Nic Cage is Superman (Teen Titans Go to the Movies)
We think it’s fair to say that Teen Titans Go to the Movies is not a children’s movie. It certainly has all the hallmarks of a children’s movie. The main plot is easy to follow. The character rendering is highly stylized to appeal to a younger viewer. And, there is a fart joke within the first five minutes of the film.
Most modern movies targeted at younger audiences have some inappropriate jokes and references “sneaked in” for the sake of the parents. It’s a sort of acknowledgement that adults are getting dragged into the theatre. Teen Titans Go to the Movies is packed with so much “parent service” that it has more screen time than the “main” movie.
It is hard to be sure because the film is so hyperactively packed with jokes, easter-eggs, and obscure DC characters that they crossed over into making nods to other companies as well. There’s even a Stan Lee cameo (technically he did write a few special issues for DC). The result is that the few moments I spent not laughing were filled with identifying who that guy/girl/super-pet in the background is, or marveling at Power Girl’s breast reduction – Kypton’s most top-heavy heroine is now its PAWG.
Though, the award for Dirtiest Superhero Joke Ever goes to Supergirl. Walking the red carpet in a slick red dress she’s asked who she’s wearing. “Plastic Man” she replies delightedly as his broad, smiling face appears across her abdomen.
The red carpet event is one of the meta aspects of the film. It is ultimately a superhero movie about the abundance of superhero movies, with abundant superheroes all trying to get their movie made – the titular characters in particular. It works for this film, because it portrays superheroes not just as guardians but as celebrities. Instead of signs and billboards of obscure companies from the pages of the source comics, the city is plastered with advertisements for superhero endorsed products.
There is an odd emphasis on music in the film. Cyborg pops out his sound system more often than his laser cannon. There’re moments where it feels like they’re trying to present the Teen Titans as a Broadway Musical. Apparently dubstep would have saved the planet Krypton. The original Puffy AmiYumi theme song was unfortunately relegated to a small excerpt in the closing credits.
The film also has one plot-hole problem. That is, every problem the ’Titans couldn’t solve, they had Raven use her hole – er, portal – to dispose of. It got to the point where she would just ask “portal?” and the team would reply “portal.” The problem would be whisked away – or not, when her portal wasn’t quite big enough. As a power, it made us rethink our standing position that the Flash is the most powerful, underrated superhero.
Teen Titans Go to the Movies is definitely worth seeing. I don’t know that it requires the big screen, unless you’re trying to identify all the characters in the wide shots, then it is an absolute necessity.