They may not be the world’s finest superheroes but the Teen Titans are a force to reckon with. Led by Batman’s sidekick Robin, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is full of pop-culture references and will make an interesting watch whether you are a DC fan or Marvel one. Now that’s a first because it is not easy to convince the fans of both camps and this flick does just that.

What makes this film different to the rest of DC animated films is that it revolves around the ‘issues’ faced by the second string Justice Leaguers, commonly known as Teen Titans Go! — Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven. In order to prove to the world that they are more than ‘goofsters’, they go out in search of an arch-nemesis, and when they settle with Slade (Will Arnett), their lives change for the better (for Robin) and for the worse (for the rest).

In this story of treachery, deception, and revenge, the Teen Titans realise that being a sidekick isn’t that bad, especially when it involves saving the world from D.O.O.M.S.D.A.Y. (there is a catch in that too) without Justice League’s help.

Besides travelling back in time (in Back To The Future style), meeting Stan Lee (in his first and final appearance in a DC venture), dreaming in ‘Circle of Life’ mode (from The Lion King) and cracking jokes that only a school kid would get, this film takes you on a roller coaster ride that makes fun of everything from Deadpool to Alfred, in Deadpool and LEGO Batman manner. The scene where Robin awaits the trailer of his own movie, where the Teen Titans introduce themselves or where they revisit the origin stories of Justice League superheroes is amazing and will make you watch them again and again.

The film is loaded with superheroes from Superman (Nicolas Cage) to Batman (Jimmy Kimmel) as well as their sidekicks Robin (Scott Menville), Cyborg (Khary Payton), Starfire (Hynden Walch), Raven (Tara Strong) and Beast Boy (Greg Cipes), who decide to act mature in order to be taken seriously by their community. Whether they manage to achieve that remains to be seen, but one thing can be foretold — by the time their adventure ends, they are regarded as the saviours of the world, but not before making you laugh out loud so hard that you may forget which seat you were sitting on!

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 9th, 2019