Wednesday, June 05, 2024

My Review of Teen Titans Go! To The Movies (2018)

 


Written by Michael Jelenic And Aaron Horvath
Directed by Peter Rida Michail And Aaron Horvath

Guard: "The Justice League will stop you."
Slade: "Sorry, my pathetic friend, but the Justice League won't be coming... because they're watching a movie, and as considerate moviegoers, I'm sure they would have turned off their mobile devices... [pointing at the audience] ...unlike some people!"

I have to admit, I'm not a big watcher of Teen Titans Go! but I certainly can't help but admire it's longevity for a sequel series to a more serious animated show. Also, good on them for bagging a theatrical release.

The premise of this movie was all about the theatre experience too. Are you really a hero unless you have a movie about yourself? For the Titans themselves, that was the question, especially for Robin (Scott Menville), who wanted it the most.

The rest of the Titans - Starfire (Hynden Walch), Raven (Tara Strong), Beast Boy (Greg Cipes) and Cyborg (Khary Payton) didn't seem as pressed about it as Robin did but at the same time they went out of their way to make their home movie to show their appreciation for their leader. It would take until the third for that movie to make the impact it needed.

Before then there was the problem of the Teen Titans not having an iconic nemesis of their own. This was where Slade aka Deathstroke (Will Arnett) stepped in and his powers of persuasion being a general problem. Until he got outsmarted and all of a sudden, the Teen Titans became worthy of a movie.

The movie of course being directed by Jade Wilson (Kristen Bell) but because most of the Titans could take things seriously, it soon became a Robin lead movie that would release on the D.O.O.M.S.D.A.Y. device as a streaming exclusive. This would be also be where the nefarious plot of the movie would be.

With all the heroes taken out of the mix, it was the Teen Titans who had to stop Slade from enslaving the world with mind control. Oh and he was Jade Wilson in disguise too. At least a home movie gave Robin some perspective and a rap song of all things cemented a victory for the Teen Titans. Essentially, life lessons were learned about the nature of being a hero with a lot of songs.

- It's funny that this film joked about movies for Alfred and the Batmobile when we'd end up getting shows like Pennyworth and Batwheels.
- A credit scene revealed the Titans from the previous era to set up the next movie, Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans.
- Standout music: GO!, This Is Where They Make Movies, Welcome To Jump City and Worthy Arch Nemesis.
- Chronology: Definitely set post 2016, considering the fun they had ribbing Batman V. Superman. 

Teen Titans Go! To The Movies was a hell of a lot of fun. I enjoyed the riffing off certain movies and this was probably the most fun that we've had a villain like Deathstroke used in a DC property. Fun for the kids, big and small.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

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