Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, while filled with great comedy, easter eggs, and cameos, is weakened by its musical elements. Even though this might not be the Titans you remember, the movie is still good. Don't expect a serious group of teens trying to save the world, these guys are here to make you laugh.
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is a decently funny comedy action movie as well as a not so impressive musical. Music aside, the movie is one the whole family will enjoy, especially fans of DC Comics. The movie’s plot was a bit predictable, the writing was ok and the animation was great. Let’s get into the meat of it.
The Plot
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, as the title may infer, is not a movie based around the Teen Titans; it’s a twist the superhero movie genre originating from the idea that Robin wants a movie like the other heroes of the DC universe. If you are a fan of the original Teen Titans cartoon (2003-2006), you know that the primary adversary of the Titans is Slade.
Slade Wilson, who was the inspiration for the Marvel character Deadpool, is back and is lamer than ever. He plays along great to all the other superhero’s views of the Teen Titans and tricks them with simple childhood magic and “look behind you” tricks. This is cute for a while but doesn’t do much in terms for the comedy or the story. Fortunately, later in the movie, the Teen Titans beat Slade, get the movie deal, and Robin becomes a star. However, this is not the end of the Titans troubles.
Robin’s ego inflates because of his new-found star status and he kicks his friends to the curb. The director of the movie helps Robin get a big head and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the director is really just Slade in disguise. Once again, the Teen Titans must beat the evil Slade and save the day.
The plot writing was a tad bit weak as it was predictable after the first fifteen minutes. Overall, it was still a decent overall movie. Most of the jokes were good and their self-referential jokes worked well. On the other hand, I thought the musical touch was a bit weird.
The Nitty-Gritty
Let’s start out with the best part of the Teen Titans Go! To the Movies: the comedy and cameos. The premise is that all of the major DC superheroes are getting big movies and the Teen Titans wanted in on it. If anything, they are looked at as second-rate heroes that are nothing more than a bunch of goofballs. This is comedic in itself since the movie contrasts them against Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
Given this is the DC universe, I was surprised to see Stan Lee, the former editor-in-chief for Marvel Comics, in this movie. However, unlike in Marvel movies, he appeared more than once in a single movie. Stan Lee gets breaks the fourth-wall when an animated version of a crew member working on Teen Titans Go! To the Movies informs him that his “subtle” cameo is actually in a DC movie. He quickly makes his exit. It is nice to see Stan Lee in a more self-referential cameo, instead of his more serious cameos from in the Marvel Universe.
One of the biggest issues with the movie its musical numbers. In the box, there is a piece of paper with a Spotify link. The link takes you to the soundtrack for the movie. This is a bit odd since most of the movie did not have songs to which you could sing-along. Maybe I just missed the joke.
The Pros and Cons
Even though this is geared toward younger audiences than the original cartoon, it feels as if they took away from the dynamic of the group. The Titans don’t continue to always love each other, and it feels as if their intelligence is severely downplayed. Raven used to be angsty and mysterious, but they made her more friendly, nice and care a lot more than I remember. All the characters are different than the characters some of us remember and it feels like it changes the dynamic. But that’s not a bad thing; it’s just different.
On the flip side, the overall look of the movie was fantastic. The caricature-styled superheroes were absolutely enjoyable, especially with Batman. If you come into the movie with the mindset that this will be like the original cartoon, then you are in for a shock. At its core, it is a comedy and it does comedy well.
However, it is also a musical, and if you are like me and do not care for musicals, then you will find some parts of the movie hard to sit through. The rest of the movie uses playful jabs, easter eggs, and cameos to make up for the musical. The more I sit on Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, the more I come to like it and appreciate it for what it is. It’s not the original but that doesn’t mean it is bad. Enjoy it for what it is.
