For those yet to get in on Teen Titans GO! as a series, you're missing out on one of the best DC films ever in Teen Titans GO! To the Movies; no, really. When the Teen Titans fail to defeat Balloon Man because they're rapping and dancing, the Justice League chastises them for being silly and lets slip that they're on the way to a film premiere. Tagging along uninvited, the Titans discover that not only is Batman getting another film, but Alfred, the Batmobile and the Utility Belt are all getting their own films before Robin. Embarking on a mission, the Titans try to get Robin a movie deal whilst working against the machinations of Slade, played here by Will Arnett. The plot may be basic, but the pace of Teen Titans GO! To the Movies is unrelenting, with scenes and ideas firing as rapidly as the jokes so that even if something doesn't land, the next bit is already here to enjoy. The humor ranges from literal fart jokes through to meta-comentary on the Superhero film industry, so there's something in there for pretty much everyone, including a Stan Lee cameo. Actually, one of the best Stan Lee cameos ever done.
It was quite a while between viewings of Teen Titans GO! To the Movies for me, so I had forgotten just how great a film it was, from the cast (Nic Cage as Superman), the songs and especially some of the jokes. From low-hanging fruit like the "Martha" scene in Dawn of Justice, some of the jokes are almost transcendent, like Cyborg tricking Superman by pretending to be Lois and claiming "I'm being held prisoner by Gene Hackman's real estate scheme". References to the series, including waffles and a thorough disdain for windows, are pretty thick, but even if you've never seen an episode of Teen Titans GO!, there is plenty to enjoy. Part of what makes Teen Titans GO! To the Movies so good is the voice cast, because although the focus is on Robin (Scott Menville), the rest of the voice actors, including Tara Strong, Greg Cipes, Hynden Walch and Khary Payton, have been working as a team for years, hitting the same kind of cohesion like the Futurama team. Some of the best scenes almost come across as ad-libbed sketches with each member of the team having a space to riff.
So why hasn't Robin been in many DC films? Well, a certain subset of the Batman fandom hates the character, or anything fun in comics, and probably their own lives, and they never shut up, so the industry thinks they represent more than just a few sad shut-ins. So take back the genre, watch Teen Titans GO! To the Movies instead of Joker or The Dark Knight again, it's fucking hilarious. The soundtrack is even pretty great if you just want to check that out, several of the songs are on my work playlist. Personally, I also enjoy the juxtaposition of crazy nonsense and deep lore that is Teen Titans GO!, but I understand why it can be off-putting, leaving this film as an excellent compromise for when I need to convince a date to let me watch more of the programme when it pops up on Netflix. I wish the DCU films were as good as Teen Titans GO! To the Movies, in that they're not often as cleverly written as the dumb cartoon with the fart jokes, and the deeply clever meta comedy.
