Tag Archives: Robin

Movie Review – Teen Titans Go!

In the latest cartoon show to be translated to the big screen, we have been presented with Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.  The cartoon show had a very polarizing effect on fans of this particular team from the DC universe.  Some fans love the off-kilter zaniness, constant 80’s references and dashes of potty humour.  Other fans hated what they called a bastardization of a classic team, the childish antics and the low quality animation.  Personally I have been in the first group and found the show very funny to watch on Saturday mornings with my son – even if it has left him with a penchant to constantly ‘Do the Booty Scooty’.

This movie could be said to be DC’s response to Marvel’s Deadpool.  The Deadpool Movies have been immensely popular, made fun of the whole Super Hero Movie franchise, constantly broke the fourth wall and demonstrated that super heroes can be funny!  DC movies have been accused of being too dark, too overly dramatic and frankly not much fun.  This is what Teen Titans Go! attempts to rectify.

 

The plot of this movie is simple – every serious super hero is getting their own movie and the Teen Titans, particularly Robin, want one too so they and he can be considered real super heroes.  The problem is they are a bunch of goofballs that spend more time eating waffles and singing songs than actually fighting crime.

So off they go to get themselves an arch nemesis in order to be taken seriously and are provided with Slade, the main antagonist from the Teen Titans cartoon from the late 90’s.  They are summarily trounced by him, so decide they need to come up with another plan.

The pacing of the first half of the movie runs a bit too slow.  In fact nearing the half way point I was actually getting bored, which is saying a lot considering how much I love animated movies.  It lacked the banter that makes the cartoon show so much fun – instead of constantly arguing with each other and the team as a whole picking on Robin, they act as one unit and they always follow Robins lead without complaint.  Much like the My Little Pony Movie, they have removed one of the key elements that made the cartoon show as popular as it is.

 

Thankfully the second half picks up the pace.  The heroes time travel to get rid of all the other heroes so that they are the only ones to make a movie about, leading to some funny scenes where they alter other heroes origin stories.  When that fails they end up actually having a decent fight scene with Slade which leads to getting a movie.  Of course by now the audience starts to twig that the movie producer is actually Slade in disguise and uses this to break the Teen Titans up so that he can get back a crystal they stole and take over the world.

The final act of the movie is all the regular super heroes, now mind controlled, hunting the heroes and then the Teen Titans facing off against Slade in a giant robot.  Another good fight scene ensues and they naturally save the day, earning the respect of all the other heroes in the process.

 

This isn’t a bad movie on the whole, but it isn’t great.  As mentioned, it lacks a lot of the humour that the cartoon show does.  There are a few funny bits, such as the Titans all using a prop toilet that doesn’t work, the references to the Back to the Future movies and Robins final line of the film.  The movie even references Deadpool from which it draws inspiration – they mix up Slade with Deadpool, talk to the camera, lampoon the whole super hero genre and have cross-universe gags such as Stan Lee making a cameo even though it is a DC movie.  However much of the humour falls flat and lacks that certain spark, the Batman LEGO Movie delivered far more chuckles.  Besides Robin there is zero character development with the other Titans and Slade is an OK villain at best.

If your kid is a massive Teen Titans fan such as mine is, it’s worth taking them to see it on the big screen in the short time it will still be in the cinemas.  However if you and/or your kids simply like the show and not love it, you can wait for the movie to come to DVD before watching.

 

Got something to say about this movie?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!

 

Related Articles:

Movie Review – Deadpool 2

Movie Review – My Little Pony

Movie Review – The LEGO Batman Movie

 

 

Movie Review: The LEGO Batman Movie

The LEGO franchise was always big.  Now with a string of video games and DVD’s as well as being tied in to almost every popular franchise – from Marvel to Star Wars to even Ghostbusters – it is friggin huge!

A few years ago we all marveled at the first LEGO Movie.  It was funny, interesting and had a lot of heart.  One of the main characters in that movie was Batman.  He was arrogant, even if highly skilled enough to warrant it, egocentric and obsessed with metal music and the colour black.  The character has subsequently appeared in numerous tie-in DVD’s and has remained fairly faithful to this rendition of one of the most iconic super heroes of all time.

Now we have upon us the second of the Lego movies to hit the big screen and Batman has the starring role.  So let’s take a look at The LEGO Batman Movie.

This movie is all about Batman’s personal emotional journey from the character we saw in the last movie to one that actually stands a chance of showing empathy and having a personal connection to others.  We are treated at the start to a huge elaborate battle sequence between Batman and pretty much every villain that has ever shown up in the Batman Universe.  Lead by Joker they are all here, from well known characters like Mr. Freeze and Catwoman to obscure characters such as Calendar Man and even Egghead (an egg themed villain from the campy 60’s show played by Vincent Price).  Batman single handedly defeats every single villain, all whilst talking about how great he is, playing hardcore metal music and doing donuts in the Batmobile.  It’s very adrenaline packed and there would be few male viewers who would not love to be in his blocky shoes.

At the climax of the fight, we get the stage set for the overriding theme of the movie.  Joker appears to be genuinely hurt, even heartbroken, when Batman not only refutes that Joker is his arch enemy but states that Joker literally means nothing to him, no one does.  After winning the fight, dropping by an orphanage to shoot miscellaneous Bat-merchandise at a bunch of orphans (and a young Dick Grayson whom returns shortly after) he goes home to an empty mansion, eating and watching movies by himself.

Things change pretty swiftly for Batman.  Barbara Gordon becomes the new police commissioner and wants Batman to work with the police and within the constraints of the law.  During her inauguration all the super villains show up and promptly turn themselves in, depriving Batman of anyone to fight in the future.  It’s also at this time that Bruce Wayne unwittingly adopts Dick Grayson, agreeing to do by not even listening when the prospect is put to him and just blandly agreeing to whatever is said.

Deprived of his super villains to thwart Batman begins a downwards spiral and rejects Alfred’s suggestions to use this down time to make connections with people and focus on his personal life.  Desperately needing something to do, Batman decides to send Joker to the Phantom Zone and has no compunctions about risking his new young wards life to do it.

 

This movie is really about Batman being a jerk and slowly learning not to be.  Whilst the movie starts with him lapping up the attention we see showcased how he is unpopular with his fellow heroes (doesn’t even get invited to the Justice League party), disrespects Alfred, risks Robins life, refuses to work as a team with the police commissioner and constantly breaks the Jokers heart.  We get a glimpse into why though, the death of his parents made a young Bruce refuse to let anyone else get close and his life became about his own ego and his obsession with being a vigilante.

 

So the fun yet predictable happens.  Batman sends Joker to the Phantom Zone where he meets a ton of other evil characters from different franchises (including LOTR, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and even Dr. Who), brings them back to Gotham and proceeds to destroy the city.  This forces Batman to actually work as a team with Barbara, Dick and Alfred and by doing so let them into his life.  The finale of Batman’s emotional journey is him finally admitting to Joker that he hates him and that Joker is the reason he works so hard as a crime fighter.  With this emotional rift healed Joker helps Batman save the city and Gotham is safe once more.

Just wanted to know he was hated

Overall I would say this is very much a boys movie.  Batman is a total jerk and a very blokey kind of jerk.  There is constant violence and lots of humor – I found myself chuckling a few times which is pretty good for me.  I took my 4 year old son and nothing was too graphic or smutty to faze him, though he was a tad restless in his seat by the end.  I’d happily recommend this movie to any boys under the age of say 17, or grown up boys who just cant get enough of The Bat.

 

Seen the movie and have a different opinion?  Would love to read it in the comments section below!