TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES (2018)

Out of curiosity, do you know what the following seven actors have in common? Greg Cipes, Scott Menville, Khary Payton, Tara Strong, Hynden Walch, Will Arnett, and Kristen Bell! No. It's not that, silly! They haven't all slept with Ryan Reynolds. Not yet, anyway. But rather, they've all voiced some of the characters featured in the following 84-minute movie now available on DVD, Digital Download, and Blu-ray.


Teen Titans Go! To The Movies

THE STORY:

Let’s face it, people. We’re a joke. We are a big fat joke that nobody respects, wants, or truly trusts, all because we’re too young, too cute, and spend too much time singing and dancing than catching crooks. So, what can we do to turn things around? Star in a movie, perhaps? A movie chronicling the life and times of the Teen Titans!

I mean, Wow, can you imagine? Our names in bright, neon lights, sprawled across a long marquee, telling everyone about Beast Boy (Greg Cipes), Raven (Tara Strong), Cyborg (Khary Payton), Starfire (Hynden Walch), and yours truly, Robin: The Boy Wonder (Scott Menville), each starring in a multi-million dollar production made in Hollywood and directed by the prolific, Jade Wilson (Kristen Bell).

How can we do this though? How can we possibly make this happen without getting molested? Well, I suppose we could travel back in time and prevent our contemporaries from hitting it big at the box office? Or alternatively, we could find an intimidating villain to fight in order to gain respect, notoriety, and hopefully, a shot at the big time? A villain like Deadpool... uhhh... I mean Slade (Will Arnett), perhaps! 

But then again, that’s most probably why what next transpires stops me from speaking and starts me seeing lights, camera, and action. As a plan changes the status-quo - a film slowly becomes our foe - a team decides to go-go-go - and at the end of the day, please remember, always try to put on a show.

THE REVIEW: 

‘Teen Titans Go! to the Movies’ is a kiddies film, and as such, I can only really review it as if I were a child. So, without any further ado, stand back, take a deep breath, and get ready for a younger version of me.

Five, four, three, two, nine, Shazam!

BOOOOMM!!!

Phew! That was easy. I should’ve done that year's ago: When I wanted to pay child-fare for my flights. Anyway, no harm done, I’m younger now: Less wrinkled and more adept at reviewing this type of film. So, to begin, I best start off by saying, yeah, it was alright, very watchable in fact, despite some of the jokes missing their mark (toilet humor belongs in the toilet), the basic narrative being very Pow-Zap-Slap (I don’t know what that means either), and all of the songs were mostly derivative and varied in style (ranging from 80s pop, 90s rap, and other stuff that goes la-la-la).

Not that this is a bad thing, mind you. If anything, the best thing about this flick was its carefree attitude and its overall scope, both in design, taste, and general execution. After all, this is a family-friendly film, not a hard-boiled detective story about rape and murder. So, you know, those bods behind it had to make sure they could appease as many people as possible by juggling quality and quantity in fairly uneven doses.

Well, to be fair, how many movies have you seen that feature a group of super-powered sidekicks who want to star in their own movie? Not many, that’s for sure, and I say this while taking into account that it also features fart gags, cinematic pastiches, and a disjointed storyline that zooms all over the place! Disjointed, being the operative word here, because even though its episodic structure appears to be lively, wild, and rather eclectic -- tonally, at least -- its narrative flow was fairly conventional by design.

The first part of the film introduced us to the Teen Titans (while they were fighting a giant balloon man). The second part established the general plot (Robin wants to star in a comic book movie). The third part expanded on the first two parts (Slade, Jade Wilson, and all of that Jazz). And the final part was basically its grand finale (Slap-Slap-Slap, hooray!). Which, in many ways, seems like a fairly conventional structure, even though the content within doesn’t always conform to a general standard.

You see, the one thing I wasn’t too keen on, was how the story was elongated in places in order to stretch out the plot. Heck, examples of this can be seen throughout the film, and usually involved the insertion of a silly joke here (plop), a disposable plot line there (time-travel sucks), along with those musical montage sequences that either referenced an aspect of pop culture or had a loose connection to what was going on (on your bike). But then again, as I said before, this is a kid's movie, so it’s fractured pace and jumbled execution seems fairly acceptable within these juvenile parameters.

Anyway, that’s enough of that for the time being. So let us now sit back, relax, and check out the following filmic facts: (1) Warner Bros. Animation first released this ten million dollar production at the TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, California, and eventually made back fifty-two million dollars at the Box Office. (2) Loosely translated, this project was entitled 'Young Titans Movie' in Turkey; 'Little Titans: Stand by!' in Bulgaria; and 'Young Titans in Action' in Chile. (3) If you look very closely at that scene where Robin and Jade are sitting together on a park bench, you might notice a few words etched on a nearby tree. These words say, "Sam was here", and it’s a reference to the executive producer of this film, Sam Register. (4) Originally James Corden was going to voice the villain, Balloon Man, but for reasons unknown, he quickly pulled out and was replaced by another British comedian, Greg Davies. (5) One of the taglines used to promote this picture, states: ‘Because if Aquaman can get a movie, anyone can’. (6) Nicolas Cage is such a huge Superman fan, he voiced him in this film, he almost played him in "Superman Lives" [before it was canceled], and he even named his own son after him, Kal-El Coppola Cage, who just so happens to have voiced a young Bruce Wayne in this film as well. (7) Stan Lee made his first and only DC cameo in this very movie, because he tragically passed away four months after it was released, even though his fictional counterpart, Funky Flashman, is sometimes used by DC Comics. (8) There are four main reasons why The Teen Titans refer to Slade as ‘Deadpool’ throughout this adventure. Firstly, they share a surname: Wilson. Secondly, they share a chosen profession: Mercenary. Thirdly, Deadpool was partly based on Slade. And fourthly, DC Comics constantly refuses to call Slade by his given name, ‘Deathstroke the Terminator’, because they don’t think the word ‘death’ is appropriate for a kiddie's movie, but 'dead' is.

In closing my review for 'Teen Titans Go! to the Movies', I would just like to mention how much I enjoyed all of the vocal performances as well as the clearly defined depiction of each character. Robin, for instance, was obviously the main star of the show, and he was used to drive the plot forward and represent team leadership. Characters like Beast Boy and Cyborg, on the other hand, were less pivotal, in part, even though they did express some much-needed charisma and personality. And as for Starfire and Raven, well, they were great as well, really great, and I did like the way they contrasted each other yet complemented each other at the same time, both light and day. Which, funnily enough, can also be said for Slade and Jade Wilson, two characters who were both yin and yang, despite being two halves of exactly the same coin! Wink-Wink!

So, all in all, I’d say that this was a pretty good film and I would highly recommend it if you have a jovial disposition, a love of music, or are a fan of the television show. Okay. So now I’ve said that; I best grow old again. Shit. See you later, dude, cowabunga, party on!!!

THE RATING: B-

TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES is out now on DVD & Digital Download, and available on Blu-ray exclusively at HMV