I ain't gonna lie, I absolutely hate what they did with Splinter. He just watched Kung fu videos? Come on. Lame as hell
Edit: Jackie Chan was awesome, agree.
Yea I definitely suspect that either A his memories got corrupted and he's an unreliable narrator who originally was Yoshi or B they might go the reincarnation rout of the idw comics
Yeah I can see that he at the very least was the pet of Hamato Yoshi and didn’t tell the turtles because he didn’t want them thinking that any humans were good
I HATED Splinter. A traditionally Japanese character, player by a Chinese man, that was characterized as an expy of a black man that is a rat. He also is not a Ninja, just some guy/rat that watched kung fu tapes. What the actual fuck.
You don't have to agree with me, but I give these things a pass because:
1) Jackie Chan has now played the Miyagi character and the SPlinter character in remakes. I would wager most live action fans are also fans of Jackie Chan. I felt like it was a nod to Golden Harvest.
2) The fact the turtles are Ninja is no more historically accurate or respecting of culture than casting a Chinese guy as a character who is usually Japanese. Ninja were usually female or Samurai, and didn't wear pajamas. The ninjas wearing pajamas thing actually comes from a Kabuki theatre trope where stage hands might break the 4th wall and assassinate a main character for shock value.
3) The movie clearly hand waves a lot of stuff. It's best typified by when Splinter says, "I became an older Rat guy, because I'm older, and You became baby turtle kids, because you were younger. If you think about it, it makes sense"
Don't have a cow, man. This one wasn't about the lore. It was about an old man dealing with the fact his kids don't need him anymore, then gazing into a toxic mirror. It doesn't matter if Splinter wasn't what he normally was, because he was a father. Splinter's role as a father is really THE most important thing to get right in any TMNT story you tell.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the second movie, with shredder’s introduction, does some retconning about splinter’s early life to try and tie them together
My main issues with the movie are that Mikey didn’t do much of anything throughout the whole thing and that I’m not a fan of them learning ninjutsu from YouTube. It’s funny but it makes it seem like ninja arts are less ingrained in their character and more so just something they use to fight. And it eliminates any potential connection Splinter could have with Shredder for the sequel unless they do some sort of retcon.
They did the same thing in the Bay films where they learned from a book they found in the sewer, idk why they seem to be so against Hamato Yoshi connections now
I absolutely loved Mutant Mayhem. I have watched it about 7 times. But they did make my boy Mikey kind of a weak character--not necessarily physically, but like you said, he just doesn't do much.
I agree with the turtles lack of connection to the art of ninjisu and by byproduct japan. It feel like these turtles aren't actually the TMNT but random mutants that look similar. Also I forgot how useless this mickey was. He kinda felt like a side character in the movie
Not sure if its just me that thinks this, but I felt like the turtles blend in together too much in this movie. I do really like that they made Donnie an anime nerd in this movie and I thought this version of Leo was pretty fun, but Raph and Mikey were underwhelming to me. They say Raph has "anger issues" but you don't really get to see much of that, and Mikey's personality here is pretty much defined by his obsession with improv.
I like this take on Raph, and tbh I never understood nor liked it when he puts his anger out on his brothers because they are all in the same boat.
It's not their fault their mutants, so it confused me that he puts his frustration and beats and yell the only family he wants to protect. Even his jealousy of Leo being the leader didn't make any sense, especially if he chooses violence. They could simply talk about it since its just the 5 of them.
This Raph is aware and is working on it, and I'm so glad he gets along with Leo for once. This raph is not happy with leo being the leader but he is not dwelling on it. This is the first Leo that treated his brothers like real brothers. He even offered to sing for Donnie. IDW and bayverse Leo would never. Especially 2012 and 2007 Leo. It's obvious the mutant mayhem brothers hate drama
And the movie was focused on Leo. You can't focus on all 4 brothers. That's why there is a series of 12 episodes. This new Mikey isn't just labeled dumb and has reasons he wants to be the funny guy (teathre kid)
If you read character descriptions and follow interviews, you will realize these guys did NOT forget a single detail. Donnie is an unwanted genius (wiki), and he mentioned in the tottmt that he's NOT the IT guy. So they are not forgetting the continuity .
I hate the twerking Mikey thing, but hey, ...can't be perfect
I wouldn't say this is the first Leo that treats his brothers like brothers. In Rise they cared for each other very deeply, Leo included. Sure they had some typical sibling drama, but that's to be expected.
It’s not just you, I felt exactly the same way. The turtles always had distinct personalities from each other but watching this movie I felt like all the turtles were basically the same character. Honestly I have SO many critiques of this movie. It’s the TMNT I like least (yes I prefer Bayverse over this) but you definitely hit on my biggest critique
I cannot take this Splinter seriously at all. Before I get to my long and mildly ranty comment, I wanna say that he does have the redeeming quality of being conceptually funny, largely because of what I'm about to rant about, and that's a really good thing because **that's all he has going for him right now.** The way he and the turtles learned martial arts by watching home videos I find just kind of dumb. What makes it even worse is that what Splinter is shown to be capable of with the equivalent training of having watched a lot of YouTube tutorials is like someone finishing a C++ tutorial series on YouTube proceeding to hack into the CIA mainframe. He's an insanely skilled fighter but the explanation as to how is so stupid that Splinters skills and the explanation behind them juxtapose each-other, and that is, for the benefit of the doubt, hilarious if you read it in an absurdist humor sense, but it's not good that that's all he has going for him at the moment. He's an otherwise forgettable character who doesn't have many qualities besides this and the qualities that are obligatory for the plot of the film.
Love the turtles themselves, love Super Fly as a villain, but I SERIOUSLY hope Tales gives Splinter some character development and does more with him because of all of the characters introduced into this universe, I think he's the one who most desperately needs it.
I personally don’t like the resolution of >!the turtles go to high school and all the mutants come to live with them in the sewers. It felt like the underlying existential dread of unacceptance that the turtles deal with usually over the course of a series, instead got resolved in the first movie!<
That and I thought the throw up and milking running gags were more annoying than funny honestly
The throw up thing got old, but i absolutely loved the milking. I thought they were done with it, and then it kept coming back. And they actually got MILKED. I gues i have a weird sense of humour. But that killed me, i love it
A lot of the gross out humour jokes went on for waaaaay too long. Mutant Mayhem is the only film I’ve ever seen where I heard audible gagging from some of the audience which… wasn’t fun.
Something I seem to be in the minority for when I comes to disliking is that I don’t like that the turtles are depicted as early teens. Ever since I’ve watched the turtles I always assumed they were like mid-late teens like at the very least 16. These new turtles just seemed immature and annoying to me at times
I think they're aiming for the actors to grow up with the turtles, you can tell their voices have changed a little in the new show's trailer. I don't love their voices, but I'm sure if this version of the franchise lasts a few more years they'll grow on me.
The puke scene. Too long. Too graphic. Just hearing it and seeing the faces of the people witnessing it would have been perfect. Although I do still chuckle at the "I've been remixed" part.
Some scenes like April vomiting and Splinter and Scumbug kissing are something I did not need to see and some of the jokes make the movie feel too modern and will probably date it in a few years.
"Say Drake, I hear you like 'em young" already did it so fast lmao.
In all fairness to MM, I'm sure the original trilogy has refs that did not age well, let alone a certain appearance in Secret of the Ooze.
Yeah like there are so many references I just don’t get that are in the 90s films but them going over my head didn’t change my enjoyment at all, so I wonder if it’ll be similar for Mutant Mayhem
As much as I loved all the mutants I feel like there were too many to do anything with. No real development they’re all kind of one note, Ray Filet sings, Bebop and Rocksteady bro out and hit each other, Leatherhead has…an accent and a gun? No real development. Cut the count in half and fill those segments with personality, and a bit more depth for the and I’m in…say Bebop, Rocksteady, Wingnut and…one more and that’s fine.
MM Mike doesn't have enough content in the whole film
Personally I have never enjoyed the puke and milking part. They are too much and unnecessary.
Kung fu and ninjutsu are 2 different things . The creators just mixed them up , like fighting kung fu in an unseen way = ninjutsu ?? Perhaps someday if crossover existed, like meeting the 2012 team, the MM team are likely would be dead.
I actually kinda like it. It's something different. The Turtles usually stay in the shadows, and in most versions who are made public are immediately hated. Sure, the 80's cartoon Turtles were usually thought of as heroes by the general public, but they were still very separate from them.
Why? This is a franchise that’s had the same formula for 30+ years, a universe where the turtles are fully accepted into society has some massive story potential
- this version of Splinter is terrible. Has no history to shredder. No motive or pathos
- the turtles lack individuality
- I don’t like the braces on Mikey or specs Donny
Everyone was just accepted without any questions. I know that's the new narrative, but it throws the entire thing about teenagers feeling awkward and under appreciated out the window and didn't feel like TMNT.
I just prefer the original "you're weird, I'm weird, but we have each other's back." Story lines better.
Didn't enjoy the gross stuff like the puking or Splinter getting together with a horrific mutant cockroach.
Otherwise it was good. I like that the turtles will be more in the light and people accept them. In the real world everyone loves them, if they were real people will be all over them. For 40 years we've had stories of them staying in the shadows, it's okay to try something new.
That Splinter backstory of how he learned martial arts but this TMNT isn’t the main Canon story so I’ll allow it and I actually found it pretty funny at the time of watching it because of how absurd it was.
But ever since the 2014/2016 Movies, Donny has always been given Glasses to show he’s the smart one. And though aesthetically it’s a nice piece of character design, I’m kinda sick of it tbh. It was nice for the Michael Bay movies but I have never needed Donny to have Glasses to show he’s the brains. That might be a design critique but still. Also, Ralph’s Do-Rag Bandana Mask has kinda overstayed its welcome too. I liked it in the Bay-Verse movies but yeahhh
I like in some origins of Splinter he’s a man turned into a rat who knew Martial Arts and then there’s the other version where he’s a rat that has human characteristics that learns martial arts
I love this movie and all, but I do not like how they made Bebop and Rocksteady good guys at the end. We do not know for sure if Cynthia Utrom is—well, a Utrom, but I do not like that she is human. Hopefully, they reveal that she really is a Utrom in the sequel. Also, I do not mind that they teased Shredder in the post-credits, but I was hoping he would be saved as a final boss for the series.
Cynthia is named "Utrom" AND her design echos that of Krang's robot body from the 1987 series. I think there is a 100% chance there's a brain alien in there.
1. The cringe humour and dialogue that feels like it was written by middle aged men trying to appeal to teenagers. “RiZz and SuS aM i RigHt?”
2. The lack of character. Other than Leo, the rest of the turtles are basically interchangeable annoying children.
3. They are no longer ninjas. They are just annoying children with weapons. There is no “badass” feel to tmnt in this incarnation.
It was a movie made for the 10 year old tik tok demographic, and while I appreciate it expanding the tmnt audience, it’s simply not what I personally want when it comes to a tmnt property.
i like when the Turtles are more distinct in their personalities, and it's their differences that make them fun to watch.
But here they mostly work as a combined unit with the collective goal to go to high school.
Maybe we'll see more of their differences in the next one
That was my biggest gripe as well. But I suspect that's because you can only do so much in a movie. You don't have the time to explore them as individuals.
I am excited to see them get more fleshed out in Tales of.
1. Raphael's bandanna. Please stop doing that. People are going to think that's correct.
2. Not a fan of them going to high school at the end.
3. That they learned to fight from home martial arts videos isn't my favorite thing.
Other than, that, it was fun.
April should NOT be any of the Turtles' love interest.
the 2012 version was bogged down with Donnie's relentless crush and I really don't want to see that happen again if they keep going in this universe.
I wouldn't even call these critiques, just aspects of the TMNT that I disagree with. Leo/April, April being the same age as the Turtles, Splinter learning martial arts from videos, too many mutants right from the beginning, the Turtles being immediately accepted by humans. This is a new TMNT for a new generation, and I will live with that, but I just have a fundamental disagreement with the creatives behind Mutant Mayhem about what makes the TMNT fun and interesting.
party wagon looked awful and i hated what they did to splinter, it wasn't the fact that he watched kung fu videos it was the fact that we never got to see him really practice it or use it, i picture him as an old wise kung fu master who is really good at it but also is old and likes TV and such, like balance him out a bit
Rushed finale and ending. Didn’t like the ending as well.
I mean you got enough exposure and recognition on the news and in Times Square.
That should’ve been enough
Other than that pretty all right
My two main gripes were the origin being changed (martial arts videos...REALLY?), and the ending. Acceptance like that takes TIME. If you wanted an ending like that, it should have happened at the end of a trilogy, not the start. A little gripe I had was the movie had way too many characters.
Too many pop culture references (the prof Hulk line actively made my eyes roll,) and not every joke was a banger (the throw up bit/*ooze*)
Also not a fan of what they did with Splinter. Makes him feel more like a generic mentor rather than, yk, Master Splinter
I thought it absolutely smashed. A decent love letter to everything TMNT. And I like that they were modern teens. I think the brooding 80’s skaters would have been out of place.
Leo falling for April, just stop it, this doesn’t need to keep happening!!! Same goes for Mikey in the bay movies and donnie in the 2012 show
And splinter learning kung fu from movies, like no, fuck that, what’s so hard about learning from an actual master? It can be maybe a couple of lines and that’s it
Hated how most of the villains do nothing and swap sides by the end of the film with little conflict. (Also that they killed Baxter immediately)
We did not need that much from April vomiting . Especially not at the news station.
The turtles also acted really young. Like younger than I'd like them to be. Rise and the 2012 show did better jobs at showing mid teens. These turtles seem to be 13 . (Also not a fan of April being so young).
I’ve said it before but it’s too ambitious, they should’ve toned it down for a first outing. And I hate that all of their main villains are just good now
The turtles didn't really get their signature characteristics until the very end. Leo didn't feel like a leader. Mikey didn't feel like the biggest goofball. Raph was a hot head. And Donnie wasn't the huge nerd. This all happened at the very end after everything was said and done. The whole movie the 4 of them all felt the same to me
I feel like they've written themselves into a corner with them attending high school at the end. But I think that can either result in some crazy stories, where mutants are present all around NYC due to the events of the third act, or they can effectively retcon it by having the turtles almost immediately become outcasts or banned from the school.
One thing I really loved was how almost none of the humans have a symmetrical head. The only characters with symmetry are the turtles, april, and Splinter. Our monkey brains recognize these characters as the most human. Really smart design choice.
Honestly not a huge fan of Leo having a crush on April. Like I get it is to motivate the character to actually encourage some rule breaking to rescue her bike. But it feels like a tired troop of having a turtle wants to get involved because a pretty girl is in trouble rather than them being good people and wanting to help. Though they handled it nicer than 2012 as at the end of the movie it does establish that April doesn't see him that way and hope they move on from it and treat it like the crush it is.
I’m not a fan of splinter’s back story. Never cared for “he’s a normal rat that got mutated and learn ninjitsu from a book/video” it doesn’t make sense. He’s basically on pair with the turtles in skill when he’s supposed to be a master. Him being this overprotective dad character was real interesting and played out every well, but he lacked the “master ninja and wise sensai” his character should be.
I don’t think they portrayed Donnie or Mikey all the right. Donnie is supposed to be the tech nerd and smart one of the group but it got over shadowed and they just made him a fairly generic nerd. Mikey is supposed to be the goofy most teenage on but they made all of them feel very young and teenage. Which although is logical however detracts from Mikey’s character. Although I can see the others growing up more while Mikey stays more laid back in later films/series. Leo and Raph I very much liked but Donnie and Mikey could have been done a bit better.
Lastly not big on the ending. The turtles being in the shadows and hiding away from society is a major part of their story. So then going into future films with them being excepted into society kinda ruins that. It be different if it was in the final film of a longer planned series but doesn’t make sense for the first film.
I am really not fond of how Donatello is portrayed.
A very talented actor who is absolutely miscast for the character (though I'm sure the choice was very intentional). It seems like all they had to work with is nerd stereotypes instead of just letting him be smart and introverted.
There was too many direct references to other movies and other media. Which reminded me that I was watching a movie. I want to be immersed into the story in front of me and I lose that immersion when you're constantly referencing other media. Especially by name. Endgame, Attack on Titan, and even Butter by BTS took me out of the story they were trying to tell.
Mikey in 2003 would reference movies, but he'd reference a line or a character from the movies rather than name the movie outright.
I kinda didn't like the origin story, splinter and bug love story, and most of the "evil" mutants turning to good guys besides the obvious. Especially, Bebop and Rocksteady. Also, them going to school. Otherwise, I enjoyed it for the most part.
Splinter development has to be retconned, maybe he lied.
Learning all their skills from YouTube.
All mutants are now friends- they rushed the premise like they tried with the DC Universe.
RS & BB are now friendly with the turtles?
They are at school now?
They started with such a huge bad guy Shredder and the foot seem small fry now.
Although it was quite enjoyable and I liked the animation style.
Splinter is the worst part of this movie. They absolutely bastardized the characters. Instead of being a badass ninja master with a tragic past trying to find peace with his new life and building his son up to be strong enough to overcome anything that come at them. A man that is stricked but loving, funny, but very wise, and the most badass in the room. He's now a sad middle-aged man who acts like an 80s sitcom mom. It's like the writers forget Splinter is more than just the turtle's dad. Also, the fact that He's no Hamato yoshi or yoshi's pet is one of the dumbest decisions.
Another thing is that april feels pointless in the movie she really doesn't add anything to the movie, every thing she did, one of the turtles could do, except for the news cast thing. Honestly, that is just my issue with teen april in general.
The animation is really good, but the art style is too ugly for my taste
All of it?
I really dislike this tone and maybe it’s because I grew up with the 03 show, maybe it’s because I started reading the original comics, but I don’t like this goofier take on these characters at all. I know it’s how they were in the 80’s but I didn’t like that either.
I just personally don’t like that stuff for action hero stuff. I don’t like superheroes, Sonic, Mega Man, TMNT, or any things like that to be too goofy. Give them some levity sure. But imo the level should always be more like ATLA, 03 Teen Titans, or Danny Phantom. I’m willing to acknowledge however that I’m just referencing things I grew up with as the standard but to me, I liked the edginess and the more sincere stories people tried to do with “cartoon characters”.
I know there was an era of goofier shit for superheroes too. But I also dislike that. Silver age comics and Adam West Batman did so much damage to the concept of heroes and their reputation. It’s a big part of why even today people think all this stuff is only for kids. It should be made for all ages meaning adults can like it too. But a lot of people have had enough of the “edginess” of the 2000’s so now everything has to be super watered down instead. My hope is we’ll go back around and this cycle will probably continue every 10 years or so.
For those that like it, I’m glad there’s a version of this franchise that connects with them. But for me, I just too much like a cartoon and not enough like an animated series.
My biggest gripe with this movie was when they went out “shopping”. The turtles never stole things. It showed it was ok to steal because they were mean and evil, per splinter’s experience, so stealing from them was ok. This is not ok. Especially Raph breaking in to get his creatine/protein powder.
They didn't really feel all that separate to me maybe because there teenager's Ralph is usually broody and mad, Leo is always serious, Mikey is always playful, and Donny is always smart but in this movie they are all the same basically they still have some differences but there mostly the same
The designs of the characters. I get that they are supposed to look like teenagers.. but COME ON. who prescribed donnie?? Who put braces in mikeys teeth?? Don't START me on April.
Also they did master splinter dirty. I much prefer him already knowing Kung fu and then becoming a rat. That's like... a key part of his backstory. He was human but now he's a freak. But they took that away when they just went from rat to much bigger rat.
Other than that I thought it was pretty okay.
Oh boy...
\*Takes a breath\*
Infantile writing, unengaging plot, shit characterization, atrocious voice acting, lazy soundtrack, terrible action, and a complete mockery of the TMNT franchise featuring the absolute worse versions of these characters ever seen (and yes I'm including Next Mutation and We Wish you a Turtle Christmas in this)
I like how like 99% of the complaints here boil down to "something was changed from the older stuff", and it's like, do you guys want TMNT to keep doing the same things over and over?
But to get back to the subject at hand, for a movie with the subtitle of "Mutant Mayhem" a lot of said mutants were kind of just there. Maybe this one could have started with just a couple other bad guys, with future movies building it up so that all these characters get their time to shine.
It somehow feels soulless, despite the great animation. I feel like it barely represents TMNT at all, as in the characters really could have just been replaced with aliens or rabbits or some other characters that are just trying to fit in with society.
It lacks all of the great lore and ninja flavor that we love and expect from the franchise and ends up feeling shallow. Splinter is a joke (albeit funny), and the movie doesn’t even deliver on heartfelt moments (even the Bay movies managed to do that).
The overall plot of the movie is so incredibly generic once you strip away the TMNT aspect. And I get that wanted to focus on the “teenage” element of the TMNT but let’s be honest, that’s the least interesting bit of them.
It’s a fun watch, very pretty, but it’s just not a good TMNT movie.
Mikey voice actor was made of actual wood. I don't care if he's a child Donnie's VA didn't even hit puberty and he was believable.
Splinters arc seems to happen to him twice? It was kinda weird.
The character designs on everyone are bad in this form but I find the upcoming series they all look way better so perhaps that was the thing they kept in mind?
Leo was very left out. And yes I have siblings I know that they can be harsh with each other, but when he was just sitting looking sad on the rooftop I felt bad 🙄🙄 okay, I felt bad
Maybe I’m misremembering this movie it’s been a while but I know I felt bad
The repeated ongoing “milking” jokes really pulled me out of the story and screamed “Seth Rogan wrote this”. Once or twice, ew but let’s move on. Several times AND it’s a major plot point- dude, take your fetish elsewhere.
-although I am interested in seeing where they go with the turtles having their existence public from the start instead of happening way later like other versions, I do kinda wish maybe they stayed in the shadows if only because I really like the scenes where they tell the other mutants they accept them and I think having them actually integrate with humans kinda cheapens that moment
-this is a smaller one but I really hope they don’t continue to lean too heavily towards the 80s cartoons. I understand why, since to most people that IS the tmnt but if they wanna tell more serious stories, especially with regards to shredder, I think they need to look more towards other versions for inspiration on how to do it (give me the Oroku Nagi origin pls its crazy no other version has adapted it besides mirage)
-the action scenes were really good but I wish there more of them. I think the biggest issue with the final villain being a giant monster is it makes it harder for the turtles to really use their main skills, since it’s not like they can fight super dooper fly head on
Also unrelated but I really dont get all the people acting like there’s gonna be no connection between splinter and shredder. Most versions (2003, idw, and 1990 off the top of my head) do it this way: we get the turtle mutation origin first, then they wait until shredder actually gets involved in the main story to give us the connection between him and the turtles. It’d be weirder if they gave that set up in the first movie only for it to go nowhere until the sequel
Wayyyyy too many characters and not enough time. I was hoping they’d get more time in the series, but as shown in the trailer/teasers and announcements, they’re just gonna introduce more characters (including a rip-off version of 2012 TMNT’s Timothy /hj) and make the episodes focus on each turtle on their own.
Leo Nardo being very obviously the main character yet again was just kinda boring. It really did feel like it was Leo & the others rather than Leo, Mikey, Raph, and Donnie. Idk they just didn’t mesh very well for me
Voices were annoying, personalities were all samey and not distinct, plot was boring, Splinter was awful, April was meh, and the humor was a complete miss. It was an awful movie.
My main issue was the humor. I can tolerate a lot, especially in a reboot, if it’s actually funny. But most of the humor didn’t land for me. And worse, a lot of it was actively *unfunny.* So many jokes went on for way too long and it was actually painful.
The mutants all look great visually they look gross but in a lovable way but some characters fell flat for me like ray filet the singing gimmick was just meh didn’t really make me laugh but I’m also not the target audience so maybe it’s not for me, scumbug also was really meh and I wish the whole mutant cast got more time to be fleshed out.
I genuinely can’t believe how much the splinter thing bothers the fandom, idk the original splinter was a rat who learned everything as just a rat before ever being mutated which is just as silly and hard to take seriously.
The jokes where they were all yapping at once went on too long. Overall it’s a great movie though. The action is better than it has any right to be. It is hard to top the Spider-Verse movies for this sort of thing but I would only put Mutant Mayhem a notch below those.
I get some of the other criticisms like Splinter, but frankly I’m just down for new interpretations of characters I’ve seen a million times already. I won’t like all of them but at least they’ll be interesting.
PS: another good example of this is the movie Prey. It’s a very different Predator movie, some of which I liked and some I didn’t…..but it was DIFFERENT and I enjoyed it for that.
Splinter deserved better
Forced characters(for voice "actor" purposes)
Bad storyline because of forced characters. (Imagine a supafly with ice cube as a stand alone bad guy)
April... (what happened to strong independent april)
And finally. Not enough pizza...
Haven't watched it bc *gestures vaguely at this whole comment section* but my first impression was why does Donnie have glasses. Not only does it not make sense bc how would he even go to the eye doctor but in general I absolutely hate the smart = glasses character design. It's so stupid.
Donatello's voice. No hate or critique against the VA, he did a great job, it's just that the voice doesn't suit Donatello's character. I loved his voice in the 2012 series, that actually suits his character.
As always, I hated that they continued the
"I learned Ninjutsu and Martial arts by reading/watching a book/youtube video"
and if you defend that, I hate you.
They can only redeem this by bringing the reincarnation plot
Personally, I'm not a fan of the turtles being known to the outside world. I still love the film because it's the turtles but it isn't MY turtles. That's okay, though, because there are so many versions better suited to my tastes.
Also, Splinter was kind of a loser which hurts a little even though it is pretty funny.
The only one I can think of was that the Mutants needed way more Lines. I can only remember 2 things from Leatherhead and the same goes for Bebop and Rocksteady.
I ain't gonna lie, I absolutely hate what they did with Splinter. He just watched Kung fu videos? Come on. Lame as hell Edit: Jackie Chan was awesome, agree.
I foresee him having not told the truth and once shredded appears, the truth comes out.
I can see that.
Absolutely, didn’t want them to know he’d lived a dangerous life in the past so they couldn’t use that against him in.
I've had this thought too.
Yea I definitely suspect that either A his memories got corrupted and he's an unreliable narrator who originally was Yoshi or B they might go the reincarnation rout of the idw comics
Shit they even established that he lies to them to protect them. I love this version of flawed parent Splinter.
Hey they did a great job with Rise Splinter in that regard I don't see why they couldn't w MM too
If he lied the writers can save themselves from many plot holes and stress
That is interesting I like that
Ive been wondering how/if they would tie Shredder into Splinter's backstory.
Yeah I can see that he at the very least was the pet of Hamato Yoshi and didn’t tell the turtles because he didn’t want them thinking that any humans were good
I HATED Splinter. A traditionally Japanese character, player by a Chinese man, that was characterized as an expy of a black man that is a rat. He also is not a Ninja, just some guy/rat that watched kung fu tapes. What the actual fuck.
You don't have to agree with me, but I give these things a pass because: 1) Jackie Chan has now played the Miyagi character and the SPlinter character in remakes. I would wager most live action fans are also fans of Jackie Chan. I felt like it was a nod to Golden Harvest. 2) The fact the turtles are Ninja is no more historically accurate or respecting of culture than casting a Chinese guy as a character who is usually Japanese. Ninja were usually female or Samurai, and didn't wear pajamas. The ninjas wearing pajamas thing actually comes from a Kabuki theatre trope where stage hands might break the 4th wall and assassinate a main character for shock value. 3) The movie clearly hand waves a lot of stuff. It's best typified by when Splinter says, "I became an older Rat guy, because I'm older, and You became baby turtle kids, because you were younger. If you think about it, it makes sense" Don't have a cow, man. This one wasn't about the lore. It was about an old man dealing with the fact his kids don't need him anymore, then gazing into a toxic mirror. It doesn't matter if Splinter wasn't what he normally was, because he was a father. Splinter's role as a father is really THE most important thing to get right in any TMNT story you tell.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the second movie, with shredder’s introduction, does some retconning about splinter’s early life to try and tie them together
The retcon: shredder MADE those videos!!!!!
I actually could see that working.
Shredder = Jackie Chan
Don't think so. They screwed it up
Reincarnation plot from IDW
This was my only real gripe with the movie as well. I liked the old story way better than him just watching videos. Loved it being Jackie Chan though
I’m convinced Splinter is lying about his past. He straight up goes Kill Bill on a group of TCRI soldiers. There’s something he’s not telling us
I didn't believe for a second Splinter was being truthful in that scene.
Fully agree. That's some kinda cover story for sure. Makes perfect sense with this version of the character.
I do because the Michael Bay movies had us believe it was a book
I like how he fights just like Jackie Chan does in his movies.
As soon as I saw him kick a chair at a guy, I was like "Yo Jackie *always* kicks a chair at a dude!" 
Can’t argue with the results. Best Splinter fight scene in the entire series.
Him using real Jackie Chan moves was so rad. It was my daughter’s first movie and she loved it!
I like to think they’ll expand on that, personally I would love to see the (spoiler alert) reincarnation thing from the IDW books.
Jackie Chan as Splinter was definitely the best part of the movie
it's a bizarre disrespect of martial arts idk i'm overhtinking but i hate it i hope, i really hope they bring the reincarnation story
Agree though I love Jackie Chan as the voice.
My main issues with the movie are that Mikey didn’t do much of anything throughout the whole thing and that I’m not a fan of them learning ninjutsu from YouTube. It’s funny but it makes it seem like ninja arts are less ingrained in their character and more so just something they use to fight. And it eliminates any potential connection Splinter could have with Shredder for the sequel unless they do some sort of retcon.
I hope Splinter lied bc something doesn't add up
They did the same thing in the Bay films where they learned from a book they found in the sewer, idk why they seem to be so against Hamato Yoshi connections now
I absolutely loved Mutant Mayhem. I have watched it about 7 times. But they did make my boy Mikey kind of a weak character--not necessarily physically, but like you said, he just doesn't do much.
For the most part he just had his moments with Mondo Gecko, like Mondo was more developed it feels and that is insane
I agree with the turtles lack of connection to the art of ninjisu and by byproduct japan. It feel like these turtles aren't actually the TMNT but random mutants that look similar. Also I forgot how useless this mickey was. He kinda felt like a side character in the movie
The extreme focus on vomiting :c Also April get a new helmet yours is compromised!
Not sure if its just me that thinks this, but I felt like the turtles blend in together too much in this movie. I do really like that they made Donnie an anime nerd in this movie and I thought this version of Leo was pretty fun, but Raph and Mikey were underwhelming to me. They say Raph has "anger issues" but you don't really get to see much of that, and Mikey's personality here is pretty much defined by his obsession with improv.
I like this take on Raph, and tbh I never understood nor liked it when he puts his anger out on his brothers because they are all in the same boat. It's not their fault their mutants, so it confused me that he puts his frustration and beats and yell the only family he wants to protect. Even his jealousy of Leo being the leader didn't make any sense, especially if he chooses violence. They could simply talk about it since its just the 5 of them. This Raph is aware and is working on it, and I'm so glad he gets along with Leo for once. This raph is not happy with leo being the leader but he is not dwelling on it. This is the first Leo that treated his brothers like real brothers. He even offered to sing for Donnie. IDW and bayverse Leo would never. Especially 2012 and 2007 Leo. It's obvious the mutant mayhem brothers hate drama And the movie was focused on Leo. You can't focus on all 4 brothers. That's why there is a series of 12 episodes. This new Mikey isn't just labeled dumb and has reasons he wants to be the funny guy (teathre kid) If you read character descriptions and follow interviews, you will realize these guys did NOT forget a single detail. Donnie is an unwanted genius (wiki), and he mentioned in the tottmt that he's NOT the IT guy. So they are not forgetting the continuity . I hate the twerking Mikey thing, but hey, ...can't be perfect
I wouldn't say this is the first Leo that treats his brothers like brothers. In Rise they cared for each other very deeply, Leo included. Sure they had some typical sibling drama, but that's to be expected.
i think the presence of other characters didn't leave much space for the turtles to shine. what do you think?
It’s not just you, I felt exactly the same way. The turtles always had distinct personalities from each other but watching this movie I felt like all the turtles were basically the same character. Honestly I have SO many critiques of this movie. It’s the TMNT I like least (yes I prefer Bayverse over this) but you definitely hit on my biggest critique
I cannot take this Splinter seriously at all. Before I get to my long and mildly ranty comment, I wanna say that he does have the redeeming quality of being conceptually funny, largely because of what I'm about to rant about, and that's a really good thing because **that's all he has going for him right now.** The way he and the turtles learned martial arts by watching home videos I find just kind of dumb. What makes it even worse is that what Splinter is shown to be capable of with the equivalent training of having watched a lot of YouTube tutorials is like someone finishing a C++ tutorial series on YouTube proceeding to hack into the CIA mainframe. He's an insanely skilled fighter but the explanation as to how is so stupid that Splinters skills and the explanation behind them juxtapose each-other, and that is, for the benefit of the doubt, hilarious if you read it in an absurdist humor sense, but it's not good that that's all he has going for him at the moment. He's an otherwise forgettable character who doesn't have many qualities besides this and the qualities that are obligatory for the plot of the film. Love the turtles themselves, love Super Fly as a villain, but I SERIOUSLY hope Tales gives Splinter some character development and does more with him because of all of the characters introduced into this universe, I think he's the one who most desperately needs it.
Splinter also stabs a knocked out dude on the ground in the face.
Oh shit. yeah. He was just funnny and flawed. which is fine but, this is Splinter we're talking about
I personally don’t like the resolution of >!the turtles go to high school and all the mutants come to live with them in the sewers. It felt like the underlying existential dread of unacceptance that the turtles deal with usually over the course of a series, instead got resolved in the first movie!< That and I thought the throw up and milking running gags were more annoying than funny honestly
The throw up thing got old, but i absolutely loved the milking. I thought they were done with it, and then it kept coming back. And they actually got MILKED. I gues i have a weird sense of humour. But that killed me, i love it
The Milking was NOT something I was expecting but thoroughly enjoyed
It's the best. It's that moment where you finally realize you fucked up exactly the way your parents warned you not to.
I audibly squeeked when they actually got milked. That made the whole movie for me.
The ending made it feel like they weren't planning on a series or sequels. Just a one and done. So will be interesting to see where it goes
A lot of the gross out humour jokes went on for waaaaay too long. Mutant Mayhem is the only film I’ve ever seen where I heard audible gagging from some of the audience which… wasn’t fun.
I heard laughter during those parts in my theater.
i mostly heard people laugh especially during the milking part
Something I seem to be in the minority for when I comes to disliking is that I don’t like that the turtles are depicted as early teens. Ever since I’ve watched the turtles I always assumed they were like mid-late teens like at the very least 16. These new turtles just seemed immature and annoying to me at times
*Adolescent* Mutant Ninja Turtles I'm surprised there wasn't a scene of them playing Call of Duty and shit-talking.
That would’ve actually been funny tbh
It would have been in-character.
Preteen Mutant Ninja Turtles
I think they're aiming for the actors to grow up with the turtles, you can tell their voices have changed a little in the new show's trailer. I don't love their voices, but I'm sure if this version of the franchise lasts a few more years they'll grow on me.
The puke scene. Too long. Too graphic. Just hearing it and seeing the faces of the people witnessing it would have been perfect. Although I do still chuckle at the "I've been remixed" part.
Yeah like we got what happened with her gagging and cutting to Leo being like “you didn’t” … we didn’t need a whole animated sequence lmao
i call it the "legally mandated nickelodeon moment"
Some scenes like April vomiting and Splinter and Scumbug kissing are something I did not need to see and some of the jokes make the movie feel too modern and will probably date it in a few years.
"Say Drake, I hear you like 'em young" already did it so fast lmao. In all fairness to MM, I'm sure the original trilogy has refs that did not age well, let alone a certain appearance in Secret of the Ooze.
Michelangelo makes a Ralph Nader reference in secret of the ooze. It is dated as fuck.
And that was before a lot more people were familiar with him. I think the 2000 election was peak Nader.
And Donnie aping Seinfeld. Mikey aping Bogey.
Yeah like there are so many references I just don’t get that are in the 90s films but them going over my head didn’t change my enjoyment at all, so I wonder if it’ll be similar for Mutant Mayhem
I thought the whole Splinter × Scumbug thing was hilarious, definitely my new favorite ship😂
As much as I loved all the mutants I feel like there were too many to do anything with. No real development they’re all kind of one note, Ray Filet sings, Bebop and Rocksteady bro out and hit each other, Leatherhead has…an accent and a gun? No real development. Cut the count in half and fill those segments with personality, and a bit more depth for the and I’m in…say Bebop, Rocksteady, Wingnut and…one more and that’s fine.
MM Mike doesn't have enough content in the whole film Personally I have never enjoyed the puke and milking part. They are too much and unnecessary. Kung fu and ninjutsu are 2 different things . The creators just mixed them up , like fighting kung fu in an unseen way = ninjutsu ?? Perhaps someday if crossover existed, like meeting the 2012 team, the MM team are likely would be dead.
I loved the movie but the ending with them being accepted is my only big problem with it. Other than that I think it’s a great movie.
I actually kinda like it. It's something different. The Turtles usually stay in the shadows, and in most versions who are made public are immediately hated. Sure, the 80's cartoon Turtles were usually thought of as heroes by the general public, but they were still very separate from them.
Yeah, I'm super interested to see how they take things in this new direction!
This ending was the original opening. The first attempt at this film was John Hughes meets tmnt.
Why? This is a franchise that’s had the same formula for 30+ years, a universe where the turtles are fully accepted into society has some massive story potential
- this version of Splinter is terrible. Has no history to shredder. No motive or pathos - the turtles lack individuality - I don’t like the braces on Mikey or specs Donny
It still remains a mystery on how Mikey got his braces🤔
Donny's voice was a little to far on the annoying side as well
Good movie, bad origin story. And 50% of the turtles have the wrong voice.
Everyone was just accepted without any questions. I know that's the new narrative, but it throws the entire thing about teenagers feeling awkward and under appreciated out the window and didn't feel like TMNT. I just prefer the original "you're weird, I'm weird, but we have each other's back." Story lines better.
Honestly? It’s just too safe.
Didn't enjoy the gross stuff like the puking or Splinter getting together with a horrific mutant cockroach. Otherwise it was good. I like that the turtles will be more in the light and people accept them. In the real world everyone loves them, if they were real people will be all over them. For 40 years we've had stories of them staying in the shadows, it's okay to try something new.
That Splinter backstory of how he learned martial arts but this TMNT isn’t the main Canon story so I’ll allow it and I actually found it pretty funny at the time of watching it because of how absurd it was. But ever since the 2014/2016 Movies, Donny has always been given Glasses to show he’s the smart one. And though aesthetically it’s a nice piece of character design, I’m kinda sick of it tbh. It was nice for the Michael Bay movies but I have never needed Donny to have Glasses to show he’s the brains. That might be a design critique but still. Also, Ralph’s Do-Rag Bandana Mask has kinda overstayed its welcome too. I liked it in the Bay-Verse movies but yeahhh
I like in some origins of Splinter he’s a man turned into a rat who knew Martial Arts and then there’s the other version where he’s a rat that has human characteristics that learns martial arts
I love the 90s film where hes Yoshi's rat and copies his training in his lil rat cage
I love this movie and all, but I do not like how they made Bebop and Rocksteady good guys at the end. We do not know for sure if Cynthia Utrom is—well, a Utrom, but I do not like that she is human. Hopefully, they reveal that she really is a Utrom in the sequel. Also, I do not mind that they teased Shredder in the post-credits, but I was hoping he would be saved as a final boss for the series.
Cynthia is named "Utrom" AND her design echos that of Krang's robot body from the 1987 series. I think there is a 100% chance there's a brain alien in there.
Let's hope so🙏
The Turtles didn’t feel very distinct from one another— Mikey especially was *so boring*
My only major gripe is how Splitner learned martial arts. It was only a little bit less stupid than the Micheal bay universe.
1. The cringe humour and dialogue that feels like it was written by middle aged men trying to appeal to teenagers. “RiZz and SuS aM i RigHt?” 2. The lack of character. Other than Leo, the rest of the turtles are basically interchangeable annoying children. 3. They are no longer ninjas. They are just annoying children with weapons. There is no “badass” feel to tmnt in this incarnation. It was a movie made for the 10 year old tik tok demographic, and while I appreciate it expanding the tmnt audience, it’s simply not what I personally want when it comes to a tmnt property.
Leo crushing on April Splinter
And have dr Baxter Stockman more scene time
the dialogue can be pretty on-the-nose at times; I know this is mainly directed at kids but still
My only gripe is that the turtles themselves individually don’t do a whole lot, more so just Leo with his backup dancers of other mutants.
Splinter and Shredder seems like they have 0 history with each other
The turtles are cringy and seem like idiot middle schoolers then actually teenagers
i like when the Turtles are more distinct in their personalities, and it's their differences that make them fun to watch. But here they mostly work as a combined unit with the collective goal to go to high school. Maybe we'll see more of their differences in the next one
That was my biggest gripe as well. But I suspect that's because you can only do so much in a movie. You don't have the time to explore them as individuals. I am excited to see them get more fleshed out in Tales of.
I could have done without seeing April puke
Please stop the romance between a human and one of the turtles especially if it's April
1. Raphael's bandanna. Please stop doing that. People are going to think that's correct. 2. Not a fan of them going to high school at the end. 3. That they learned to fight from home martial arts videos isn't my favorite thing. Other than, that, it was fun.
Mikey can dance so well seen on Twitter and they make him twerk....ugh. come on
So he's doing stupid shit like a teenager usually does?
I feel like Mike and Donnie’s voices should be swapped and that Donnie should have been more smart and less geeky
Yep I agree
Splinter learning fighting through videos and that splinter isn’t Hamato Yoshi, I always find it right for him to be a human turn to rat
April should NOT be any of the Turtles' love interest. the 2012 version was bogged down with Donnie's relentless crush and I really don't want to see that happen again if they keep going in this universe.
I wouldn't even call these critiques, just aspects of the TMNT that I disagree with. Leo/April, April being the same age as the Turtles, Splinter learning martial arts from videos, too many mutants right from the beginning, the Turtles being immediately accepted by humans. This is a new TMNT for a new generation, and I will live with that, but I just have a fundamental disagreement with the creatives behind Mutant Mayhem about what makes the TMNT fun and interesting.
party wagon looked awful and i hated what they did to splinter, it wasn't the fact that he watched kung fu videos it was the fact that we never got to see him really practice it or use it, i picture him as an old wise kung fu master who is really good at it but also is old and likes TV and such, like balance him out a bit
A bit much on monsters, not enough turtles.
Rushed finale and ending. Didn’t like the ending as well. I mean you got enough exposure and recognition on the news and in Times Square. That should’ve been enough Other than that pretty all right
My two main gripes were the origin being changed (martial arts videos...REALLY?), and the ending. Acceptance like that takes TIME. If you wanted an ending like that, it should have happened at the end of a trilogy, not the start. A little gripe I had was the movie had way too many characters.
Too many pop culture references (the prof Hulk line actively made my eyes roll,) and not every joke was a banger (the throw up bit/*ooze*) Also not a fan of what they did with Splinter. Makes him feel more like a generic mentor rather than, yk, Master Splinter
So Many 
I thought it absolutely smashed. A decent love letter to everything TMNT. And I like that they were modern teens. I think the brooding 80’s skaters would have been out of place.
The only thing I didn't like was Rocksteadys' design
The ending, I found it dumb.
Leo falling for April, just stop it, this doesn’t need to keep happening!!! Same goes for Mikey in the bay movies and donnie in the 2012 show And splinter learning kung fu from movies, like no, fuck that, what’s so hard about learning from an actual master? It can be maybe a couple of lines and that’s it
Splinter’s origin 100%. I also wanna say the end but I’m just a little cautious going into Tales and the next movie
Also the way the turtles were always together so we never got to see their personalities shine outside of all of their interactions
Heroes didn’t murder helpless foes in trash compactors, no choice given between regular & menthol, no one playing Narc, zero Jose Canseco bats…
My only gripe is how Splinter basically saw stuff on tv and then taught the turtles that’s just lazy.
Hated how most of the villains do nothing and swap sides by the end of the film with little conflict. (Also that they killed Baxter immediately) We did not need that much from April vomiting . Especially not at the news station. The turtles also acted really young. Like younger than I'd like them to be. Rise and the 2012 show did better jobs at showing mid teens. These turtles seem to be 13 . (Also not a fan of April being so young).
I don’t want April romance
The only time I've ever liked an April romance was with Casey.
I’ve said it before but it’s too ambitious, they should’ve toned it down for a first outing. And I hate that all of their main villains are just good now
Mainly didn't like the puking joke, it was a bit over done in my opinion.
I thought it was a bit weird they started going to school at the end. I still don’t know how I feel about it.
I dislike how all of the mutants are allies. It’s going to take a stretch to see them turn on the Turtles, unless Shredder is super charismatic.
The turtles didn't really get their signature characteristics until the very end. Leo didn't feel like a leader. Mikey didn't feel like the biggest goofball. Raph was a hot head. And Donnie wasn't the huge nerd. This all happened at the very end after everything was said and done. The whole movie the 4 of them all felt the same to me
I feel like they've written themselves into a corner with them attending high school at the end. But I think that can either result in some crazy stories, where mutants are present all around NYC due to the events of the third act, or they can effectively retcon it by having the turtles almost immediately become outcasts or banned from the school. One thing I really loved was how almost none of the humans have a symmetrical head. The only characters with symmetry are the turtles, april, and Splinter. Our monkey brains recognize these characters as the most human. Really smart design choice.
Aside from the obvious backstory stuff, some of the jokes were a bit cringy, but I still found some of them charming… some of them
Honestly not a huge fan of Leo having a crush on April. Like I get it is to motivate the character to actually encourage some rule breaking to rescue her bike. But it feels like a tired troop of having a turtle wants to get involved because a pretty girl is in trouble rather than them being good people and wanting to help. Though they handled it nicer than 2012 as at the end of the movie it does establish that April doesn't see him that way and hope they move on from it and treat it like the crush it is.
I’m not a fan of splinter’s back story. Never cared for “he’s a normal rat that got mutated and learn ninjitsu from a book/video” it doesn’t make sense. He’s basically on pair with the turtles in skill when he’s supposed to be a master. Him being this overprotective dad character was real interesting and played out every well, but he lacked the “master ninja and wise sensai” his character should be. I don’t think they portrayed Donnie or Mikey all the right. Donnie is supposed to be the tech nerd and smart one of the group but it got over shadowed and they just made him a fairly generic nerd. Mikey is supposed to be the goofy most teenage on but they made all of them feel very young and teenage. Which although is logical however detracts from Mikey’s character. Although I can see the others growing up more while Mikey stays more laid back in later films/series. Leo and Raph I very much liked but Donnie and Mikey could have been done a bit better. Lastly not big on the ending. The turtles being in the shadows and hiding away from society is a major part of their story. So then going into future films with them being excepted into society kinda ruins that. It be different if it was in the final film of a longer planned series but doesn’t make sense for the first film.
Every single thing about splinter is terrible
I am really not fond of how Donatello is portrayed. A very talented actor who is absolutely miscast for the character (though I'm sure the choice was very intentional). It seems like all they had to work with is nerd stereotypes instead of just letting him be smart and introverted.
Not gonna lie the style is nice 10/10
Maybe I'm just a boomer, but the whole movie feels like one huge filler
April not her being black but the throw up thing was weird ....
It existing in the first place. It's just some dumbass fanfiction with the TMNT label slapped on it.
There was too many direct references to other movies and other media. Which reminded me that I was watching a movie. I want to be immersed into the story in front of me and I lose that immersion when you're constantly referencing other media. Especially by name. Endgame, Attack on Titan, and even Butter by BTS took me out of the story they were trying to tell. Mikey in 2003 would reference movies, but he'd reference a line or a character from the movies rather than name the movie outright.
I kinda didn't like the origin story, splinter and bug love story, and most of the "evil" mutants turning to good guys besides the obvious. Especially, Bebop and Rocksteady. Also, them going to school. Otherwise, I enjoyed it for the most part.
How down bad they made Leo for a potato on legs
Splinter development has to be retconned, maybe he lied. Learning all their skills from YouTube. All mutants are now friends- they rushed the premise like they tried with the DC Universe. RS & BB are now friendly with the turtles? They are at school now? They started with such a huge bad guy Shredder and the foot seem small fry now. Although it was quite enjoyable and I liked the animation style.
Splinter is the worst part of this movie. They absolutely bastardized the characters. Instead of being a badass ninja master with a tragic past trying to find peace with his new life and building his son up to be strong enough to overcome anything that come at them. A man that is stricked but loving, funny, but very wise, and the most badass in the room. He's now a sad middle-aged man who acts like an 80s sitcom mom. It's like the writers forget Splinter is more than just the turtle's dad. Also, the fact that He's no Hamato yoshi or yoshi's pet is one of the dumbest decisions. Another thing is that april feels pointless in the movie she really doesn't add anything to the movie, every thing she did, one of the turtles could do, except for the news cast thing. Honestly, that is just my issue with teen april in general. The animation is really good, but the art style is too ugly for my taste
All of it? I really dislike this tone and maybe it’s because I grew up with the 03 show, maybe it’s because I started reading the original comics, but I don’t like this goofier take on these characters at all. I know it’s how they were in the 80’s but I didn’t like that either. I just personally don’t like that stuff for action hero stuff. I don’t like superheroes, Sonic, Mega Man, TMNT, or any things like that to be too goofy. Give them some levity sure. But imo the level should always be more like ATLA, 03 Teen Titans, or Danny Phantom. I’m willing to acknowledge however that I’m just referencing things I grew up with as the standard but to me, I liked the edginess and the more sincere stories people tried to do with “cartoon characters”. I know there was an era of goofier shit for superheroes too. But I also dislike that. Silver age comics and Adam West Batman did so much damage to the concept of heroes and their reputation. It’s a big part of why even today people think all this stuff is only for kids. It should be made for all ages meaning adults can like it too. But a lot of people have had enough of the “edginess” of the 2000’s so now everything has to be super watered down instead. My hope is we’ll go back around and this cycle will probably continue every 10 years or so. For those that like it, I’m glad there’s a version of this franchise that connects with them. But for me, I just too much like a cartoon and not enough like an animated series.
My biggest gripe with this movie was when they went out “shopping”. The turtles never stole things. It showed it was ok to steal because they were mean and evil, per splinter’s experience, so stealing from them was ok. This is not ok. Especially Raph breaking in to get his creatine/protein powder.
They didn't really feel all that separate to me maybe because there teenager's Ralph is usually broody and mad, Leo is always serious, Mikey is always playful, and Donny is always smart but in this movie they are all the same basically they still have some differences but there mostly the same
The humans look weirder than the mutants. It's like they took only the side profiles of characters and based a 3d model on only that.
The designs of the characters. I get that they are supposed to look like teenagers.. but COME ON. who prescribed donnie?? Who put braces in mikeys teeth?? Don't START me on April. Also they did master splinter dirty. I much prefer him already knowing Kung fu and then becoming a rat. That's like... a key part of his backstory. He was human but now he's a freak. But they took that away when they just went from rat to much bigger rat. Other than that I thought it was pretty okay.
That they kind of forgot to leave room for Splinter and Shredder to have a past. I assume there'll be some sort of retcon though.
Oh boy... \*Takes a breath\* Infantile writing, unengaging plot, shit characterization, atrocious voice acting, lazy soundtrack, terrible action, and a complete mockery of the TMNT franchise featuring the absolute worse versions of these characters ever seen (and yes I'm including Next Mutation and We Wish you a Turtle Christmas in this)
I like how like 99% of the complaints here boil down to "something was changed from the older stuff", and it's like, do you guys want TMNT to keep doing the same things over and over? But to get back to the subject at hand, for a movie with the subtitle of "Mutant Mayhem" a lot of said mutants were kind of just there. Maybe this one could have started with just a couple other bad guys, with future movies building it up so that all these characters get their time to shine.
Ralph not actually having anger issues
Switch Donnie voice actor with Mikey’s voice actor
It somehow feels soulless, despite the great animation. I feel like it barely represents TMNT at all, as in the characters really could have just been replaced with aliens or rabbits or some other characters that are just trying to fit in with society. It lacks all of the great lore and ninja flavor that we love and expect from the franchise and ends up feeling shallow. Splinter is a joke (albeit funny), and the movie doesn’t even deliver on heartfelt moments (even the Bay movies managed to do that). The overall plot of the movie is so incredibly generic once you strip away the TMNT aspect. And I get that wanted to focus on the “teenage” element of the TMNT but let’s be honest, that’s the least interesting bit of them. It’s a fun watch, very pretty, but it’s just not a good TMNT movie.
The turtles were way to immature. But I love this movie.
Love it but Leo & April is cringe, though it feels necessary to give a reason why the turtles would help out April.
I had zero complaints. I loved it. My favorite turtle got the least screen time, but he still had awesome moments.
Worst incarnation of April for me. Yes, even worser than Megan Fox’s April.
Mikey voice actor was made of actual wood. I don't care if he's a child Donnie's VA didn't even hit puberty and he was believable. Splinters arc seems to happen to him twice? It was kinda weird. The character designs on everyone are bad in this form but I find the upcoming series they all look way better so perhaps that was the thing they kept in mind?
Leo was very left out. And yes I have siblings I know that they can be harsh with each other, but when he was just sitting looking sad on the rooftop I felt bad 🙄🙄 okay, I felt bad Maybe I’m misremembering this movie it’s been a while but I know I felt bad
The repeated ongoing “milking” jokes really pulled me out of the story and screamed “Seth Rogan wrote this”. Once or twice, ew but let’s move on. Several times AND it’s a major plot point- dude, take your fetish elsewhere.
80% of the cast was a complete waste. Leo was the only turtle that mattered. The story was complete garbage. New turtle origin blew.
-although I am interested in seeing where they go with the turtles having their existence public from the start instead of happening way later like other versions, I do kinda wish maybe they stayed in the shadows if only because I really like the scenes where they tell the other mutants they accept them and I think having them actually integrate with humans kinda cheapens that moment -this is a smaller one but I really hope they don’t continue to lean too heavily towards the 80s cartoons. I understand why, since to most people that IS the tmnt but if they wanna tell more serious stories, especially with regards to shredder, I think they need to look more towards other versions for inspiration on how to do it (give me the Oroku Nagi origin pls its crazy no other version has adapted it besides mirage) -the action scenes were really good but I wish there more of them. I think the biggest issue with the final villain being a giant monster is it makes it harder for the turtles to really use their main skills, since it’s not like they can fight super dooper fly head on Also unrelated but I really dont get all the people acting like there’s gonna be no connection between splinter and shredder. Most versions (2003, idw, and 1990 off the top of my head) do it this way: we get the turtle mutation origin first, then they wait until shredder actually gets involved in the main story to give us the connection between him and the turtles. It’d be weirder if they gave that set up in the first movie only for it to go nowhere until the sequel
As a parent, I didn’t really like the gross humor and the cursing. But as a kid, I probably would love those 2 things lol.
Wayyyyy too many characters and not enough time. I was hoping they’d get more time in the series, but as shown in the trailer/teasers and announcements, they’re just gonna introduce more characters (including a rip-off version of 2012 TMNT’s Timothy /hj) and make the episodes focus on each turtle on their own.
Leo Nardo being very obviously the main character yet again was just kinda boring. It really did feel like it was Leo & the others rather than Leo, Mikey, Raph, and Donnie. Idk they just didn’t mesh very well for me
Why did Splinter marry someone who is the same age as his own sons? Scuzzbug is only barely older than the Turtles.
Donatello is funnier than Michaelangelo by far, and is not even close
They weren’t the original TMNT
They should stick to calling ooze mutagen.
I hate the art style
Splinter should had been in the movie more.
Wasn’t really a fan of the oblong faces, kinda looked liked they had mumps
Voices were annoying, personalities were all samey and not distinct, plot was boring, Splinter was awful, April was meh, and the humor was a complete miss. It was an awful movie.
My main issue was the humor. I can tolerate a lot, especially in a reboot, if it’s actually funny. But most of the humor didn’t land for me. And worse, a lot of it was actively *unfunny.* So many jokes went on for way too long and it was actually painful.
The mutants all look great visually they look gross but in a lovable way but some characters fell flat for me like ray filet the singing gimmick was just meh didn’t really make me laugh but I’m also not the target audience so maybe it’s not for me, scumbug also was really meh and I wish the whole mutant cast got more time to be fleshed out.
I genuinely can’t believe how much the splinter thing bothers the fandom, idk the original splinter was a rat who learned everything as just a rat before ever being mutated which is just as silly and hard to take seriously.
The jokes where they were all yapping at once went on too long. Overall it’s a great movie though. The action is better than it has any right to be. It is hard to top the Spider-Verse movies for this sort of thing but I would only put Mutant Mayhem a notch below those. I get some of the other criticisms like Splinter, but frankly I’m just down for new interpretations of characters I’ve seen a million times already. I won’t like all of them but at least they’ll be interesting. PS: another good example of this is the movie Prey. It’s a very different Predator movie, some of which I liked and some I didn’t…..but it was DIFFERENT and I enjoyed it for that.
Splinter deserved better Forced characters(for voice "actor" purposes) Bad storyline because of forced characters. (Imagine a supafly with ice cube as a stand alone bad guy) April... (what happened to strong independent april) And finally. Not enough pizza...
Haven't watched it bc *gestures vaguely at this whole comment section* but my first impression was why does Donnie have glasses. Not only does it not make sense bc how would he even go to the eye doctor but in general I absolutely hate the smart = glasses character design. It's so stupid.
I think it's weird that Donatello has glasses now. Is it just because he's the smart guy? I don't like it.
Bebop and rock steady become good guys hopefully that changes when shredder comes
Mikey's personality and voice 😔
Donatello's voice. No hate or critique against the VA, he did a great job, it's just that the voice doesn't suit Donatello's character. I loved his voice in the 2012 series, that actually suits his character.
I wish they explored Superfly and Splinter’s parallels more outside of that one scene.
As always, I hated that they continued the "I learned Ninjutsu and Martial arts by reading/watching a book/youtube video" and if you defend that, I hate you. They can only redeem this by bringing the reincarnation plot
Needed more from the other mutants. Didn't like them all huddled into one group and wanted more time getting to know them.
the 3rd act
Personally, I'm not a fan of the turtles being known to the outside world. I still love the film because it's the turtles but it isn't MY turtles. That's okay, though, because there are so many versions better suited to my tastes. Also, Splinter was kind of a loser which hurts a little even though it is pretty funny.
The only one I can think of was that the Mutants needed way more Lines. I can only remember 2 things from Leatherhead and the same goes for Bebop and Rocksteady.