Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Review

Hey guys, Raphael here at the Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles. Did you say podcast? Dudes, dudettes,

you're listening to a podcast on the Gatecast

Radio Network. Cowabunga! Hello and welcome to

episode 202 of the cinema geeks I am one of your

cinema geeks optimus solo and joining me today

is The comic con sears. How are you doing, sir?

I'm doing well. How about yourself? I'm doing

well Excited to get into our final Episode or

as far as the movies go of our Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtle Retrospective or however you want

to call it. And this is the final movie that's

Currently released it came out August 2nd of

this year. So we're a little late getting to

it, but that's my fault I know Dan you were able

to see this in the theater I was not so before

we kind of get into the nuts and bolts of it

and kind of set it up Just tell me a little bit

about your theater experience seeing this one

So took my kid out to go see it back when it

came out in August I think it was the first weekend

or maybe second weekend went to my local Indie

independent theater. It's like so it's not part

of like a chain or anything like that but with

that like they have like two normal sized rooms

and the other ones are Rather like they're basically

the size of a living room a little bit bigger

So that's the room we were in So it wasn't huge.

It was the screen was probably like Maybe 85

is 60. It wasn't you know, huge, but it was nice

just it was actually kind of More intimate in

that way and we're going to see it But uh, so

this my youngest hasn't like he's watched a little

turtle stuff here and there like he knows who

they are but He watched some of the stuff when

I was obviously talked about like as i've been

going through this but he really dug it like

I go and like He was super excited the entire

time. Like we've gone to a few movies this year

like mario and What else did we go see? Spider

-Man crossed the Spider -Verse. I think he was

the most excited out of all this one. I don't

know why. Maybe because it was just me and him

and his brother wasn't there, and he was just

fully into it. Plus, I think the humor hit him.

It was definitely geared, I think, towards his

age, much more than I was anticipating. So I

think it really hit strong. So he was a huge

fan of it. So yeah, it was a good experience.

We'll have to see what your opinion is and my

opinion of it is as well as we work our way through

this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem

is a CGI or computer animated superhero film

that was released this year directed by Jeff

Rowe who's the same guy that did Mitchell versus

the machines and it was co -wrote by Seth Rogen,

Evan Goldberg, Dan Hernandez and Benji Sumit.

I don't know if I said that name right but we'll

go with it. It's the seventh theatrical Teenage

Mutant Ninja Turtles films and a reboot of the

Turtles series It came in at about 100 minutes

long. Budget was 70 million, made over 180 so

far. Obviously, this is through Nickelodeon in

a way. There's no series that this is based off

of like we've seen with some of the other movies

we've covered. This is like the first part of

whatever this may be, whether it's just this

movie or we'll get into at the end of what other

things might be coming down the pipeline. And

this obviously stars our four Teenage Mutant

Ninja Turtles, Donatella, Michelangelo, Leonardo,

Raphael, as well as their dad figure Splinter.

And then we're also going to see some appearances

by April O 'Neill, a character named Cynthia

Utram. And then we have a plethora of villain

quote unquote characters. At least they were

villains in the original series. So we'll call

them that for now, even though they're not all

like villain to the core. And we'll get into

that because that's a whole kind of portion of

this movie, but it features the likes of Rocksteady,

Bebop, Leatherhead, Wingnut, Superfly, Mondo

Gecko, Ray Follet, Genghis Frog and Scumbug.

I think I hit them all. And then we also had

a brief appearance by Baxter Stockman. So, Dan,

what was your kind of initial reaction to this

film? What kind of things did you like or dislike

or kind of how did it just like? First first

opinion of it after you saw it So I think going

into it I remember we mentioned it like I was

really looking forward to it because I really

dug the animation style a lot of people made

the comparisons to like Spider -man into the

spider -verse and I think it's certainly there

also just reminds me of like a claymation style

I don't remember the almost even classic Nickelodeon

and like the yeah, how it's a little rough around

the edges Especially in the humor But you know,

we've been going through this retrospective for

a while now and I would say like out of all the

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films I feel like

this is definitely the most unique in the sense

of How it's obviously animated But it is the

first one that feels like it the teenagers part

of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles It's actually

kind of living up to that name. You know, it's

definitely going very headfirst into that Part

of it as well as the mutant like, you know mutant

in this like teenage and mutant are capitalized

all caps ninja Maybe not so much um, and then

turtles a good a good amount I guess but yeah,

so Uh, I enjoyed my time there. I mean obviously

impacted because how much my kid was enjoying

it So that certainly rubbed off on me. Um, just

seeing his his enjoyment uh, but it was interesting

like there's I didn't love everything about it

like there are some choices where It's like,

okay, I'm not this is going for something. But

I think when you look at this entire franchise,

one thing that has been very clear is that each

installment has taken its own unique road to

try to represent the turtles in some way and

some more successful than others. Now, even from

the earliest comic to the cartoon to the movies,

they're all a little bit different. So I think

it's it stayed true to that and I understand

making some of the changes that they did like

there were some surprises in this like I Like

I thought I knew right where it's gonna go and

going right away like okay. Here's Bacter Stockman

we know he's gonna be the villain and All that

and it definitely surprised me on that end, but

I enjoyed my time. I thought it was fun in the

sense of like On the character side, I thought

it Each character or at least the characters

were engaging. Um, and uh, they were fun together

and there's a lot of chemistry with those characters

and those actors Which isn't the easiest thing

to do when you're dealing with voice actors and

a lot of times Everything kind of feels isolated.

That wasn't the case here. So I want to like

um, I don't know where I feel like it goes in

the pantheon of all the different turtles movies,

but Generally thought I enjoyed my enjoyed my

time. Uh, I it's certainly a movie. I think I

probably would have loved a lot more as a kid

than I do as an adult. And I think that's kind

of what it's going for. Yeah. And I think it's

interesting. You mentioned like all the other

different films that we've covered over this

little journey. And it does seem like each one

decides to take a certain approach to the turtles,

whether they're. Trying to lay into a little

bit more of the darker side with the comics,

whether they're trying to get a little bit more

comedic like the 1989 8789 series. How much humor

they're going to put in, how much action they're

going to put in. It seems like they've all tried

to do various amounts of blending that to different

effects. And it's interesting to see how they

all kind of land and how this one lands in comparison

to some of the other ones. Just to get into the

visuals a little bit, because I think that's

one thing that just is going to like. Define

this movie in a way is and what a lot of people

talk about when they talk about this film is

the visuals and I think you know, it's interesting

it made me think when you were talking about

the fact that you brought your son to it and

I'm thinking in my head like Kids these days

like your son for example is going to grow up

in a world where? Seemingly in a world where

there's so many different styles of animation

that they're exposed to that there's not necessarily

like One style that's going to define their.

Childhood maybe as as there was with us is what

I'm thinking like, cause we had like the 2D animation.

You know cells that were painted etc. You know,

like we have what was done in the 80s and that

was like the only thing that existed right and.

You know then disney took kind of a lead in in

how animated films looked and that was all we

basically got outside of like you said some of

the stop motion you know wallace and grommet

type things of that nature but we for the most

part in our childhood were exposed to the same

general animation type and then i feel like in

maybe the next generation was more just straight

cg now granted there's various levels of CG and

some are better than others, et cetera, et cetera.

But I feel like maybe for the first time kids

that are, you know, maybe about four to eight

or nine right now are dealing with or living

in a world where it's not just one form. It's

not just CG. It's not just what we grew up with.

There's all these different styles being shown

and highlighted. Thanks to things like into the

spider verse, thanks to things like this mutant

mayhem. Film and you know, i'm sure there's others

that are out there. I'm just I don't have children

So I haven't been exposed to as many of them

But I just feel like it's an interesting time

where they're getting just such a variety of

different styles to look at that I don't know

if they would Think one image in their head when

they think animation like maybe we do if that

made any sense No, I definitely agree you think

of those movies like secret of the kels and things

like that like like those that type of style

although that's you know, a little bit more like

the I don't know what they call it. I have my

animation knowledge, isn't that great? But certainly,

I think Into the Spider -Verse opened the door,

because you're right. It was basically Pixar,

the look of Pixar, and even DreamWorks. How to

Train Your Dragon, if you knew nothing about

that movie, I don't think people would be like,

is this Pixar, is this DreamWorks? Stylistically,

you really saw no difference, depending upon

the company. And this certainly, you know, And

I think there's a lot of comparisons into this

by diverse with like how like in but it's all

obviously rooted in comics but even this I think

takes it a different direction. It's a little

rougher like it's incomplete and And like kind

of purposely ugly like it's like not meant to

be all shiny and nice and I think that's what

they mentioned going for like the sketches on

I think it's certainly in that vein for sure

So it was interesting because I said, like for

Into the Spider -Verse and that those movies

that it was kind of like trying to make a comic

book come to life in animation form. And for

this one, the director said that it's more like

he wanted a sketch to come to life. Yeah. He

made the comment that if the picture looks like

a 2D painting, when it's not moving, we're doing

what I want or doing we're doing well. So it's

kind of interesting. Yeah, it's very much this

unfinished look. And where you see like the brushstrokes

or you see like the things that aren't, you know,

smoothed over and things of that nature, which

is makes it very unique. Something I don't know

if I've seen something that's done exactly this

way ever. So I thought that was fun. Would it

be like the style that I would choose if I could

only watch one style of animation for the rest

of my life? I don't know, but it's unique and

I thought it was fun to look at as far as that

goes. I think the other thing that. I want to

talk about before we get into the characters

and before we get into the story a little some

of the kind of more Aesthetic type things about

this. So one you have unique visual Number two

with the sound and the songs and the soundtrack

and the all that type of stuff. I found it interesting

how Diverse that was as well like they do some

stuff. That's more current They definitely make

their callbacks to stuff that has happened prior

in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle universe.

So like we got ninja rap you know, vanilla ices

ninja rap in here, which is awesome, I thought.

But then you have stuff like Black Streets, No

Diggity. You got some DMX in there. You got some

stuff that would not be as well known. So the

score was composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus

Ross. What did you think of the music just in

general? I love the music choices. I don't know

if kids are going to like know when No Diggity

came out. I'm like, really? This is where they're

going. All right. Like I'm I'm enjoying it and.

Also think they weren't obvious choices to like

I you know, I I don't think before this I would

ever think no diggity would ever be the you know

The soundtrack to an action scene because it's

not that type of song but it makes sense with

with this especially what it was going for so

I love the music choices were smart and Had a

good variety to them. I was trying to think of

what I was Recently why I forget I think was

one of the Fast and Furious movies time I remember

but it was one of those movies where it's like

everything it felt like everything was so obvious

It's like the lyrics were basically of the songs

were just basically describing what's on screen

and here I thought it wasn't that and they weren't

they weren't songs you hear all the time and

they want the obvious Oh, I know what it was.

It was transformers the the most recent one and

like it went with like the most you know always

the big hits of the 90s and things rather than

like some of the it's not like no diggity is

like Like not a huge song, but it's not when

you hear all the time. So I felt the choices

were effective and varied. And I don't know,

like I said, if it really keeps in line with

trying to go with the youth, but you know, maybe,

but you know, what is old is cool sometimes.

So who knows? Right. Speaking of the youth, I

couldn't help but notice how many, how much effort

was put, it seems like, like intentional effort.

to try to make this connect with things that

are of the now ways that people speak in that,

you know, in the younger generations, things

of that nature. And I'm kind of torn on that.

Part of me is like, I get it because they're

trying to connect to a different audience. They're

trying to make this cool for this new generation

of kids, et cetera, et cetera. So they want to

relate to them. And then on the other hand, it's

like I've seen when this happens in other films

and then when you rewatch it five or 10 years

later, It makes it feel so dated. So I I'm kind

of torn on if I like the way they went with that

or not. What I'm things I'm talking about is

like they reference celebrities and I think Guy

Fieri is mentioned and like a couple other things

like that. But then they're using like language

that kids use these days. Like there's a whole

conversation about sus and things like that.

How do you feel as far as like they're kind of

their effort? To connect with that younger audience

and do you feel any of it is going to make it

feel dated? You later on more so than like if

they would have avoided that I think it'll definitely

make it feel dated but I don't think always being

dated is not necessarily I don't think being

dated is always a bad thing because I think we

go back, you know watching those 90s, you know,

the first 90s tmnt movie It definitely feels

dated because but they make some older references.

They make some references all the time as well

but I think it's in in keeping with the characters

because these are characters who Their understanding

of the world is through pop cultures through

youtube videos and things like that. So that's

what they know uh, and some of them I think aren't

super like guy theory has Been around for a while.

It's not like specifically right here right now

or uh attack on titan that's been around for

a long time, too So it's not like it's just you

know a reference to like a viral a viral video

from 2022 or something like that. So um, I think

In the sense they're not it's not too niche or

not too at the moment So I feel like if you're

gonna do it, especially because they casted kids

that were talking, if it was like adults trying

to say that, if it was Corey Feldman now trying

to talk about sus, I'd be like, it doesn't work.

But here it just felt naturally of the kids that

were in these roles. Yeah, I totally get that.

And it's interesting because they did that all

of those like efforts to really can. You know

sound like kids talk like kids, etc, etc But

then they also are throwing all the stuff for

the parents that are watching it with their kids

Like we talked about no diggity. That's clearly

something that the parents would get the vanilla

ice song is something that you know parents would

get they have a whole thing with Ferris Bueller

and Ferris Bueller's day off and yeah, that was

very timely very funny because I know that's

been brought up a lot like how wrong that movie

seems in retrospect like From a lot of people

as far as when you're dissecting like what's

actually going on here like So it was kind of

interesting that they chose to kind of have a

little commentary on that But that's clearly

something that the parents are gonna get so it's

like they I felt like they did They were they

were pulling in multiple directions to try to

appeal to as massive a you know an audience as

they could which is obviously what you want to

do so I think they did that well did you notice

anything else that was kind of Pulling towards

different ages I can't well, I think I don't

know if it's different ages, but I think if you're

a Jackie Chan fan They certainly made references

to a lot of his films like they literally showed

them and then there was a few a few scenes with

splinter that like he was legitimately like acting

out like a Jackie Chan moment, so I don't know

that for you know people who are fans of that

era of martial arts films, you know the guess

you would say You know, he's he's movies forever.

But I think that was something I I did notice

was they they try to uh, You know, you know They

had jackie chan as a voice and they didn't they

took advantage of it and tried to make some references

to some of his classic stuff and I feel like

another way that they're doing that and kind

of Playing to both crowds in a way is how they

cast this film because obviously they do have

Somewhat unknowns as far as the main turtles

go and they're you know, actually casting kids

to do the voice roles of that with Micah Abbey

Shimon Shaman Brown, Shimon Brown, Nicholas Cantu

and Brady Noon and even Io Etabiri as April O

'Neil, but then you have like these like Well

-established people when it comes to especially

the villains with Maya Rudolph John Cena Seth

Rogen Rose Byrne Giancarlo Esposito Jackie Chan

Ice Cube Paul Rudd, etc. Etc. So you have like

this big mixture of that um which i thought was

interesting as well and then i think you kind

of touched on it a little bit the fact that they

recorded this a lot of it used to be you know

way back in the day when cartoons were done you

know the whole voice cast was in a studio together

recording in a booth and playing off of each

other and talking to each other and stuff like

that and then as technology has happened and

different things in our culture and society like

it's gotten to the point where a lot of people

are recording those Isolated individually sending

it in from way across the country or across the

globe or whatever and then they're all getting

mashed together You mentioned that it didn't

feel like that here and they did make a concerted

effort to have multiple people in booths together

recording So like the four turtles were always

recording together It talks about how some of

the villains that shared a lot of scenes would

would be recording together. So I assume that

you feel like that Was a parent and came through

in some of the performances as well that it seemed

like they actually had people that they were

playing off of. Definitely like there's that

one scene where they're like one of the first

scenes there with april and they're like trying

to like do videos of themselves and like they

just go off for a rather long time about like

they start doing a personations of like. You

know new yorkers and things like it's it's a

i think was even in the in the in the trailer

and like i don't feel like you could script that

like you could you could start but it definitely

felt like a scene that naturally evolved into

something that you know it started at some place

and went someplace else. So those moments i don't

think you could get isolated i think you need

have them together for a moment like that so.

Yeah, the performances were well well done there

and I think another thing that's interesting

about this film that separates it a little bit

from a lot of the films that we've talked about

before is the choice of quote -unquote villain

or villains because a lot of times you get either

shredder or we've seen it where you get crying

or you know, you're getting this like main character

and We've seen, you know be off and rock steady

a little bit or token raise our those types of

characters But I thought it was interesting that

this one really kind of took some of those like

second tier or even like third or fourth tier

characters that you might have had the toy of

or you might have seen in one episode of the

cartoon that never got any attention in any type

of film or anything like that and They just start

throwing like the whole group of them in here.

So what did you think of the Idea or the the

fact that they did put you know, whatever it

ends up being it's like eight or nine of these

characters in as this group that the turtles

are gonna interact with whether they're fully

bad or fully good or somewhere in the middle

but we get all of these classic characters that

appeared in. At least the original cartoon I

don't know if they appeared in the comics as

well I'm not as versed on that except for I'm

not sure is super fly a character that was just

made for this film that's my guess but I don't

know that for sure. Don't know like I honestly

don't know because obviously that we had the

Baxter stop and character which I feel like it's

an influence by but I don't know I don't know

for sure I believe I believe it is made up for

the film because I believe it's you know, they

named it after the classics Blacks Boy Station

movie. So Right so we get all of the other ones

though that we we know like I mentioned before

so is there any of those that first what did

you think of just having that many characters

involved does it work or does it make it a little

bit too muddled and was there anybody that you

were like excited to see that was like oh I remember

this character that I've never that hasn't ever

got this type of attention I so yeah I meant

my knowledge of like some of those characters

I Wasn't huge like the gecko guy. I can't think

of his name with it that one I remember having

that like I don't think I had the torio, but

I remember seeing the torio of I was just happy

that we're seeing a bunch of them that we like

That we didn't normally get it wasn't just a

shredder movie again So that was kind of cool

and usually having this many characters is the

kiss of death like when you have you know The

villain problem which him and with that it's

not like they had a there was any development

with the characters, but I think what we saw

was. It wasn't necessarily, it was what those

characters represented as a group rather than

what they meant individually. Uh, so I don't

know, like it wasn't just, it was, what was that?

I thought it worked way better than it should

have. Yeah. Yeah. And super fly was like, I kept

waiting for back to stockman. I'm like, I, you

know, like that was my thought, like, oh, is

he really dead? Like I had that, like, so that

was a kind of surprise. And as a villain, I thought.

I thought Superfly was effective, like he felt

like a menacing threat in the way it evolved.

So yeah, I don't know. I liked the way they went

with it. I think it was interesting just seeing

all these characters on screen. And even though

they didn't have a lot of development, at least

had personality. And part of that was the voices

and the actors that were there. But I don't know.

I thought it was fun. I got to admit that I completely

geeked out at Scumbug only because Scumbug was

like this random toy that I had as a kid. that

I don't even remember ever seen like in anything

like it was like you that time where your parents

get you like the toy from the series that you're

watching but then you're like who the heck is

this forgotten completely that he even existed.

And then he popped up in this movie and I was

like, I had that toy. So I like that they found

a way to get him in there. I don't know if I,

I think the only thing that kind of gets a little

muddled is with the whole Cynthia Utram aspect

of it as well. Yeah. But I thought that's something

that's kind of a through line through a lot of

the turtle stuff. So I'm fine with it, but like,

I almost would have rather that not even been

a part of it, but I get that she had to deal

with the whole Baxter Stockman aspect that kind

of sets that up and we get the whole. Go ahead.

I have a feeling that she's, like, there's that

set up for the sequel. Like, you know, the oom

-trap, like, that's, you know, maybe secretly

there's a Krang type of alien controlling her,

because even she had that kind of look with the

glasses. So I was waiting for that reveal. So

I definitely think she, there's more to that

one. So I did, like, I did, they did hold the

door open a little bit for, like, some of those

more classic characters. So, but yeah. the TCR

I or whatever acronym orders that we have that's

going to supply the the ooze or the mutation

stuff that that's going to cause the turtles.

But we do get a little bit of a different backstory

with this one as far as the Baxter Stockman involvement,

as far as the splinter backstory and things of

that nature. Not that there's been just one of

those. There's been multiple. But kind of how

do you feel like that all worked with this movie?

So that's the one element i don't know if i'm

fully sure on so we did the michael bay movies

obviously we had the splinter who learned how

to do martial arts through a book. And here it

was like through you know movies and things like

that and i don't know if that's any better like

it just seems. It seems strange to me i guess

it's something he's got i can't get hung up on

but i don't love that choice. I do kinda like

the idea of him being a recluse in the sense

of he doesn't want, he's almost, you know, he's

that overprotective father in a way he's not

normally, like he, you know, obviously he's usually

the sensei, the sensible one here, he's the one

kind of causing a lot of the conflict, which

is different, but I think, like I said, sometimes

we've seen this franchise works by being different,

and Splinter is the one character that has always

kind of been... Dead fast in the way they've

approached them. So why not do something a little

unique? And so I thought that was an interesting

approach Like I still don't love the idea of

him learning becoming martial arts master through

those means But I guess it's no less realistic

than a rat learning how to do martial arts through

watching his master So, I don't know. I guess

it's I guess it's you can't you know, it's Neither

of them make sense logically, but I guess, you

know, it makes more sense logically the other

way since we're used to it, I guess. I think

I just I think it makes the character lose one

aspect that I kind of enjoy about it. I always

have enjoyed about it. Like, I don't mind the

idea that he doesn't trust humans and that he

is very cautious of the turtles interacting with

them and that he's been done wrong by them, et

cetera, et cetera. Like, I think that's fine.

I think it adds to a lot of different elements

that this movie does play around with that is

very, very similar to what we see with a lot

of the X -Men films. A lot of the same types

of concepts that they're tackling when they do

that I think the one thing that I miss though

when they when they change this backstory which

we've seen it in multiple movies now is it just

for me takes away a little bit of the mystique

or the kind of the lower of ninjas and the lower

of that asked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

like it because when you tap into that, you know,

it's this whole storied history of how these

people train and how they act and their codes

of, you know, different things of that. Like

we get to see with a lot of the different training

montages that we see with some of the other movies.

So I kind of like wish they would have been able

to still somewhat tap into that, but then still

he could still be this reckless. He could still

be kind of like, you know, that type of thing,

which I don't think we've gotten that version

of Splendor yet that kind of is able to blend

both. They either go all. one way or they go

all the other way, it seems like. And the look

of him is obviously a little crazy for me because

it's just not what I'm used to. So I guess after

the Michael Bay movie, I'm happy with anything

like it. So it still looks better than that,

in my opinion. What do you think they did with

the turtles as well? You can finish that thought

as well, but then kind of go into like, obviously,

they're going to represent the turtles in a little

bit more of a younger look, a little bit more

not necessarily geeky, but more like adolescent.

Yeah, well, I guess the last thing on on Splinter

I do wonder if we'll like learn maybe that When

they if they do bring shredder for the sequel

or the TV series if they can continue it like

maybe there is more to his story than he's letting

on or something like that True. It's always it's

always a possibility. But I like the look of

the turtles I think it was a good way of they

certainly they're they're different like in sizes

like Mikey's a little smaller when we've seen

that a little bit more consistently I think really

honestly since the bay movies they seem to um,

so I thought it was a good meshing of like everything

like they had You know starting off like, you

know the opening scene. They're designed to look

like the original uh, the original comics and

then they kind of go into their more uh modern

look but I thought I thought the look was good

like every it wasn't over the done over the top

with how they Differentiated them like the bay

films. I keep saying bay films, but he's not

even the director of that movie, but you know

what I mean? so But there at least had their

own personnel personality and design so now Donnie

with the glasses and you know the braces which

makes you wonder Who do they go to for for dentistry?

But you know, maybe that's another thing that

splinter learn through a youtube video who knows

but I like to look the look overall for the most

part About April O 'Neill and like the the student

at the high school and kind of I I like that

I actually really like her being a teenager,

too I think that makes a whole lot more sense,

you know Like especially if if they were to do

like adult April with these kids, I think it'd

be a little creepy Honestly, especially if they

had like the attraction to April that they always

tend to do like if those kids You know when they're

like 12 years old and she's like in a full adult

it wouldn't work But I liked it and I felt like

this is the first time she had a story like her

own like development throughout any of these.

Usually she's just there. Like she had a story,

she had a purpose. She helped the turtles in

a way that she's like obviously getting them

what they want. So I thought out of all the movies

we got so far, I thought this was the best April

in the sense of like she was the most complete

character. out of any of the films easily. Subtly

worked in like her, the April O 'Neill backstory,

the origin story into this film, which was kind

of interesting. I maybe wasn't a huge fan of

the whole vomiting on camera. Oh, my kid loved

it. It is what it is. So overall, I can with

the feel of the movie in general, I think I like

what they did with the blend of the music. I

like what they did with some of the nods to different

generations of people that are possibly watching

this. I think the action works for me for some

of it. Some of it. It was like they were one

step away from making it look like the side scrolling

video game that was so popular. Turtles in Time

or whatever it was called. And I wish they would

have gone even that much further to make it look

more like that. I think that I don't know if

that was the no diggity scene or not, but it

was one of those scenes where they were kind

of doing a side scroll, which I kind of enjoyed.

I think the and I think they did do a decent

job of inserting some of the humor that we're

used to with a lot of the turtles. properties

that we've seen That obviously didn't go too

serious with anything, but I think for me. That's

one thing that Granted it wasn't like it was

on speed like one of the other films that we

watched I don't know if that's the last one or

the one before that where it was just last one

Yeah, yeah movement like they didn't go that

far, but they also to me could have maybe benefited

from a scene here or there that just kind of

slowed things down that gave us of depth into

some of these characters and some of these relationships,

which I think was the one element for me that

was missing in this film. I guess I relate it

too much to the original live action film, like

that farm sequence when it's like, we're gonna

bring things down, we're gonna show you the bonds

and the relationships between some of these characters,

what they're going through in their heads. And

it just really made me buy into those characters

and be attached to those characters so much when

that movie came out. And I just think that this

could have maybe benefited from a little element

of that. Yeah, I could see that like I think

it does Partially part of that is because I think

it hangs on to the comedy so much that right

even when they've had it doesn't necessarily

have that moment of like High stakes even when

things go really crazy at the end It always honor

cuts it a little bit with with humor like even

like the milking scene, you know Like that could

have been like a movie that scene that was like

it should have it in theory is like that's really

like that's you know crazy like, you know, when

you think of what's really happening there, but

It became but it ended up being more comedic

than I think it was designed to be or maybe it

was supposed to be i'm not sure but I I do think

that is the one thing because you don't get a

move a moment like that like we get Like splinter

and april and leonardo. I feel like have a lot

of the Development within this like there's certainly

there are films. I the other turtles. I think

they're a little bit more More just there like

they get some moments here and there like Donnie

like has some He there's a different version

of a nerd like he's in the anime and things like

that Which is I think a good way of approaching

that character, but Mikey I felt like it was

a bit short -changed like I don't feel like there

was a really moment where I felt he stood out

Raphael the same way I you know, he think they

talked about how he gets mad all the time But

I don't know if it was really ever represented

in the film. So because of that, I do think that

the turtles On a strictly character standpoint,

I don't. Outside of Leonardo, they were kind

of just fill in that role, but knowing that they

have, you know, series coming up, it just does

feel like something that they're planning for

next time. We're like, let's focus on Leo. Let's

focus on Splinter and we'll focus on April is

like our main characters. So you have to, you

have to cut some time someplace. So I get it.

It just. it would have helped just to right there's

there's at least like a scene or two where you

felt like Mikey and Raph were those characters

we know but they I don't feel like we ever got

that with them right it was obviously received

well made made its money back and more Rotten

Tomatoes 96 % general overall positive reviews

most of it is because of the style the look the

animation and things of that nature as far as

like people's quotes and reviews seems like it

goes into that a lot. So I think overall people

liked it like you've mentioned a few times it

is definitely something that they are discussing

doing more stuff whether it be a sequel film

or a series or both it seems like we're going

to get both it seems like most of that has been

green lit and we'll see just If it actually comes

to fruition. So are you excited to see more from

this specific version of the turtles universe?

I know they talking about the sequel film would

be all about shredder as far as the villain goes

Who knows what obviously the series would take

multiple different routes and probably introduce

a whole lot of different people But is this a

good step for this franchise and do you think

it's in good hands as far as the future goes?

I definitely think it's in good hands. I think

it I know it made a good amount of money wasn't

like a huge hit but Referencing back to like

into the spider verse like into the spider verse

wasn't just enormous hit like its first time

out either So and in considering the positive

buzz, it's on streaming, although it's on paramount

plus and like four people have that so I Don't

know if like it's gonna like have the increase

that film does but I think they've Gave laid

the groundwork for a lot of cool things. I do

wonder though, like how great the animation is

gonna look On a teeth like this seems like it

was rather expensive and it was like 70 million

but Like to try to make this look as good as

it does on a TV show I don't know because like

that might be a little bit more difficult So

I do wonder if some things will be lost in the

translation, but still I like the universe It's

building it doesn't feel like it's like doing

everything that was done before There's a lot

of like new directions. It's Kind of like reminds

me of the 2003 series, which was so very different

than and like it it Could see like where was

referencing what came before but it was making

its own stamp on the franchise I think that's

definitely the case here Yeah, I'm excited to

see what else they do I'd be down to see with

like their take on shredder and some of that

stuff Him all the time, but I'd be interested

to see kind of how they do it We've seen it done

in a few different ways and to see if they further

develop those those individual turtles in their

relationships as well You had a thought Yes,

like imagine how gross crank is gonna be like

considering like how like like, you know They're

there they go full gross with this so I can imagine

like Yeah, it was it was it was that they definitely

didn't pull any punches as far as like I know,

you know back in the early times and we were

talking about films like there was films that

they couldn't Actually use their weapons and

there was things that they couldn't do from a

violent standpoint It seems like that is all

good to go now Like they're they're using all

kinds of different weapons guns, whatever it

might be and there's no problem Yeah, I get that

is interesting. I guess maybe since it's animated

they're less Yeah less that might be it or yeah

that is funny because they did like they had

no issue with anything they were doing there

was a there's a good amount of like not like

super violence, but it's A decent amount like

compared as much as the one of the other films

we we looked at and I know I keep a team and

here whatever that was it was like real like

you I don't know if my kid can watch this it

wasn't that level but it was definitely a little

bit more than what we've seen in some of the

other films as well I had a question for you

to were you at all thrown off at the it was almost

like the introductory sequence or whatever where

the turtles are all stealing stuff from the convenience

stores and from trucks And from all, like they

are stealing all of that stuff, correct? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. That was, that was odd. Like that's

when you kind of knew you're something different.

Cause it's like they are, they're like doing

bad things right away. Like that's something

they should be stopping, but I guess, you know,

it, uh, Don't know if that was like eight in

the whole like humans versus mutant type I think

I think I think it was a thing It was to show

that they don't like they consider themselves

outcasts. So this is what they see as a necessity

So yeah, it was you know, you were waiting for

them to put that dollar in the on the counter

or something like that But it never happened.

So yeah, and it was interesting too. Obviously

we end the film with The turtles are bringing

most of the mutants that kind of aided them in

the end down to the layer with Splinter. And

I think Splinter strikes up a love connection

with one of them. And we have the turtles that

are being in school with April with a different

look, trying to look a little less Turtley, I

guess. Um, and whatnot going to, I think, I don't

know if there was prom involved or if they just

showed them at their lockers. I can't quite remember,

but what did you think of kind of how some of

those things ended as kind of some of some final

thoughts on this film? Well, I don't know if

you want to touch the controversy behind Splinter,

but people thought they turned him gay because

they thought the bug character was a guy, but

it's not. It's actually a female character, so

people can stop freaking out that a mutant rat

is dating a female mutant stink bug because that

makes it more natural, I guess. I don't know.

It seems like such a strange thing to get upset

about, but whatever. Uh, I like like I said that

you're talking about like seeing where it's going

like that's something different We've never seen

the turtles in high school before it's like if

you told me that concept, I think it'd be awful

But after watching the movie i'm actually kind

of for it. So, yeah So i'm looking for the teenage

mutant ninja turtle version of ferris buehler's

day off then like there you go Yeah, let's go

full circle with this. But yeah, I think it's

a good overall film. I thought it was fun I think

it's uh, like you said it your your um son loved

it and I think it probably works for a lot of

People that it's aimed for in that generation

and I think there's enough for us old folks that

uh Can enjoy it to at least varying degrees as

well regardless of if you're a turtles fan or

not So yeah, uh any closing thoughts that you

didn't get to talk about as far as mutant mayhem

No, no, like I said, I liked it. It was I I think

like I mentioned I think if as a kid, I probably

would have loved it a lot more Uh, but it was

I'm really looking forward to see what they kind

of continue with this I hope they get a shot

at another film because I think there's Something

really really cool here if they can continue

moving forward with it Absolutely, I agree and

I hope that this is also in obviously spider

-verse is the big one that's made all of the

Impact, but I hope this helps in just you know

reading People that are willing to take the risk

and do stuff that doesn't look like Pixar or

doesn't look like Disney or something we had

before I more I'm all for like just a variety

of different things give people all kinds of

stuff that they can look at with that all look

different so they can pick what they like pick

what they don't like and I think that's also

aided by our movement to so many different streaming

platforms that are willing to do some of those

things as well for sure I mean I wonder if this

you know when it comes to animated Oscars if

this will be up there I don't know if it's I

like I don't I haven't watched a lot of the other

animated films this year like elemental and things

like that, so I Tomato so maybe it'll get some

love but it's hard to sometimes franchise stuff

like this gets just like push to the side regardless

Yeah, and I think people will probably see it

as like oh, it's just you know not admire not

be an admiration of the animation as much as

they were is into the spider -verse because I'll

be like oh it just did that but I I think the

comparisons there, but I think it's also very

different stylistically like So I add I think

I think it's definitely like true I think the

one definitely looks like a comic book on screen

and I think this one definitely looks like a

sketch like it and I think there's a Vast difference

in those two types of looks at least in my opinion

I'm also kind of surprised that like it would

work with kids because you know, but I can only

I think that's kind of and makes sense because

kids do kind of like Things that are messy and

strange and unique and I think it, yeah. So relate

to them too. Like something they could see themselves

drying or a friend drying versus like something

done by a computer. Yeah. There's a lot of energy

in it. Like, you know, and I think that's something

certainly people look for everything. So like,

especially even with like, um, you know, stuff

people do on YouTube, like it's always so clean.

It's interesting to see something like that.

That is so, so very not. the Absolutely. I was

surprised at how cheap they were. So that does

it for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem

That is the last one that we're covering for

this because it's the last one, you know These

other films haven't come out yet. So that does

it for this retrospective But we are gonna probably

come back and do like a wrap -up where we kind

of highlight some things overall of the turtle

franchise in general give some awards out or

Maybe rankings of the films and our favorite

this that and the others so be on the lookout

for that in the meantime Dan Is there anything

that you want to promote or how can people look

and find more of your stuff? The best place to

go is for me Comic Concierge on TikTok. I know

like near Comic Con was the weekend we're recording

this. So a lot of news on comics. I did a bunch

of videos on that. So I have a playlist on there

you can check out. So if you want to keep up

with all the things that are happening, best

place to find me is there or Instagram, Facebook

as well. Just search Comic Concierge. absolutely

if you want to look for more of my stuff you

can search out the geek showcase although there's

nothing new currently uh on there but i should

be getting back into that and then be on the

lookout also for the geek cast geek cast radio

network um here before the end of the year we'll

probably be releasing our top 100 toy countdown

list i'm hoping that that will be something that

we're able to get to sometime over the holiday

season the lists have all been submitted the

tallies have all been made so now it's just a

getting everything ready and coordinated with

records and things of that nature. So look out

for that from the Geocast Radio Network as well.

All right, that does it for this episode of The

Cinema Geeks. Tune in next time for another chance

to listen to more.