Every couple of decades we get a revolution in the world of animation that reverberates throughout American cinema. Just as there was the Disney Renaissance from 1989-1999, and the Pixar domination that started in the mid 90’s and carried through most of 2000s, we are now at the cusp of what can only be called the Spider-Verse effect era.

Thanks to the massive success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, we are seeing a rebuke at the box office to the type of clean and crisp computer animation that made Pixar a powerhouse in the industry. Audiences are now more drawn to works that feel like a living canvas. One where beauty is found in messier lines and bold experimentation.

The most recent beneficiary of this stylistic approach is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, a film that is yet another attempt to reboot the massively successful multi-media franchise. While not as daring as the universe hopping webslinger, the character designs and environments in Mutant Mayhem embrace vibrant colours and imperfections that feel as if they leaped off a sketch pad.

Unlike previous installments of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) lore, this film aims to take the heroes in a half shell in a new direction by presenting them as actual teenagers. Not only do the central foursome look and sound like teenagers, the latter a result of casting actual teenage voice actors, but they are dealing with that awkward stage of life where the desire for freedom at home and the craving for acceptance from peers often collide.

Confined to life in the sewer by their father Splinter (Jackie Chan), an elderly talking rat who taught the turtles martial arts as a way to protect them from the danger that is the human world, Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), Donatello (Micah Abbey), Raphael (Brady Noon), and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.), find themselves staying away from home more and more each day. Tasked with stealth grocery store runs at night, the turtles become increasingly more infatuated with life in New York City. Everything from a free park screening of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to gestures of young love only further expand their appetite to take bigger bites of the Big Apple.

Raised to believe that humans fear and destroy whatever they view as different, the turtles long to one day attend high school like other kids their age. As fate would have it, a chance encounter with teenage reporter April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri) not only presents a potential gateway to the life they want, but also awakens their true heroic calling. After using their ninjutsu skills to recover April’s stolen scooter, the pizza loving turtles agree to team up with her on a piece she is working on.

Investigating a rash of highly coordinated robberies, which has left New Yorkers on edge and lead to the temporary cancelling of her school’s prom, April hopes to track down the mysterious crime boss Superfly (Ice Cube). In doing so she will prove to her classmates that she is more than her infamous embarrassing moment. For their part, the turtles believe if they help save the day then society will have no choice but to accept them.

What neither April nor the turtles realize is that a secret organization, led by the ruthless Cynthia Utrom (Maya Rudolph), is also after Superfly and any creature that may have been mutated by the same ooze that made the turtles.

Co-written by the dynamic duo of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and writers Jeff Rowe, Dan Hernandez and Benju Samit, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is filled with plenty of humour that will satisfy seasoned fans and novices alike. Whether including deep cuts like a subtle nod to an iconic Vanilla Ice song, referencing previous TMNT comics and shows, or playing up a running gag to a great payoff, the film feels right at home with other Rogen and Goldberg collaborations. The comedic beats further help to enhance the energetic visuals at the films core.

One area where the animation style really shines is in the fight scenes. Backed by a hip hop soundtrack that features the likes of A Tribe Called Quest and M.O.P. and a pulsing synth heavy score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the action set pieces are visually inventive. Two standouts include a fight montage that moves around four different locations ranging from a Mattress store to a pool hall, and a sequence involving Splinter that takes inspiration from several iconic Jackie Chan films.

While the set pieces feel fresh and more inspired than other recent turtle film’s they can only mask the film’s shortcomings for so long. As enjoyable as Mutant Mayhem is, directors Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears inadvertently back themselves into a corner with how they tackle the notion of acceptance. The plot touches on the fear of “the other” that has plagued mankind for decades, perfectly captured in Splinter’s humorous origin story, and how skewed the turtles’ perceived path to normality is. Rowe and Spears make it clear that one should not do heroic deeds to be loved, but rather because helping others is important.

The problem is that as the film progresses to its climax, saving humans is exactly what has to happen before acceptance can take place. Everything that Splinter and April say about humans turns out to be true. Even if common ground is eventually reached; the catalyst is still the oppressed doing something that benefits the oppressor. Some will no doubt this dismiss this as “reading too much into a kid’s film” but the theme of acceptance is woven into every fabric of the film, making it hard to ignore.

Another minor quibble is that there are more mutant characters than the film knows what to do with. Aside from some amusing lines here and there, most of the side characters are forgettable in the grand scheme of things. They seem more like a vessel to fill the film with celebrity voices rather than intriguing additions to the franchise.

Despite its murky messaging and the overstuffed characters, there is more than enough to make this an enjoyable trip to the sewer. Breathing new comedic life into the franchise, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem shows it’s not easy being green or a teen.