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I wasn't intending to write a review of "Teen Titans Go! To The Movies." But my review of films is almost entirely of 2D animation, and "... To The Movies" meets that criteria. And there aren't many competitors against it: in the 2010's decade, only 2017's "My Little Pony - The Movie" and 2011's "Winnie The Pooh" can classify as 2D animated American feature films with wide releases. Sigh... growing up in the 90's with a new 2D Disney movie almost every year hast spoiled me..."Teen Titans Go!" is a popular television comedy series for children, and "... To The Movies" is a feature-film side-story adaptation. If you have heard of the tv show, you probably know there is some controversy around its existance. "Teen Titans" is a long-running DC comic franchise of a group of superheroes, but they didn't really get mainstream attention until a 2003 cartoon series adaptation. The show mixed the traditionally stiff animation of DC comic shows with a more modern and anime-inspired sense of humor. With Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy, the show was successful in achieving a fine balance of serious peril, wacky teenage humor and genuine character development, arguably the most successful comic adaptation to a cartoon since "Batman - The Animated Series." Despite a solid fanbase, the show was canceled without much of a conclusive ending. "Teen Titans Go!" would begin airing in 2013, with an updated sense of humor: the same gang is designed in a cutesy and marketable style, constantly making fart jokes at each other, very much representing a modern generation that lived off of Internet meme culture."Teen Titans Go!" isn't necessarily bad. If you watch it with a fresh mind and the heart of a child, you will enjoy its quick and (sometimes) clever humor and the show's cast. But if you were a fan of the old show? The insistance to avoid any serious story thread (or really, ANYTHING that comic book superheroes are known for) feels offensive. This is further compounded in that the same characters are voiced by the same voice actors as the original show. And by having cameos of several side characters from the original show, with the same designs. If "Teen Titans" was loosely based off the comic, then "Teen Titans Go!" was loosely based off the show. The production team KNOWS these are beloved characters, and knows fans want to see more of them, but has consistently tarnished the original memories and threw a middle finger to fans that remember them, all in an attempt to make something that ill-informed businessmen thought would sell well to a new audience. And to their credit, it did sell well, however old fans might feel.Anyway, your personal opinion on the matter, either agreeing with old fans, having fun with new fans, or having never heard of "Starfire" before, will inform your opinion on "... To The Movies." The plot is understandably silly: after seeing virtually every DC comic character receive a red carpet premiere of their character on the big screen, Robin begins to feel self-conscious that he and his team never got one. How could a hero be respected without a Hollywood movie? The film continues to show Robin's attempt to have a movie get made by Jade Wilson, the star director of most of Warner Bros' films, all while new archvillian Slade shows up and begins making trouble in the city. There isn't much of a story here, and whatever does exist is very predictable, even by young children.2.jpg)
The highlight of "... To The Movies" is the humor. Sure, the animation looks like a rudamentory flash cartoon (like the show), and the music is obnoxious. But this is a comedy first, and the jokes comes fast and freuqently, working more often than not. One clever skit is Robin believing that getting "rid" of the other superheroes would make the Titans the only subject available to make a movie about, so they quickly travel back in time to prevent traumatic events that caused their repsective adults to become heroes (the death of Bruce Wayne's parents, the destruction of Krypton, etc.), only to realize it leaves modern-day Earth in chaos, so they go back to undo their changes ("...go ahead Bruce's parents, I'm sure that alleyway is perfectly safe..."). Not all of the jokes are family friendly (the final line cracked me up in my chair), but this is much more appropriate to share with young children then "Batman V Superman" or "Suicide Squad." After a series of dark live-action attempts of movie adaptations by DC, this movie should feel like a breath of fresh air, and for this reason alone, it got mostly positive reviews by just about every critic (all of whom admit never having heard of the original show). So with an open mind, if you are looking for lighthearted superhero adventures, "... To The Movies" is a fun palette cleanser with the attitude of a modern Looney-Tunes team of writers. If you were a fan of the old show? Slade as a character was known in the first series from the first episode, and is introduced for the first time in this movie fo "Teen Titans Go!"... given how much younger and immature the heroes are in "Go!," it seems an obvious opportuntiy to make the two part of the same canon, ending the movie by showing "Go!" is a prequel to the original show. No such concept of good story writing is realized in the ending (or anywhere) in the movie. Instead, we do get a brief mid-credit clip of the original Titans, animated for the first time in a decade, claiming "we think we've found a way back." New fans and oblivious critics were confused and shrugged. Old fans didn't bother seeing the movie anyway. Few news outlets ever wrote about it. If Warner Bros was trying to gauge fan reactions to the original heroes, it backfired horribly, and we will likely never see the original characters again. Oh well. We can't be serious all the time.