Film Review: Teen Titans Go To The Movies

The animation is cheap, but you get your money's worth of laughs.

Teen Titans Go To The Movies is a theatrical version of the the popular animated show Teen Titans Go!  For those unfamiliar, it is a parody cartoon for children that uses the DC superhero team the Teen Titans.  The team consists of the irratible Robin (Scott Menville ), the starry-eyed Starfire (Hynden Walch ), the emo Raven (Tara Raven ), and the silly duo of Cyborg (Khary Payton ) and Beast Boy (Greg Cripes ).  The movie's premise is that Robin is full of envious fury over the fact that nearly every other super hero in the DCU has had a movie made about them.  The Titans go to Hollywood, but producer Jade Wilson (Kristen Bell) refuses to make a movie about them because they do not have a strong arch nemesis.  Luckily for the Titans, they encounter Slade (Will Arnett), a lethal criminal.  Chaos ensues.

If you are looking for animation production quality like that of PIXAR or traditional Disney animation, you will not find it with Teen Titans Go To The Movies.  With the exception of a few sequences, there is virtually no difference between what is seen here on the big screen at at home on the small screen in terms of quality.  This movie was made on the cheap and it feels like it.

However, the writers fully embrace the silly spirit of the show and they create a story to embrace the enormous DCU cannon. A fan of DC will have an incredibly enjoyable time sifting through the myriad of Easter Eggs and obscure references from the Challengers of the Unknown to Metamorpho.  For non-DC fans, there is still enough ridiculousness to make the jokes work.

Like the TV show, there is no real depth to be had here.  Everything is on the surface and that is where it stays.  The jokes don't provide insight as much as they reward your geek culture awareness.  Cameos galore in this movie.  Nicholas Cage voices Superman, the humor of which resonates much stronger when you are aware of the drama behind his failed Superman film.  The movie abounds with homages to The Lion King and Deadpool and everything in between.  In fact, the movie is essentially a PG-Rated, animated Deadpool.   Poop and fart jokes are the bread and butter of this movie, with a healthy dose of meta humor about superhero movies in general.  The sequences are fun and make the time fly by.

I would definitely recommend this movie if you love the DCU.  But even if you don't this is a movie that will entertain little kids while providing enough laughs to the grown ups.

image by Yasir72.multan