Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reviews: Mutant Mayhem impresses critics

Critics have admitted their surprise at the high quality of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is one of the last releases of the 2023 summer blockbuster season.

The Guardian said it was "unexpectedly funny", while the Times commented: "These heroes in a half-shell aren't half bad."

The Telegraph said: "A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film that's actually good? Cowabunga to that!"

While the critics predominantly offered three and four-star reviews overall, many said it had exceeded their low expectations.

The reviews published so far have scored the film an impressive 97% score on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, indicating overwhelmingly positive reactions from critics.

"Only 33 years, seven movies and a cumulative production spend of roughly half a billion dollars, and they've finally arrived at a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film that's, you know, comparatively solid," wrote Kevin Maher in the Times.

His review suggested "mission creep sets in" towards the end of the film, which ultimately "reverts to automatic superhero settings". But, he added: "Considering the grim pedigree, it's a miracle they made a movie that is not, in every single scene, relentlessly awful."

The film sees the return of Donatello (voiced by Micah Abbey), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr), Raphael (Brady Noon) and Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu).

Other characters in the film are voiced by Ice Cube, Rose Byrne and Jackie Chan, who plays Master Splinter.

In a four-star review, the Telegraph's Robbie Collin said: "Since 1990, a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film has arrived just over once every five years on average, so it stands to reason that eventually one of them wouldn't be hideous.

"The most surprising thing about this new cartoon take from Nickelodeon Movies isn't just that it's bearable, however: it's that its makers have gone so far above and beyond the call of churning out another Turtles film that it stands on its own merits as a thrillingly kinetic piece of pop art.

"Every frame crackles over with energy and colour; in the best possible way, it actually looks teenage."

The film sees the Turtles set out to win over New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers, after years of being sheltered from the human world.

Mutant Mayhem, released on Monday 31 July, is written and produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the duo behind Amazon's superhero series The Boys.

Also awarding the film four stars, the Independent's Clarisse Loughrey said: "Mutant Mayhem blends a hyper-aware but affectionate love of the franchise's past with the look and lingo of the present. It's learnt all the right lessons from the current Spider-Verse craze."

She added: "After several failed live-action attempts, it seems as if Hollywood has finally realised that 6ft tall, nunchuck-wielding, roided-out reptilians shouldn't ever exist outside of animation. Thank god."

There was praise for the voice cast from from Empire's John Nugent in another four-star review.

"Casting actual youngsters as the voices of the four heroes is an inspired move; the four largely unknown actors given ample room to goof around with the script, talk over each other, squabble and enjoy an easy level of banter," he said.

"Perhaps best of all is Jackie Chan as Master Splinter, who transcends the slight sense of stunt-casting with a genuinely warm and funny twist on the mentor character: the kung-fu-master mutant rat, respun as a kind of first-generation immigrant dad, his turtle sons the second-gen kids better at acclimatising to a hostile environment."

Previous incarnations of the Ninja Turtles include live-action films, four animated series, toy lines, comic books and theme-park rides.

Mashable's Kristy Puchko described the new film as an "action-packed, utterly goofy nostalgia trip" and "a jubilant celebration of the comic book characters".

The look of the film "is fresher than its script", according to Variety's Peter Debruge. But, he added: "The movie's mostly just meant to be fun, and that it is, skewing young while giving lifelong fans plenty to geek out about."

There was agreement about how impressive the film looks from the Sun's Dulcie Pearce. "If you were to pause any second of this incredible animation, it would look like a vibrant piece of art," she said.

"The first few seconds might have you questioning whether the doodle come to life might be a little taxing. But you will soon be carried away with the energy and humour of the super-cool quartet."

Geofffery Macnab of iNews was slightly less enthusiastic, suggesting "some of the exposition is on the clunky side" and adding: "At feature length, the plot feels stretched, and the zaniness becomes wearing."

Despite being a fan of the film's humour, the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw also only awarded three stars, expressing disappointment that the film "skates around the refined humanist mystery of their [the Turtles'] names".

"These writers are clearly happier with pop culture gags about Chris Pine and so on - and there's a lot of funny material - and do not want to venture into Kenneth Clark/Civilisation territory, however facetiously," he said.

"A shame. Perhaps the sequel can take us to the Uffizi in Florence."

But Deadline's Pete Hammond said the film was "irresistible" and "the best TMNT movie yet," while the Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck described it as "engaging" and "a rowdy good time".