There have been a lot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboots over the years. Whether they’re live-action or animated, fans keep on coming back for more. Now in 2023, they’re back again and modernized. This raises the question, is this the movie turtle fans have been waiting for, or is it just a reboot made by a studio out of ideas?

For some background, our turtles (Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo) were turned into mutants by chemical ooze dumped in the sewer, along with a rat named Splinter. Splinter adopts the turtles and teaches them how to defend themselves. In Mutant Mayhem, the turtles are tired of being forced to live in the sewers and want to break out of their shells and live normal lives. Sadly, after being continuously warned by Splinter, they realize that they can’t be accepted unless they become heroes. So, with the help of a high school journalist called April O’Neil, they construct a plan to defeat the criminal mastermind who’s been terrorizing the city, Super Fly. Along the way, they meet many other mutants and face some moral dilemmas.

So, let’s start with the good. Many agree that the casting is great, the voice actors portray their characters wonderfully. Plus, we are met with a variety of hilarious new characters. They gave Leonardo more depth and focused on him more than they usually would. Usually, Leo’s one defining trait is that he’s the leader and there isn’t much more to him, this time they gave him other traits. The turtle wanting to fit in was relatable because everyone has felt the need to belong at least once in their life. The movie did pretty well at the box office and became the fourth highest-grossing film this year, making $152.9 million.

 And now on to the bad. Though giving Leo more personality benefited his character, it took away from the other turtles. Instead of the movie being about all four of the turtles, it mainly focused on him and kind of pushed the others to the side. This could be fixed if in the possible sequel, they focus on the other turtles a bit more. It’s also been said that the movie obviously tries really hard to be cool and modern to appeal to younger audiences, which just feels forced. At the end of the day, without all the colors and pop culture references, Mutant Mayhem is predictable, and a lot like every other movie that has come out within the last few years.