With Pixar upping the ante with The Incredibles 2 – a hugely enjoyable sequel that has raised the game on computer animation to live-action quality – and Marvel still holding their own with the MCU offering more and more new varieties of their trademark characters, the DC Universe is in lagging behind.
The latest addition from Warner Animation, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, may not hit the blockbuster heights of an Avengers: Infinity War, but it has just enough to offer families to provide a mildly amusing outing; and at least it tries to play off with humour those communal heroics that are taking the genre to billion-dollar returns worldwide.
Based on the successful animated TV series Teen Titans Go!, children will have no trouble dragging their parents along, given its on-going presence on Cartoon Network and the appeal of superhero films in general.
Daffy Duck’s appearance during the opening Warner Animation logo sets up the tone of the piece, in which the Teen Titans – Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, Robin, and Starfire – are ridiculed by the Justice League in their opening scrap against the Balloon Man (voiced by British comedian Greg Davies) for not having their own movie when the villain doesn’t recognise them.
Taking the idea seriously, they head to one of the top Hollywood producers, Jade Wilson (Frozen‘s Kristen Bell), with whom Robin becomes attached (which leads to him wanting to get his own starring role in his own feature, even though the message becomes clear about the reality of why some are heroes and some are sidekicks). Soon entertainment and practical reality are about to collide and their own purpose in life is about to be challenged to the fullest…
Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is a lot more fun than some of the recent DC offerings, which continue to take themselves a little too seriously, perhaps to appease the purists. Interestingly, those who fans who were saddened not to see the Tim Burton Superman project come to fruition in the nineties will be amused to know that the main contender for that version, Nicolas Cage, fulfils his mandate as the Man of Steel in this film.
There is a fun reference to Back To The Future when the Titans decide to try and alter the course of superhero history, with a montage tapping into every homage and original story we have ever experienced over decades, be it comic book, film, or television adaptation and Alan Silvestri’s iconic theme from the 1985 classic adds to the flavour.
There are some neatly skewered references to the MCU and some knowing structural references that fans and followers will pick up. One suspects, however, that the Deadpool duo of films might have more or less cornered the market in self-depreciation already when it comes to spoofing the Marvel and DC Universe.
A fun and mildly diverting film.
TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES / CERT: PG / DIRECTORS: AARON HORVATH, PETER RIDA MICHAIL / SCREENPLAY: MICHAEL JELENIC, AARON HORVATH / STARRING: NICOLAS CAGE, HALSEY, JIMMY KIMMEL, GREG CIPES, SCOTT MENVILLE, KHARY PAYTON, TARA STRONG, KRISTEN BELL / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 3RD
