The following contains spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, now playing in theaters.
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, the Heroes in a Half Shell face their biggest test. Granted, it's their first large scale mission after beating down thugs in Manhattan over the course of a few months. Still, it's not something one would expect 15-year-olds to be capable of handling.
The evil Superfly (played by Ice Cube) fully accounts for them as he hatches a plan to wreak havoc on New York, and he's desperate to mutate the wildlife population. In the process, he hopes to spread this mutation plot across the world, killing off or enslaving the pockets of humanity that remain. Luckily, the brothers band together and get much-needed assistance, creating a wild, explosive Mutant Mayhem finale.
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TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Destroys the Superfly Kaiju
The Mutant Mayhem final act sees the Turtles turning Superfly's mutant gang against him. This includes Scumbag, Bebop, Rocksteady, Genghis Frog, Leatherhead, Ray Fillet, Wingnut and Mondo Gecko. No matter what, they don't want to destroy mankind, but the ensuing brawl leads to Superfly becoming even more mutated via his sinister ooze machine. This turns him into a giant kaiju, who absorbs other animals from the nearby zoo.
Superfly eventually smashes through the city, making it clear humanity will pay, one way or the other. However, the brothers, along with Master Splinter (Jackie Chan), surprisingly get help from citizens. April O'Neil (Ayo Edebiri) makes a news broadcast on how Team Turtles are trying to save the day, leading to citizens assisting them. Together, the alliance gets a can of anti-ooze to the Turtles, who dump it into Superfly and reverse the mutation. All the animals are freed, giving the Turtles fame and more acceptance.
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TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Proves Humans and Mutants Can Co-Exist
What's intriguing is how the citizens and Turtles work together seamlessly. In the Splinter origin story he told earlier, he confesses when he forayed into the world with the baby Turtles, people attacked and nearly killed them. The same thing happened with Superfly's crew as well. To make matters worse, he lost his father, Baxter Stockman, who just wanted to make a mutant family and live in harmony on his own. Sadly, the Techno Cosmic Research Institute (TCRI) killed Baxter, leaking the ooze accidentally into the sewers to form the Turtles. This left Superfly to raise his crew by himself.
It is for this reason that Superfly has adopted Splinter's outlook, but in a more aggressive manner. Superfly prefers extinction and genocide over assimilation, so he comes up with this scheme to make his species superior. In time, Splinter sees his misguided ways in Superfly. As scared as he is of humans, it heals Splinter to see them helping his boys out. It speaks to the power of media as well, who shift from a biased perspective to something game-changing when April hits the airwaves. She talks about unity, not division, which gets the humans to change their divisive mindsets, and help the mutants who are trying to stop the rampaging kaiju.
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TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Heals Broken Families
The film ends with the Turtles attending high-school with April. This has long been their dream, as evidenced by how they used to sneak up top and watch outdoor movies. They just want to be normal, make friends and even pursue romantic relationships -- something that Leonardo is indeed eyeing with April. Thankfully, society has accepted Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo too, shaping them into celebrities at school.
Splinter is happy for this paradigm shift as well, understanding that he governed the boys without empathy, compassion and relatability. It' worth noting Splinter's parenting style came from a good place, as he was fearful of losing his boys. However, now that he has a romance with Scumbug and has taken in Superfly's family into his home, Splinter no longer comes off as controlling and toxic. He understands love on a deeper level and mends his family. He also shows Superfly's kin they can be happy with the Turtles. Additionally, if Team Superfly needs to go to the surface, they don't have to worry about being hated or oppressed again.
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TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Promises More Trouble
Another shocking turning point in the finale comes with the disappearance of the TCRI boss and Mutant Mayhem's major antagonist, Cynthia Utrom. Her lab is cleaned out, so the authorities have nothing to investigate. It's worth noting, she tried draining the Turtles of their blood when she kidnapped them for a bit, but she couldn't complete her scientific procedure. Her main goal is to create an army of super-soldier monsters, hence why she had her goons track and accidentally kill Baxter in the beginning. While she doesn't appear in the final act, Cynthia's presence leads to huge ramifications.
April steals one of her soldier's bikes and the anti-ooze, which helps the Turtles stop Superfly. Still, the way TCRI hunted Baxter and then dropped off the face of the Earth establishes they have a lot of influence and resources. Diehard fans would know the Utrom species is linked to Krang's aliens from the source material, leaving viewers curious what else is being planned. This is a powerful threat to have lurking in the shadows, and one that justifies Splinter's segregative mindset. He always warned the kids they'd be experimented on and it came to pass. Thankfully, he saved them so that they could go about the Superfly job. But what's certain is Cynthia is ready and equipped with a scary legion to continue her vision.
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TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Proves the Brothers Are Ready
Last but not least, it makes sense to ask if these immature brothers are ready for the threats to come. While they're juvenile in this coming-of-age story, they wise up. Leonardo becomes a proper leader in the end, playing on everyone's strengths and rallying them to formulate a strategy to drop the ooze in Superfly.
Even Raphael acknowledges he's the right leader for the team. The way they pull off the job with poise, it's clear the brothers can deal with dangers down the line as a cohesive unit who listens to each other. Sure, they still have a lot to learn, but as Splinter can confirm, their youth, optimism and fighting spirit make them the selfless guardians the Big Apple so desperately needs.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is now playing in theaters.
