'Teen Titans Go! To The Movies' Review

In Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, a villain's maniacal plan for world domination sidetracks five teenage superheroes who dream of Hollywood stardom. In their quest to get their own movie, the Teen Titans must defeat the evil Slade. 

Based on the Teen Titans Go! television series, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is an animated feature co-directed by Peter Ride Michali and Aaron Horvath with a screenplay penned by Michael Jelenic and Horvath (all of whom have been actively involved in the development of the series). I've seen a couple episodes of the show before and was not impressed whatsoever... All I could think is that it was really a really stupid, surface-level cartoon and a substantial downgrade from the 2003 Teen Titans series I watched growing up. Like Incredibles 2 writer-director Brad Bird, I'm a firm believer in the idea that the medium of animation is not simply for kids. Animation can be for anyone and everyone if done correctly. There's a substantial difference between being family-friendly and treating children like idiots. Unfortunately, Teen Titans Go! does the latter, so naturally the film adaptation felt inclined to follow in its footsteps. 

Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is the type of animated content that people refer to when they write-off animated films as "kid's movies." There's little depth or substance, plenty of predictable plot beats, and tons of toilet humor. It's obviously geared towards kids who watch the show, but I wish the filmmakers had made more of an effort to rise above such shallow storytelling and crass humor. The elementary crowd can still enjoy it without these immature elements after all. Just look to Pixar, Dreamworks, and Walt Disney Animation, and even Warner Bros' own LEGO film franchise for evidence of this. Anyways, I'm sick of people giving animated films like this a pass because it's "for kids."

With that being said, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is incredibly self-aware about itself and the current state of superhero movies. There are digs at all the big comic book franchises and it also knows that general audiences think this incarnation of the Titans is idiotic. The film then treats the characters accordingly, but asks the audience to empathize with these moronic characters in an effort to be sentimental. Teen Titans Go! To The Movies tries to do it all, but can't have it both ways. It calls out other comic book films for their clichés and shortcomings, but remains guilty of abiding by genre tropes as well. It presents the Titans as one-dimensional numb skulls, then pivots and asks the audience to pity them. I understand the intent, but it happens too suddenly to be effective whatsoever.

I'll admit there were quite a few clever jokes about other superhero franchises that landed and were genuinely hilarious, but those were few and far between in an otherwise obnoxious experience. One other silver lining for DC fans is that Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is loaded with a plethora of easter eggs, so be sure to scan the screen for nods should you choose to see it. That should at least keep you engaged when the film fails to do so.

Otherwise, the animation and voice work is fine. I'm not really a fan of this particular animation style because I feel it looks very babyish, but that's more of a personal preference than a fault of the film. Meanwhile, Scott Menville, Greg Cipes, Khary Payton, Tara Strong, and Hynden Walch reprise their respective roles as Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire. They've voiced these characters since 2003, so they're basically synonymous with the Titans at this point and they each do a fine job projecting the expected personalities. There's little else for them to do beyond that on account of the paper-thin writing behind their characters though. Will Arnett and Kristen Bell also did well voicing the maniacal villain Slade and acclaimed superhero film director Jade Wilson.

As disinterested as I was in this film though, I must admit that it was pretty awesome on a meta-level to cast Nicolas Cage as Superman because he was once supposed to don the red and blue tights in Superman Lives. That film never saw the light of day though since it was cancelled before production, but I figured it was a worthwhile tid-bit.

As you'd expect, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies caters to the younger crowd at its own expense. While those who enjoy the show are sure to get a kick out of it, I found it to be one of the most mediocre films I've seen all year. I'm certain parents will be inclined to agree and it's needless to say Teen Titans Go! To The Movies was a steep drop-off from my four consecutive days seeing Mission: Impossible - Fallout. If you want to see an animated DC film that cleverly satirizes the superhero genre and is genuinely heartfelt, you ought to be watching The LEGO Batman Movie. 

Film Assessment: C-

'The LEGO Batman Movie' Review

I find it fitting that this review wasn't published till the film's release date that happens to fall on the third anniversary of my blog, and the exactly three years since I reviewed The LEGO Movie.

'The LEGO Batman Movie' Review

The LEGO Batman Movie revolves around everyone's favorite brick built bat LEGO Batman as he not only fights Gotham's criminal element but deals with the pressures of adopting a son. Somewhere along the way, LEGO Batman must learn the importance of teamwork if he's going to succeed in catching the villains set upon Gotham by the Joker.

The LEGO Batman Movie is the first of what looks to be a long line of LEGO spinoffs, in what I presume will be known as the LEGO Cinematic Universe, and it's only fair that the Batman gets the first considering his standout stint in The LEGO Movie and the simple fact *because he's Batman* (read in Batman voice). It's crazy to think we're getting another this fall with The LEGO Ninjago Movie, but at the same time it's not surprising Warner Bros. and LEGO want to proceed with as many of these movies they can possibly make considering the insane success of The LEGO Movie, a movie I was incredibly surprised by considering I was expecting a lazy feature length LEGO ad rather than a quality animated film with a huge heart.

Director Chris McKay's vision and imagination has no bounds as the film's plot plays out like an epic adventure only a child could imagine, appropriate considering the big twist of The LEGO Movie. One of the things that still astounds me is how animators utilized the plentiful plastic bricks at their disposal to construct animation that has the guise of a professionally-made stop-motion film using actual LEGOs. The animation is absolutely remarkable when you take into account that animators had to ensure each character and plastic piece onscreen exhibited the mannerisms and movement of a LEGO brick or mini-fig. So bravo to the group of animators and visual effects artists, your work was not forgotten. 

The LEGO Batman Movie brilliantly satirizes every aspect of the Caped Crusaders' legacy, both on and off-film, from the campy 1960s Adam West incarnation to the present brooding Ben Affleck take. The entire film is essentially a meta-commentary on DC Comics, and don't worry if you weren't a fan of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice or Suicide Squad there's some jabs in there for you. The screenwriting team of Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern, and John Whittington responsible for the Dark Knight's zingers and commentary on the Caped Crusader. 

The screenwriters scope of Batman shows he's just a regular Joe; he misses his parents, swims in the Bat-cave's lagoon, and he heats up his leftovers in a microwave (a gag that plays out exceptionally well despite being in the trailers akin to the DMV bit in Zootopia). They're able to paint a plastic figure as what may just be the most human take on the character. 

An interesting component I'd like to touch on is the angle the story team viewed the Batman-Joker dynamic. The two need each other. It's not romantic, in fact it's the complete opposite, but when Batman can't tell Joker the three words "I hate you" or "You're not my greatest enemy" Joker is left an emotional wreck as though the two went through a bad breakup. Trust me, it's absolutely hysterical and plucks the heartstrings a little more than one would expect as you actually start to feel bad for the constructed clown prince of crime. 

My only issues are that sometimes the entire film felt like joke after joke after joke veering to be a little too kid friendly at times and that certain characters felt a little underdeveloped and cast off to the side in favor of serving the narrative theme. One thing many may be looking for is the next "Everything is Awesome" and while there's not an original song quite like that, there is in fact a heavy metal rendition of a Bat-rap about how awesome Batman is called "Who's the (Bat)Man" that's a hoot to listen to. Also, plenty of 80's hits can be found including "One" and "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" scattered throughout played to great comedic effect. 

The voice cast behind The LEGO Batman Movie is an immensely talented ensemble composed of A-list talent you would never expect to see behind a LEGO movie but I'll take it. Will Arnett's gravelly Batman voice remains an excellent play itself on the dark, gritty nature of recent incarnations of the character while he delivers one-liners and comedic bits with absolute ease and maintains an emotional, human aspect to his take on the Dark Knight. Michael Cera's giddy fanboy Robin, Ralph Fiennes' dry-cut Alfred, and Rosario Dawson's straight woman Barbara Gordon each provide excellent sources of comedy and pair well with Arnett's Batman. Zach Galifianakis' Joker is undeniably insane, not the best-nor worst take on Gotham's clown but easily the more multifaceted and somewhat sympathetic portrayal to date (as I briefly touched upon earlier).

All of Batman's rogues gallery are featured in the film to some capacity but I won't disclose the voices behind these iconic villains because that in and of itself can certainly be considered an entertaining trip to IMDB afterwards. Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill return for the buddy Superman-Green Lantern schtick along with fellow Justice League members for some brief cameo appearances. Oh and I can't forget that Siri makes her feature film debut as the Bat-computer or 'Puter for short.

In a strange turn of events The LEGO Batman Movie is the best love letter to Batman possible. While I don't think The LEGO Batman Movie was quite as good as The LEGO Movie, I can say it's a humorous and heartfelt family-friendly affair worth seeing in theaters.

Film Assessment: B+