Teen Titans Go the Movies: Yes…It is Shockingly Decent

    Every once in a while there’s a film that comes out where you may hear the title and just cringe uncontrollably, a film that you just hear it on a surface level and you cannot see how it could possibly be anything other than completely awful. A film adaptation of Teen Titans Go was one of those films, a movie based on a TV show that’s average at best and obnoxious at worst, there was no way there movie wasn’t going to be anything other than a massive dumpster fire. However, through a surprisingly decent script, a unique style and an over-all emphasis on just being a fun entertaining film, Teen Titans Go to the Movies actually ends up being a decent movie, not great, but over-all a better experience than it has any right to be.

     The story is focused on the Titans noticing how nearly every major Superhero has their own movie and because they’re superheroes, they feel they are worthy enough to have to own movie with big special effects and epic story. However, when an evil villain named Slade threaten the Titans’ chances of being in a film and ruining the world, it’s up to the Titans to essentially stop Slade and make sure their movie goes as smoothly as planned. For a kids movie like Teen Titans Go, the plot isn’t a full priority; in fact the plot itself might be too simplistic. There’s not a lot of story and incredibly deep messages here that one would expect from something like a Pixar movie. Teen Titans Go makes it clear that the movie isn’t trying to be anything that deep and impactful, it’s just trying to have fun, but the question is where does this movie cross the line? Teen Titans Go is known for its humor, however it more so suffers from being incredibly obnoxious and trendy where they have an over reliance on typical lacking jokes that are seen in the worst of kids related media. Stuff like obvious fart jokes or jokes of characters trying to rap and act cool which this film isn’t completely free of those moments and it’s definitely where the movie is at its weakest. But for as lacking Teen Titans Go can be as a show, it has elements of that make it a little more entertaining and clever with some good use of meta humor, unique changes in art style and also just being a decent wacky time at some point, which fortunately the film actually encompasses more so when the show is at its best. The film takes no time to take itself seriously and just manage to be an eccentric and crazy film for practically every moment, and it may not work for some but it has enough good jokes that can be more than chuckle worthy than one would initially expect and that’s what makes it a rather enjoyable film to watch. When a joke doesn’t land at all, sometimes immediately after, they have a joke that land, and even for it being hit and miss, it does hit pretty well at various points. The plot doesn’t have too much going for it and even suffers from a villain twist that is so predictable, even the main antagonist of Incredibles 2 would be complaining about how easy it is to find out the twist, but the film luckily isn’t as fixated on the plot enough for that to be as big of a concern. Even the twist itself while incredibly predictable does have a rather humorous little payoff that makes up for the fact that the film is rather predictable. It’s a movie that’s predictable in story but also unpredictable in what it does and for that, it gets some respect for being nothing more than a crazy fun romp.

     A movie that isn’t fixated on plot still has to have characters to make up for it, and the characters in the film are okay for what they are. Yes, they are still nothing that much likes the original Teen Titans, but they are exaggerated versions and for what they’re worth, they can be enjoyable. They come across as a little crude and a bit jerky compared to other leading characters in the past, to the point where they end up getting away with stuff that any normal movie would make them unredeemable. But what makes them a little bit more tolerable is the fact that they are outlandish character types that aren’t meant to be seen as sympathetic as they are just characters to be wacky and humorous to watch due to their characters being so hyperactive to the point where it’s amusing to witness. What truly helps and something that’s even strength of the show is that all of the original cast appears and do a really good job of portraying the more exaggerated versions of these characters. Scott Menville, Greg Cipes, Hynden Walch, Tara Strong and Khary Payton, all do some excellent voice work as Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven and Cyborg, giving a more comedic performance of the original characters. Being a film there is more characters to it than who we’re used to and Go adds some new characters to the mix. Main line DC characters appeared in small cameo roles voiced by major celebrities and they all do a fun job making jabs at various jokes of DC characters with their performances, the highlight being Nicholas Cage as Superman, given the whole history behind the actor and the character himself. The true character to really take note is Slade, who is of course different and not as ridiculously dramatic as the original character, but a very fun parody of the original character. Instead of being voiced by Ron Perlman, he’s voiced by Will Arnett, and Arnett is fantastic in the role of Slade. He takes the element of manipulation that the original Slade does in Teen Titans, but makes it more over the top and ridiculous, but in the universe of this movie, it works fairly well. Teen Titans Go uses its characters in a more comedic fashion, but does a fairly okay job at making them a little more likable despite being wacky.

     From the surface of it being a film based on a TV series, it doesn’t seem like the animation looked like that much of an improvement over the original show. It still seems like the same flash animation from the show just on a bigger screen, and lacks the shadows and improvement we see in something like The Simpsons or SpongeBob movie. On the surface it seems like it, but when watching it unfold, it is much more visually impressive than one would expect. Granted, there’s nothing truly groundbreaking about the animation, but there is an improvement when it comes to fluidity and background, and the film goes so wild with its animation it is appealing to look at. The real highlights of the film’s improvement of animation is when it switches art styles that are actually very impressive and creative to watch, from some switching to eliminating the style of older DC Animated movies to some very clever Disney parody, Teen Titans Go to the Movies actually manage to make some artistically creative stuff and even if it’s not the most impressive of the medium, it is incredibly nice to see another 2D Animated film on the big screen regardless.

     When dreading a movie like Teen Titans Go the Movies, it is actual rather nice to see that some effort was put into a film that was expected to have no effort put into it what so ever. It is far from a masterpiece and definitely isn’t a game changer in Animation, but it is an enjoyable film that knows how to have fun with itself. Even if you aren’t a fan of the series, it actually has elements that redeem itself by being a bit more clever and interesting than it had any right to be. Unlike a Disney remake where if it succeeds we just get more of the same crap, there is an element of if Teen Titans Go succeeds, it can open for new possibilities of good movies based on better TV shows, more 2D Animation in theaters and even a return of the original Teen Titans. If there isn’t any proof that those might be more of a reality than one would think, the mid-credits scene is definite proof, which anyone who sees this film must stay till then to witness a credits scene that even Marvel couldn’t make as good. A movie that has a midcredits scene so shocking and amazing, the film shouldn’t go unnoticed, which helped makes Teen Titans Go the Movies not a bad time and definitely could have been worse.