New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have the rizz, in a radical teen-focused reboot

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are many things. Toon-ified tortoises. Masters of the martial arts. But in what is a surprisingly revolutionary move for the long-running franchise, this time, they are teenagers first.

First springing onto the pages of Mirage Studios comic books back in 1984, TMNT soon escaped its underground comic and became an animated staple of the 1980s and '90s. With their brightly coloured costumes and radical names, the turtle brosoften sounded more like Point Break California surfers with their totally tubular street slang. Cowabunga indeed.

This new animated version comes from the producing team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg who had the idea of making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles about actual teens. Tortoise teens, but teens all the same.The film captures the messiness of that time inlife, when young adults are a boundless source of potential and can mess up really bad.

To channel that energy, directors Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears jammed all four turtle voice actors, Shamon Brown Jr., Micah Abbey, Nicolas Cantu and Brady Noon, into a recording booth together.

Listening to them riffing on memes and joshing with each other it'sclear the voice actors clicked. There's a new and much needed joy and looseness with the turtle brahs.

Fresh vibe, familiar story

While the vibe is fresher, the story remains familiar.

Jackie Chan voices Master Splinter, the turtle's adoptiveratfather who, like them,was exposed to mutant ooze, which made them evolve into human-animal hybrids. Raised in the sewer on a steady diet of pizza and YouTube karate lessons, the turtles are eager to be in the world they watch on their phones.

From jokes about the rizz(short for charisma)to shouting out "The Ocky Way" (a catch phrase of a popular deli TikTok star), if the turtles aren't terminally online, they're the most media savvy version of the characters we've seen.

The risk with thesekind of references is that it can make the charactersappear dated.If anything, watching the turtles twerk and pose for cellphonevideos adds another layer of ADHDauthenticity, capturing the manic hyperlinked realities of teenage life.

Graffiti art style radiates action

The exuberant energy is complimented by the cleverly chaotic art style from Montreal's Mikros Animation and Vancouver's Cinesite.

Similar to the painterly touches in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Mutant Mayhem is the latest film to continue the creative explosion in cartooning inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse.

Where Spider-Verse adapted the visual vocabulary of comic books, Mutant Mayhem takes inspiration from high school sketch books. The action radiates with squiggles and colourful lines, like a living wall of graffiti.

Something about this playful LeRoy Neiman-esque art style, combined with the throwback hip-hop soundtrack fit the New York City setting perfectly.The world is a messy place and so are the lives of the teen turtles.

WATCH | Animation director onthe turtles' unique look:

'Keep it raw and spontaneous': Crafting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' unique look

1 year ago

Duration 3:23

Jacques Daigle is the animation director on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. CBC's Eli Glasner spoke with Daigle about the turtles' unique sketchbook-inspired style and working with co-director Jeff Rowe.

Storytelling evolution

The story kicks into motion when the turtles cross paths withaspiring journalist April O'Neil. Voiced by the now omnipresent Ayo Edebiri, O'Neil sees the turtles as her big break. What ties both the turtles and O'Neiltogether is how theyboth craveacceptance.

This, too, seems to be a much needed evolution in half-shell storytelling.

O'Neilyearnsto be accepted by her classmates.The turtles dream of being welcomedas normal teens, not sewer-sleeping vigilantes. The desireto be seen and celebrated for who they are is what motivates them to join forces, investigatinga series of robberies that eventually brings them face to face with their mutant brethren.

Ice Cube, with his customary gruff growl, plays Superfly, an overgrown housefly who leads a crew of mutant animals lookingto wipe humanity off the face of the planet.John CenaandSeth Rogen arethe loveable lunkheads Rocksteady the rhino and Bebop the warthog. Paul Rudd is a blast as the bro-tastic Mondo Gecko. Even Post Malone pops up as Ray Fillet, a musical manta ray.

Infusion of chaotic creativity

As the story speeds up, the sheer amount of characters fighting for attention can be overwhelming although certain moments shine;Donnie learning the value of his "big stick,"Raphael getting a place to focus his unhinged rage, andLeo earning his leader moment.

Even Splinter gets his own fight scene, where, in true Jackie Chan style, the ratstumbles and careens off chairs while somehow destroying a small army of thugs.

LISTEN | The creative shift infusinganimated movies with energy:

12:39The state of animation today

While Paramount executives saythe days of original animated stories are behind them,the fact thatNinja Turtles could be rescued from the toxic ooze of nostalgiawith an infusion of chaotic creativity is encouraging.

By putting teen voices and talents front and centre, Mutant Mayhem is the inspirationthe franchise needs.