Seth Rogen and his regular writing partner Evan Goldberg have taken the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into their world of animated raunchy comedy. The turtles venture into the human world, where they encounter a diabolical syndicate with all manner of weird creatures. The voice actors include Rose Byrne, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube and Paul Rudd, but the script is holding them back. Sure, there are lots of quick quips, pop culture references and silly setups, but much of it doesn’t land. The visual style has a gritty, sketchy feel that’s supposed to be edgy, but lacks the snap and panache of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (my review). The energy never lags, which helps, but it’s surprisingly violent for PG and sadly seldom runny. NOTE: Stay thru the credits for a final joke. 
(2 / 5)
