General Review: Teen Titans Go! To The Movies

Hello, Spongey here.

Today will be fun, as you’ll get two general reviews for the price of one. We’ve done it before and usually it’s an animated movie and some comic book movies. But this time, the animated movie IS the Comic Book movie and it’s a doozy.

I’ll keep this short; Teen Titans Go is a thing that exists and is…talked about. Even I’ve talked about it a fair about in some places, I even reviewed an episode I quite liked. It’s a show that gets strong reactions on both sides.

So much so that it’s aired a lot and now has its own movie. The show has been talked about enough that I just kind of want to get to the review. I’ve made my mixed opinion fairly clearly so I’ll just focus on the movie.

TTG is an odd choice given it’s nature but I had some faith after seeing some of the later trailers/clips. I mean, the show can be good so I don’t see why a big screen movie couldn’t also be good.

The crew is the same as the show, with a frequent director for episodes directing the film, and the creators writing the script. We’ll see if that bodes well for the final product.

Now that this movie exists, will it be another example of Teen Titans Go being decent? Let’s find out.

This, is Teen Titans Go! To The Movies

(Note: There’s a DC Supehrero Girls short, co written by MA Larsen before this. …It was cute)

It seems to the Teens that all the major superheroes out there are starring in their own movies everyone but the Teen Titans, that is! But de facto leader Robin is determined to remedy the situation, and be seen as a star instead of a sidekick. But when the group is radically misdirected by a seriously super villain and his maniacal plan to take over the Earth, things really go awry.

Let’s rip this bandage; I did enjoy this movie. My overall feelings are somewhat mixed but at the end of the day I would say I enjoyed it more than I didn’t and my problems aren’t even that big compared to some of the show.

We’ll get to the flaws later, so we’ll start with the main positives.

For one, I think the animation was pretty good. The overall designs are more or the less the same as the show so it’s not upgraded a ton but the backgrounds are really nice and Comic Book-y, and the character animation is more fluid than in the show. The action is surprisingly good and there are a few oddly impressive shots.

Character wise, Robin is the lead but the others do at least each get some decent jokes even if their development is mostly as a group and is tied to Robin. While their jerk traits are on display, they are more likable than in the show as those moments are just small jokes and in the end are shown to care for each other.

Slade makes for a solid threat and Will Arnett is as good as he always is. He’s a decent mix of funny and threatening when he needs to be.

The humor features a lot of satire about comic book movies, mostly DC but there’s some Marvel jokes in there too. It’s done pretty well, as I did get some laughs out of their attacks of these movies and just how many there are.

Some are a bit obvious (it has the obligatory Martha joke, although the punchline was amusing), but most of them do hit. There’s some fun Easter eggs for comic fans, and even DC Cartoon fans. The humor is general isn’t too bad, as most of the jokes land decently and I did laugh out loud a couple of times.

My favorite jokes were a certain cameo and a great bit of dark humor I won’t spoil.

Oh, and there’s some musical numbers. Not enough for this to be a musical but the songs they do have are actually really good. They’re really catchy, and are also visually creative. They don’t add a ton to the story but they do work.

Speaking of story, being a movie it does have more of one than the show usually does. Robin has an arc about how he hates being seen as just a sidekick. They actually get some light drama out of it, with some sweet moments.

It has it’s problems but we’ll get to that in a bit. In general, it was nice to see some heart from these characters. So in general, the movie does some things right and is on the better side of TTG content.

But then we got my problems, most of which I kinda expected going on so it won’t be a big deal for some. It does have some of the bad TTG humor, like that fart joke you see in the trailer, and a few poop jokes. They aren’t awful but they do sadly exist.

There’s a twist that I saw coming a mile away for the same reason I saw the Incredibles 2 twist coming. It’s not a big deal given this is a comedy but still. Oh and Raven saying she saw it coming does not make up for it.

The biggest problem is that it does struggle to balance being an extended Teen Titans Go Episode and an actual movie. The structure can be a bit wonky, as some segments don’t add anything to the plot, as enjoyable as they sometimes are.

Which is odd as the 2nd half does become more like a typical family film, with action and sweet moments so that makes the tangents stick out more. Some jokes are repeated a bit at times, even if it’s not as bad with this as some episodes of the show.

The sweet stuff later on is fine and all but besides being pretty cliché (they don’t do anything too new with it compared to other family films, aside from an amusing ending gag), it does feel a bit weird for TTG given it’s not that kind of show.

Sure, it can have heart but not to this extent. It feels like it was done to blend in with other movies of its kind, and of course appeal to non fans who hate how dick-ish the Titans can be to each other. On its own it all works fine but it does struggle to combine the TTG elements with the movie elements.

I can see some fans of the show finding that to be disappointing. I think they mostly won’t mind but they may not care for it getting a bit sanitized compared to what it could have been. I personally prefer it this way (and I feel it fits with what know about Robin in the show) but those who like it the way it was in the show may take issue.

I feel like the SpongeBob movies mostly do a better job at mixing really silly comedy and an actual story that’s faithful to the show.

Overall, Teen Titans Go! To The Movie was an enjoyable watch for me. It mostly sticks to the better aspects of the show and manages to fairly clever with its jabs at comic book movies. It also has some heart and fun action/musical numbers.

But it does struggle to stretch the premise to feature-length, with segments that are pointless and sometimes ditching the harsher edges of the show to be more like a typical kids movie. How much you enjoy this one will depend on your history with the show and tolerance for movies like this.

Fans of the show may take issue with some parts but will mostly find it’s faithful and fun, and some non fans may enjoy this more due to better humor and some heart. Those who flat-out hate it need not apply at all, don’t bother.

But even with the concerns I have, it was decently enjoyable enough. Also Nic Cage is Superman, 10/10

Rating; Decent

I was torn but between the dumber parts, and disjointed-sh narrative, I think it adds up this rating. But it’s on the higher side of it, so there you go. Oh and there’s a mid credits scene and…I can’t tell if it’s serious or not but…boy is it interesting.

So there you go, the Teen Titans Go movie was actually fine. Hell has frozen over. Come back later for an impossible mission.

See ya.