The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have certainly lived up to their name this year, because Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem sure did a fine job of sneaking up on us.
It’s a nice half-surprise, to be sure; for the handful of misfires that have cursed the colorful brothers in the modern era, you can always bet on a starry-eyed audience for anything involving the half-shelled heroes, and with a writing team spearheaded by the likes of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, it’s probably safe to expect a unique, yet oddly fitting take on the turtles, and the film’s brand new trailer seems to be in full support of that assumption.
Mutant Mayhem follows the rollicking adventure of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael, who have grown sick of hiding from the world and intend to mark themselves as heroes by taking on the surplus of crime in New York City with the help of gung-ho news reporter April O’Neil. However, things get complicated for the reptilian rebels when they find themselves up against an army of deadly mutants and a dangerous crime syndicate.
With a voice cast consisting of John Cena, Jackie Chan, Hannibal Buress, Ice Cube, Post Malone, Giancarlo Esposito, Paul Rudd, and Maya Rudolph, Mutant Mayhem certainly seems to be pulling all the star-power stops for this particular reboot, and the adventurous art style — which recalls something of Sony’s Spider-Verse movies — is sure to turn more than a few heads as well. Here’s hoping these are just two of many merits that end up stuffing this delightful-looking return to the world of the turtles.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem will release to theaters on Aug. 2.