The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had a healthy life recently thanks to the comics and recent shows, but one area where they’ve been absent as of late is film. It’s been long enough since those live-action movies that a new cinematic crack at the franchise is more than welcome, and Paramount is ready to try again with the new animated film, Mutant Mayhem.
Set in its own continuity, the film sees the titular Turtles — Leonardo (Nicholas Cantu), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Raphael (Brady Noon), and Donatello (Micah Abbey) — learning ninjitsu from their father Splinter (Jackie Chan) and doing their best to protect New York from criminals. But their being literal talking turtles prevents them from getting the praise they want for saving the city so many times, and in an effort to prove themselves, things get out of hand. When they and longtime friend April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri) go up against a crime syndicate that’s recently arrived in the city, it doesn’t take long for things to go pear-shaped and mutants to start terrorizing the city.
With an animation style similar to the Spider-Verse movies, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem looks like the fun fresh start for the Turtles they’ve needed on the small screen for nearly a decade. Each TMNT incarnation has had their own unique energy, and Mutant Mayhem’s first trailer shows that the film is going to continue that trend.
Directed by Jeff Rowe and also starring John Cena, Rose Byrne, Giancarlo Esposito, and Post Malone, Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem hits theatres on September 7.
While you’re here, why not check out Gizmodo Australia’s guide to what’s streaming this month on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Stan, Binge and more. We’ve also got one for all the good movies coming out in 2023 if that’s more your thing.