As much as I generally dug the DC Animated Universe that began with Batman the Animated Series, I can’t say I was a huge fan of Teen Titans, a more humorous series that used a number of anime tropes and styles in ways I never really liked all that much. As such, I can’t say I was all that bothered by the sudden appearance of Teen Titans Go!, a blatantly humorous version of the previous show aimed at much younger audiences. It wasn’t much sort of comedy, but it likewise wasn’t aimed at me anyway. I could safely ignore it.
But it turned out I did enjoy the feature film Teen Titans Go to the Movies, and that movie ended with a post-credits scene of the Titans, drawn in the style of the previous show, becoming aware of some threat with the promise the two different (yet also similar) teams of Titans would clash in a future movie. And, well, it was straight-to-video, and I found it while looking around my various streaming services, so why not check it out?
After a quick batch of crime fighting in the Teen Titans Go universe where the team takes on the Gentleman Ghost (voice of Weird Al Yankovic), Raven’s forehead gem cracks and her trapped demonic side emerges. Raven’s father Trigon, here seen as a mostly embarrassing suburban dad his teen daughter wishes would just go away, wants her to revel in it or give him the power for…some reason. When Raven opts to do neither and stop using her powers, Trigon and his unseen ally have a new plan: set the goofy Titans against a taller, more serious team. And from there, it gets worse as it becomes clear that the Teen Titans Go Trigon is working with the Teen Titans Trigon. It’s going to take the combined efforts of both teams to work together and save the day.
What to make of a movie like this? The two Titans teams are made up of the same line-up of Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven, and the same actors play the characters on both teams. As it is, how the different Titans work together makes for some interesting character work. The Starfires almost immediately squeal and get along well. The Go versions of Cyborg and Beast Boy are in awe of the “serious Titans” but eventually win their counterparts over for more fun times. The original Raven becomes something of a mentor to her counterpart due to the simple fact she is the only one who knows what’s going on. As for the Robins, perhaps the highlight of the movie is the simple fact these two can’t stand each other. The Go Robin seethes with jealousy and is a generally selfish and self-centered character while the original Robin finds his counterpart incredibly annoying and short sighted. My favorite line may have been one from the original Robin, wondering if his initial assumption that the Go Titans were some sort of baby Titans was incorrect and they were really the jerk version of his team.
Now, it is worth noting the original Teen Titans series was hardly a serious show and had a lot of comedic moments of its own, but the humor in Go was always much more blatant. For the original, the humor was a storytelling tool. For the successor, it’s the point of the show. This movie leans more into the Go style of comedy, with the original team often playing straightmen to their shorter counterparts, and the movie does take advantage of the whole “multiverse” concept to offer some nice moments for longtime Titans fans, even acknowledging older fans disdain for the newer show at one point. However, as much as it was nice to see the original version of the team back, this really is a Teen Titans Go movie in terms of style and substance. Unlike their feature film, there weren’t quite so many quick Easter Eggs for longtime DC fans, and as I said above, I don’t think I am the target audience for a movie like this. It’s decent, but not my thing.
Grade: C+
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