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| Courtesy of Warner Bros. |
I knew almost nothing about the show prior to walking into last weekend’s press screening. I mainly went because my seven-year-old daughter had seen a few episodes and we both thought the trailer was funny. Imagine my surprise when Teen Titans Go! ended up being one of the best movies of the summer. My daughter and I both walked out with enormous smiles on our faces, our stomachs aching after nearly 90 minutes of nonstop laughter.
The film’s plot is refreshingly simple. Robin (Scott Menville), tired of being Batman’s underappreciated sidekick, forms his own team with other lesser-known superheroes of the DC Comics universe including wisecracking shapeshifter Beast Boy (Greg Cipes); Cyborg (Khary Payton), a much better version of the human/robot hybrid from in last year’s Justice League; Starfire (Hynden Walch), a flying alien; and Raven (Tara Strong), a half-human, half-demon who can teleport.
They mostly use their powers to goof off, but when heroes like Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman (Nicolas Cage, a brilliantly meta casting choice) start getting their own movies, Robin decides it’s time to take crime-fighting seriously. They find an arch-nemesis in Slade (Will Arnett), a low-level villain who uses his powers of “mind manipulation” – i.e., wiggling a pencil to make it look rubbery – to fight his opponents. But when he weaponizes Robin’s ego and turns him against his friends, the fate of the Teen Titans is at risk.
The minimal story exists mainly as a joke delivery system, which is fine by me. It’s a relief to see a DC movie joyously mock the studio’s penchant for taking itself way too seriously. Teen Titans Go! mercilessly skewers superhero tropes and history, sometimes in shockingly dark fashion. Most of those gags will fly over younger viewers’ heads, but I gasped in shock a few times – especially during an ingenious, yet hilariously mean-spirited time travel subplot.
(A quick note for parents: the movie ends with a killer joke I don’t want to spoil, but it might lead to an awkward conversation on the ride home. Be ready.) I also loved the colorful, childlike animation style. Even bad guys and brooding heroes look cute and cuddly.
I hope Teen Titans Go! doesn’t fall through the cracks of a crowded, end-of-summer multiplex. I’d love to see it do well enough to earn a sequel; in a marketplace of never-ending superhero flicks, this one has a unique comedic voice and a clever style that makes it stand out against the rest.
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies is rated PG for action and rude humor.
Grade: B+
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