After five seasons, Teen Titans Go! made the leap to the silver screen, and now, comes home this week on DVD and blu-ray thanks to Warner Brothers.
Let’s be clear, I’ve never sen anything of the television series, though I am aware of the Titans featured in the series. There’s Robin (Scott Menville), Beast Boy (Gregory Cipes) Starfire (Hynden Walch), Cyborg (Khary Payton) – who is much more at home here than he was in the Justice League, and Raven (Tara Strong). But I may have to remedy that now.
The family friendly film is filled with in-jokes, cameos, and bring us the only time that some lesser DC characters will ever be seen on the big screen. The in-jokes are brilliant, from simple things in the background, to rarely seen characters, and some brilliant on the nose humor about superhero movies.
And speaking of, that is the crux of the plot, Robin, and to a lesser degree his teammates, haven’t been able to score a superhero movie yet. It seems everyone and everything in the DC universe has a movie except for Robin and his friends.
So they decide to go get one. They slip onto the Warner lot (with some fun asides, gags and shenanigans) and meet director Jade Wilson (Kristen Bell), but there may be a number of things that stand in the way of their getting their own movie, including the villain most often mistaken forDeadpool, Slade (Will Arnett), more commonly known outside of the cartoon realm as Deathstroke.
Titans ends up being a truly family friendly movie, having laughs for kids, and just as many for adults, and geeks of all levels. There are some very funny nods to other superhero movies, musical cues, and some fun voice casting, like Nicholas Cage as Superman
The blu-ray transfer is colorful and sharp, and the extras that round out the disc are all kid-centric including an enjoyable DC Super Hero Girls short, a deleted song, sing-a-longs, a music video, and a couple of promotional shorts featuring the Titans.
Taking a page from the Marvel Cinematic Universe there is a mid-credits scene that announces the return (after a fashion of the original Teen Titans cartoon).
All in all, I was very delighted with this film and I found myself laughing aloud (the Back to the Future stuff is spot-on) more than I thought I would, not only at some of the dialogue but at some of the subtle (and occasionally not so subtle nods) to other films, heroes, characters, and the genre as a whole.
This is a film that can be shared with the whole family, and would make for a fun night in, especially as the cooler weather rolls in.
Teen Titans Go! to the Movies comes home on DVD and blu-ray today from Warner Brothers. Pick it up today, and join in on the laughs and adventure, and positive message at the film’s heart.