Teen Titans Go! to the Movies

DC's Teen Titans are a superhero team made up of teenage heroes with a fascinating media history. Since their comic book debut in 1964, their appearances over the years found them showing up in many incarnations with some slightly altered team rosters. Arguably their most popular version is from their own TV show that ran on Cartoon Network from 2003-2006, Teen Titans, which blended respectful characterization, solid storytelling, and a balance of humor with drama in great entertainment. 7 years after its cancellation, the group was rebooted on the same network as an over-exaggerated comedy that was tailored to a much younger demographic that's currently airing, Teen Titans Go!, which brings us to their cinematic debut, Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, written by the Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath (developers from the show). There hasn't been a DC animated feature on the big screen since 1993's Batman: Mask of the Phantasm as the rest of those that followed have been direct-to-DVD. Since I have been keeping up with a lot of these genre films, it only makes sense that I would be fair and take this project into consideration. The marketing campaign looked like a mixed bag of nice jokes and some annoying ones. I attended an advanced screening to give it a chance with an open mind and left feeling kinda mixed about it.

Note: For those of you curious about my thoughts on those aforementioned cartoons, I grew up with the 2003 incarnation and loved it while I despise the direction the current incarnation is going for. I won't let my bias against it affect my review and will judge it fairly as its own thing. And for those of you putting the "it's a kids movie" argument, the Incredibles 2 would beg to differ as its own effort proved that such progress can be made for family entertainment so I'm not pulling any punches at all similar to that one.

Plot: The story follows the titular team venturing out to find a powerful villain to face off against in order to earn a Hollywood adaptation and be recognized as heroes. This structure of goofy protagonists trying to prove themselves to their society is similar to that from the Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004) where the lead characters are chastised by the public, embark through silly shenanigans and trials in order to reach a destination/goal, come back to the starting location in the third act, and use their special quirks to save the day. That's not necessarily a terrible thing since it's a premise that's been done before but it's worth mentioning. It's predictable with the nature of events that a number of genre films usually follow, which might be a pet peeve to some depending on their enjoyment of this animated romp. It does a decent job at imitating everything people enjoy or hate about comic book movies such as other heroes and cliches. There's also a mid credits scene to look out for as it's a neat little (albeit somewhat expected) surprise.

However, there are pacing issues where it's moving so fast that it prevents the audience from feeling the impact of plot developments and the screenplay clearly wanted this to be over in less than 90 minutes. For example, when in the third act, there's an opportunity to have an emotion conveyed to sympathize with a character but there's so little time spent on it and is sloppily executed. Before anyone says it's just a kids film, those who have seen Incredibles 2 would beg to differ as that script knew when to slow things down to absorb what changes have occurred. It's also fair to point out that while this is a parody of its genre, it doesn't necessarily stand out well compared to similar titles that performed such a task better (such as Deadpool 1 and 2, Lego Batman, Megamind).

Humor: Now for the category that's going to be hit-or-miss with audiences because the delivery of the comedy is quite the mixed bag. There are some genuine surprises in the jokes they decide to pull both visually and physically. Since this is a DC animated feature, there are a number of Easter Eggs to look out for in terms of familiar titles/names on buildings or posters along with the meta commentary on studios works in the recent years. There are a couple of jokes that actually caught me off guard in that managed some cute amusement involved. It's not afraid to play on well-known troupes associated with some of the more famous heroes featured in minor supporting roles such as Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, etc.

However, there's also the opposite side of the coin to contend with: the nature of the shows antics making its way onto the big screen. The main group is abundant with sudden rap songs, butt quips, toilet humor (one of them is 2 minutes of absolute cringe), and bringing out stereos for dubstep music. Relying on the fact that the protagonists are silly, a sizable portion of their own comic relief doesn't land as it thinks it does (since they are attempting to please both young children below ages 10 and the adults).

Characters: The people to focus on are Robin (Scott Menville) and Slade/Deathstroke (Will Arnett). Robin is Batman's former sidekick and egotistical, insecure, selfish leader of the titular team who's the most driven to get a film adaptation. The manner in which he's ridiculed by the public combined with the Scott's acting is fairly solid. The main heroes (Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven) are going to either make or break the experience since the risk of their personalities becoming too much might be something of a challenge when watching it. The over-the-top characterizations of the team here is very much faithful to the currently running versions of them (for better or worse) and this group of actors (Scott Menville, Tara Strong, Greg Scipes, Khary Payton, and Hynden Walch) all deserve credit for having fun with the material (who are also the original actors from the 2003 show).

Slade is a powerful and manipulative mercenary with an scheme to take over the world. Will is one of the best highlights of the adventure as his seasoned professional acting chops lends delight to any scene he's in, which isn't a lot but feels appropriate enough due to his quality work. The way he interacts with the main leads is entertaining with a script that's aiding the antagonist and fits the light hearted tone. It almost makes you wish that the rest of the film had a consistent script quality throughout as it did in those scenes.

Action: One of the highlights in this adventure are the fight scenes that take advantage of the combatants involved. There are only 3 battles that take place and the best example of how it works is best shown in the second act. The powers and teamwork carried out exhibits how in-sync the teens are through their years of working together. It carries an exciting energy that you feel this group's fun determination in beating the bad guys. It also helps that the production team here came to play with the heroes abilities and it delivered in this aspect.

Animation: For something that's aiming to entertain many audiences, the main aspect that's the true savior that needs mentioning is the animation. The colors are bright and cheerful to blend in the light hearted tone associated with the show. It's well suited in sequences where people are moving pretty fast and it doesn't skip a beat. There are a few scenes where the style will suddenly change for a moment before going back and the effort is there. For the opportunity the studio had in bringing a DC animated movie to the big screen in such a long time, it's easy to see that the animators didn't take it for granted and put their hard work here on display.

Overall Consensus: Teen Titans Go! to the Movies provides families with solid animation work, creative gags, and an entertaining villain, despite its toilet humor, predictable storyline, and over-exaggerated heroes. ⭑⭑⭑💻 Runtime: 1 hour 24 minutes PG

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You are a fan of DC and want to support their animated features. You enjoy parody movies of any topic. You have seen adaptations of the titular group and want to see how they are handled here. You don't mind toilet humor and a couple of rap songs being mixed in there. You have wanted to hear Nicholas Cage voice Superman (though only in a small role). You love the direction of the aforementioned current show and would love to see that direction in a movie.

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You aren't a fan of DC and their animated projects. You hate parody movies of any topic. You have seen adaptations of the titular group and don't want to see how they are handled here. You are annoyed by toilet humor and rap songs being mixed together. You dislike the quirks of the current show and don't want to see it here.

Coming up next: July has taken on the first DC entry of 2018 and while it's not worth the big screen viewing experience, there's enough good material to compensate for the elements that drag down its potential. With the 3 remaining superhero adaptations on hiatus until November, I will be approaching the rest of my intended review list in terms of release date order. The next set of upcoming entries have been on my anticipated list of 2018 and last night I decided to go check out one of them that was released a couple of weeks ago. Tune in next time as Screening Spectacles will be reviewing one of the most talked about science fiction comedies of the year, Sorry to Bother You!!