Official Synopsis
Justice League vs. Teen Titans welcomes the Teen Titans to the ever-expanding canon of classic DC Comics characters within the DC Universe Original Movies. When Damian’s over-aggressive tendencies almost destroy a Justice League mission, he is sent to learn teamwork by training alongside the Teen Titans. However, adjusting Damian’s attitude turns out to be the least of the Teen Titans’ troubles as Raven’s satanic, world-conquering father Trigon begins an escape from his inter-dimensional prison. To complete his return, Trigon must have Raven’s assistance – and to accomplish his goal, he spreads his demonic forces across the globe, infiltrating the minds and bodies of the Justice League to do his bidding. To save the universe and prevent a literal hell on Earth, the Teen Titans must rescue – or defeat – the Justice League, and intern Trigon for all eternity.
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This is what dark and fun look like in a DC film. I’m not sure why this is so difficult for the bigger fish in the WB/DC family, but the winning formula is right in front of their eyes with the likes of Justice League vs. Teen Titans. It’s seriously right there.
Anyway, the Justice League vs. Teen Titans story revolves around Robin’s extraction from helping the Justice League out and his adaption into the Teen Titans to try and get his life together. Grumpy, standoffish and feeling superior, the transition for Robin is not easy. In addition to getting used to the situation, and the Teen Titans getting used to Robin, Raven brings the team into crisis mode with the emergence of her demon father, Trigon, who wants to bring Hell literally to Earth. This is really a tale of two stories that intertwine with each other pretty snuggly.
Let’s break this down.
The first act of the film focuses on the disfunction and less-than-team-player that is Robin. Not gel-ing with the Justice League, and not listening to his father in the midst of a fight with a set of demons (that eventually snatch Superman away), Robin is sent off to the Teen Titans in hopes he will grow with people his age, as well as understand the need/meaning of teamwork. Not letting people in and trying to prove he doesn’t need anyone, as they just get in the way, Robin slowly and reluctantly continues on with the Titans as the demon mystery begins to unfold a bit on the side.
The first act has a lot in it. You have Robin’s plot point leading the way with the budding demon storyline following in tow. Director Sam Liu and writers Bryan Q. Miller and Alan Burnett do a fantastic job explaining the situation of both issues, or at least introducing the demon storyline, while still making the movie entertaining in the first act. They do a solid job establishing what is at stake and make sure to explain all characters before moving forward. Again, it’s a solid job considering that both storylines are incredibly different from each other.
As act two begins, we see a predictable turn of events for Robin’s storyline. He and the other Titans go out to a local carnival to unwind and to get to know each other beyond just saving the world. Robin begins to see the importance of teamwork with his new comrades just in time for the demon storyline to rear its ugly head and reveal its origin — via Raven, as well as begin overlapping with Robin’s story. The second act ends with a bang and has the Teen Titans setting themselves up to go head-to-head with Trigon, while at the same time possibly looking at the sacrifice of Raven in the process.
Lots of heavy stuff for a second act.
The second act is predictable in some ways, but still entertaining and staying on track with the setup. The story does a great job of staying focused on the characters, giving them some shape and definition, while at the same time progressing everything in the story steadily. It’s a lot to juggle in act two, but everything gets pulled off as good, sometimes better than expected.
The third act goes a lot of directions.
The third act has the Justice League come back briefly to uncontrollably go up against the Teen Titans (the fight isn’t very long, but it’s quite good). We also have Raven coming face-to-face with her father, Trigon, and having to make a terrible choice that no kid should make. In the mix, and oddly enough appearing out of nowhere, Robin also goes up against a force from his past, though the tie-in for this character is shallow at best (not saying who). Regardless, it throws a another cog in the expanding entertainment machine that is this film and doesn’t gum up the flow very much at all. Anyway, I don’t want to give too much more away, so I’ll stop there. Just expect a huge fight in the third act that is fun to watch, especially between Superman and Flash.
*zips mouth*
Overall, Justice League vs. Teen Titans is a remarkable film that gives the new Robin some more dimension, while letting the world know who Raven is along the way through some dark, dark action. While I will say that some minor parts are forced (see act three for details), the overall body of work is intact from beginning to end and doesn’t stop with entertainment value. Many DC fans already know this and that is the DC animated universe knows how to treat its characters and get it done. This is another shining example of their talents.
On the special features side of things, here’s what you’re getting:
– Growing up Titan
– Heroes and Villains: Raven
– Heroes and Villains: Trigon
– Bonus Cartoons
– Killing Joke preview
Not bad stuff. I have seen better features attached to animated movies, but these are solid value added items. The preview on the list is probably the best of the bunch, though the Growing up Titan featurette is pretty entertaining. Anyway, not bad at the end of the day.
