Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

We watched this amidst the run-up to the Oscar nominees, and we were guessing what animated movies might make the cut--on the one hand, we did not think this was up to the task, but on the other, my spouse was hoping for something less emotionally complex, and in that scenario, this definitely fit the bill. It is not a good movie, but it is also not at all taxing in any way. This is a reboot of the teenage mutant turtles of yore--in this permutation the Turtles meet and befriend April O’Neal (voiced by Ayo Edebiri, of The Bear fame), an aspiring journalist and an outcast at her high school. She agrees to help them with a plan to win the human’s acceptance. Together they will track down a local menace named Superfly (a literal housefly mutated by the same green ooze). The Turtles will apprehend him and turn him over to the police. April will chronicle their feat and report it, leading the city to love and embrace them. This predictably goes awry, but these conflicts lead to some pretty creative action scenes, highlighted by some eye-popping animation and some clever cinematic effects. Not all of the action works, and the dialogue could use some help as well--disappointing as Seth Rogen is a co-writer. All in all, I would not recommend this.