou, Hannibal Buress, Austin Post, Alex Hirsch, Maya Rudolph, and Giancarlo Esposito.
One of the most successful aspects of Mutant Mayhem is that the turtles are played by actual teenagers, and they’re all terrific. They’re very natural and don’t necessarily sound like the turtles of old. Some of the improvisational-style banter can be a little overbearing, but since the idea is that these are truly modern-day teenagers, it works. It’s also nice that the villains do not include the Shredder or Krang for a change, though there’s a post-credit tease of the former for a future film. But doing something different with this franchise is much-appreciated, especially from someone who’s been a fan since he was very young when its popularity was at its all-time peak.
The plot itself isn’t all that compelling as it’s fairly conventional: a bad guy with a world-ending device must be stopped, like in so many other comic book-based films. It’s not the main thrust, and thankfully it all ties together much better than other recent films with similar elements. The turtles want to be accepted by humans, and through heroic actions, they eventually are; April wants to get the big story, and she does so by showing the world that the turtles are not the enemy; and Splinter fears the world above, learning through the words and actions of Superfly that he’s been far too protective of the turtles. The downside is that there’s not a whole lot of dimension to Superfly. He’s more or less just an unstoppable villain by the end, despite the initial dynamic with his family of mutants, all of whom he fostered on his own.
Some of the elements left out from the original comics, which include Hamato Yoshi and Splinter learning ninjutsu prior to meeting the turtles, can be forgiven to some degree. The attempt is to make these characters more relatable for a modern audience, and in this incarnation, the turtles learn their kills by watching kung fu movies. The film is also full of references, though not at the expense of the story. Eagle-eyed fans might recognize that the turtles are the colors of their original action figures, which is a very nice touch. The soundtrack is mostly composed of 1990s-era hip-hop, with surprising needledrops like Ninja Rap by Vanilla Ice from 1991’s The Secret of the Ooze and the SLACKCiRCUS version of 4 Non Blondes’ What’s Up?, not to overlook the solid score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Mutant Mayhem borrows its style of CGI-animation from the Spider-Verse films, but does so in its own sloppy but organized way. According to the filmmakers, the designers and animators were instructed to design and draw these characters and this world as if they were still young kids; meaning that characters and backgrounds are messy and almost impressionistic at times, yet still very distinguishable. This facet and many others are why Mutant Mayem manages to re-invigorate the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, even spinning off a TV series, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and a sequel that’s due out in 2027, as of this writing.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was digitally animated in the ARRIRAW (2.8K) codec, finished as a 2K Digital Intermediate, and presented theatrically in the aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment debuts the film on Ultra HD with an upsampled 4K presentation that’s been graded for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and presented on a dual-layered BD-66 disc. Despite the 2K DI source, Mutant Mayhem looks remarkable in UHD. There are no encoding issues, nor is there anything artificially enhanced about it. The crisp and colorful animation style is rendered beautifully, with boosted blacks and perfect contrast, thanks in no small part to the HDR passes, especially in Dolby Vision. The gritty, messy style of the world of New York City is highly detailed with a multitude of both bright and more subtle hues in backgrounds, as well as the foreground. Characters and action set pieces are sharp and expertly-realized from end to end, leaving no room for complaint.
Audio is included in English Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible) with optional subtitles in English and English SDH. Texture and immersion are the name of the game here, and the Atmos experience certainly provides that, encircling viewers with a wide variety of ambient activity, as well as explosive action, and solid dialogue engagement. Low end is a little tamer than expected, but it still manages to pack a punch in all the right places. Additional audio options include an English Audio Descriptive track, as well as German, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin), French (Parisian), French (Canadian), Italian, Japanese, Dutch, and Flemish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Additional subtitle options include German, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin), French (Parisian), French (Canadian), Italian, Japanese, Dutch, and Flemish.
The Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem sits in a black Amaray case alongside a Digital Code on a paper insert within the package, as well as an artwork insert and a slipcover. The following extras are included in UHD with HDR:
- TEENage Mutant Ninja Turtles (6:14)
- The Mutant Uprising (8:34)
- New York, New York: The Visual World of Mutant Mayhem (5:57)
- Learn to Draw Leo (21:21)
All of the extras are quickly-cut, promotional fluff pieces that only skim the surface of the production, but featured are interviews with all of the main cast and crew, as well as recording studio footage and some concept art. It certainly needs embellishment, especially since all of the marketing materials are missing in action, nor is there an audio commentary with anybody involved with the film, but it’s a great presentation regardless.
- Tim Salmons
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