After several attempts at relaunches and reimaginings, last year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem finally hit on a formula that justified bringing those heroes on the half-shell back yet again. Ditching the cluttered live-action CGI of Platinum Dunes’ previous Turtles’ films in favor of a fresh and fluid animation style, the film shifted focus from “ninja” to “teenage.” The green guys could still fight—and did—but the story was more interested in the adolescent longing for peer connection. Add a propulsive soundtrack and a real sense of place, and they got a refreshing delight. It only makes sense that Paramount would want to move the approach from the big screen to the little one with Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Unfortunately, budgets are a thing. Moving to 12 episodes (the first six provided for critics) on streaming means fewer dollars and further to stretch them. Thus, while Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), Raphael (Brady Noon), and April (Ayo Edebiri) return with their original voices, several are either changed or don’t return at all. For instance, Jackie Chan no longer voices Splinter. His replacement, James Sie, communicates only in a gibberish language called “vermin”. To be fair, it is a fun/funny solution to the usual “different guy trying for the same voice for the cartoon series” problem.
Paramount+)" class="wp-image-51151"/>The other mutants—the antagonists turned protagonists of the film—simply don’t appear. That’s not especially surprising. It’s hard to imagine getting the likes of Paul Rudd, Giancarlo Esposito, Post Malone, and Seth Rogen to ALL commit to a 12-episode order and have any money left over. That said, Rose Byrne contributes a brief but amusing cameo as Leatherhead. There is a chance the rest, or some portion, might return in the back half of the season. Regardless, their prominence ranges from significantly curtailed to entirely eliminated.
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles similarly employs a “some, but not all” approach to the impressive big-screen aesthetics. In broad strokes, it ports over the “just ripped from the most talented doodler in the class’s notebook” look. However, it is a flatter and less diverse interpretation of that approach. It doesn’t look bad, but it lacks the anarchic charge of the deeper, more varied approach. Aurally, the show doesn’t even attempt to mirror Mutant Mayhem’s use of music. There isn’t even a hip-hop-infused score. Similarly, the location moves from “definitely New York” to “Any City, USA.”
These are, of course, just trappings. Important, certainly, but the differences could be forgiven by strong storytelling. Sadly, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is running about a C on this front. On the one hand, separating the Turtles to make four of the first six episodes spotlights for each Turtle to have a solo adventure does match the comic book framing device well. Any comic fan will recognize the move. It’s like that issue of JLA where Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter team-up on a side mission while the rest of the team is off fighting some other aspect of the storyline. Those are frequently great fun.
Paramount+) Micah Abbey Shamon Brown Jr Brady Noon Nicolas Cantu" class="wp-image-51152"/>Here, though, it denies the show one of its best weapons: the interactions between the reptile brother-friends. It gives each space for some character development. Still, that development isn’t compelling enough to overcome missing out on the team’s development as a whole. Even taking the film into account, the result makes the show feel like it left the blocks strolling instead of sprinting. Why isolate your four leads when seeing them work and banter together is what makes them so watchable? Guest turns from Alanna Ubach as the villainous robotics scientist Bishop and Pete Davidson as her rich boy—and mutant enthusiast—Rod do not adequately fill the void.
The cumulative effect is Tales of the Teenage Mutant Turtles ends up a decent Saturday morning-type spinoff of Mutant Mayhem. There’s nothing terrible; it has some decent action sequences, and the voice work among the four remains strong. But everything is at least a small step down. If Mutant Mayhem was an all-ages pleaser for anyone with even a passing familiarity, Tales is a younger audience-aimed work that big Turtles fans will likely gently appreciate.
Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles don’t cut Paramount+ no slack starting August 9.