"Teen Titans Go! To the Movies" is a So-So Diversion for the Kids
By: Keaton Marcus
Genre/Kids/Family/Comedy
Age Rating/7+
Lemonradar/58% sour
So What’s The Story?
Hi, this is Keaton Marcus from Sweet and Sour Movie Reviews and today I will be reviewing DC’s latest installment and kids TV adaptation Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. When superhero director Jade Smith rejects the Teen Titans for having their own film unless they have a true arch-nemesis, the gang finds Splade (Will Arnett) who builds a Doomsday Device to hypnotize all of the other superheroes the Titans must become real superheroes to save the day in order to complete their very own movie.
How Was The Cast?
Bringing back the same cast was obviously bold, but worked in almost every way starting with actor Scott Menville as Robin, Tara Strong as Raven, Hynden Walch as Starfire, Khary Payton as Cyborg, Greg Cipes as Beast Boy and Will Arnett as Slade the new arrivaled villain. First and foremost like I said was Scott Menville known for Tangled, Teen Titans Go!, Wreck-It Ralph, Despicable Me, Chicken Little etc. as the wannabe superhero Robin. Although Menville is neither as funny nor creative as the actor was in the wonderfully hysterical TV show, he has more than enough of ridiculousness, lot’s of above-average animated experience and despite the shortage Menville was charming as ever along with the film’s colorful characters and silly action sequences. Secondly we saw Tara Strong known for My Little Pony: The Movie, Ice Age, Batman: The Killing Joke etc. as the over-serious dark witch Raven. However also not as alarming as the TV show, this happens to be one of the better performances of her career and though not with many lines as should be, she is funny and overall amidst the eye-popping animation, gags and fart jokes stands out as one of the cleverest characters in the “franchise” and while this film is not nearly good it is a start for the actress. Thirdly also returning from the beloved TV show is actress Hynden Walch known for Tangled, Groundhog Day, Jerry Maguire, Drillbit Taylor etc. as the alien princess Starfire. Unlike the rest of the cast Walch has barely enough animated experience to convey such a character, but with her previous live-action talents and an immensely funny sense of humour Walch surprises me once again with a wonderfully uplifting performance all the way from hugging kitties to shooting her colorful lasers out of her eyes I am looking forward to seeing her in further films coming up. Fourthly we have actor Khary Payton known for Teen Titans Go!, Latter Days etc. as Cyborg. With barely enough real films to make a big difference Payton might not be much of an endorsement to the general audience, but to the die hard fans (like me) the people will laugh-out-loud till the 93-minute flick is over whether it is Back to the Future references or waffles this is an enormous spark for the actor’s career even if it is far from stellar. Fifthly completing the Teen Titans is actor Greg Cipes known for Teen Titans Go!, Fast and Furious etc. as the joker and complete goofball Beast Boy. With nothing but the original TV show to leverage some talent you can barely call Cipes’ performance actually clever or anything, but for the younger ones Beast Boy is the most “amazing” character in the Teen Titans Go! Universe with slapstick and colorful gags galore. Lastly a new addition to the “franchise” was actor Will Arnett known for The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie, The Nut Job, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Despicable Me etc. as the villain Slade. With an overload of kiddy experience and former comedic strengths, Arnett largely succeeds on every level giving not only the funniest, but the best DC villain the inter-connected franchise has done in a long time with wit and a fresh new start to a long running TV show.
Is It Worth Your While?
Returning from directing the 5-season TV show were first time filmmakers Peter Rida Michail and Aaron Horvath. Like most of the cast, these two directors may not have experience, but the filmmaking was still so-so and although with luke worm animation and a simple plot and storyline; Its entertainment to younger audiences, colorful characters, usually funny gags and a distinct sense of fun, Teen Titans will never compare with other great animated kids flicks such as Toy Story, The Incredibles, Wall-E etc. but it settles for a nice, cheerful, uplifting romp. Special effects wise, there is not much to say here with one major flaw being the flabby animation and of course an ultra-small 10M production budget, but since we saw that same difficulty in the original Cartoon Network show, forgiving the visuals crew should be an order as the colorful jokes cover up the non-efforting work on visceral charge. As I have said many times before though, I was not at all convinced by the cleverness of the plot or storyline within the film making it strictly for the younger ones and adding up to the long list of fun but dumb flicks which may not be much of an endorsement considering what the film is.
Aging ‘The Titans’
Crazier and more out-of-control than a normal animated flick Teen Titans might not be for the youngest of kids, but as the children reach about a 7+ age range this animated romp becomes a walk in the park with silly, colorful action sequences including many comedic weapons, some use of guns, metal staff and sword fights and just a sense of chaotic mayhem washing down the movie. Language wise, there is really nothing but rude humour including dang and darn, insults include morons, losers, lame, dum dums, fool, stupid and “just a sidekick”, plus many toilet jokes including fart, poop, diarrhea and booty. Sexuality wise in one scene a prank caller pretends to be Lois Lane while calling Superman using the words smoochy smoochy and Robin is shirtless in one brief scene.
Teen Titans Film V TV Showdown
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies 58% sour
Violence: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Language: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
Sex: ⭐☆☆☆☆
Age Rating: 7+
Teen Titans Go! 80% sweet
Violence: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Language: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
Sex: ⭐☆☆☆☆
Age Rating: 7+
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies 58% sour
Storyline: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Teen Titans Go! 80% sweet
Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
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