That’s right! Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice is not the only “versus” movie Warner Bros. has out there right now. Justice League Vs Teen Titans continues to expand DC’s animated universe by bringing the young hero team, the Teen Titans, into the forefront. But how accurate is that name?
Following the series of Robin (Damian Wayne) focused Batman films, Teen Titans continues that story when Batman and the other super adults realize that perhaps Damian could do with a little socializing. Thus he is sent to join the Teen Titans, a team consisting of Blue Beetle, Raven, Beast Boy and is led by Starfire.
It’s already been well established that Damian is a bit of a pompous brat, so it comes as no surprise that he sees this as more of a punishment than a growing experience. However, he quickly connects with fellow dark soul, Raven and he realizes that maybe being a Teen Titan isn’t the worst thing ever.
Meanwhile, Raven’s father,Trigon, who is basically the devil, is attempting to escape hell and destroy the earth. At first Raven is ashamed of her past and doesn’t tell her teammates about it, but the truth quickly comes to light and they decide they need to stop her dad and save the planet.
At this point you must be thinking, “Hold the phone! This movie is called Justice League Vs Teen Titans! Surely these two superhero teams must fight at some point, mustn’t they?” Well, yeah, at some point towards the end The Justice League get possessed by Trigon’s demons and the Teen Titans must fight them. This lasts all of five minutes. Yeah, the film’s title is about as much a misnomer as a title can be, but that doesn’t stop the film from being a fun one.
Going in I was really hesitant because I’ve never been a big Teen Titan fan, however, bringing Damien into a team dynamic and seeing that play out is very entertaining. This film provides a great introduction to this team and I’m sure they’ll be getting their own films minus the League in the not too distant future.
Being a Teen Titan film you’d think this one would be more for young kids than some of the more previous entries in the DC animated world, but with a PG-13 rating, this one ranks up there with the others. It might not be as violent as some of the recent Robin centric Batman films, but it does feature a satan-like Demon escaping hell to destroy the Earth. It also features a very scantily clad Starfire, which, as the leader of a team of teenagers seems extra inappropriate. There is one funny moment when she is Skyping with Nightwing. On her computer screen you can see Nightwing as well as the tiny screen that shows what he sees. At one point she leans over to set something down and his screen becomes one giant cleavage shot. Nightwing, ever the gentlemen, awkwardly looks away. It’s a pretty funny scene, but definitely inappropriate for they younger ones.
If you were disappointed by BvS (personally I didn’t think it was THAT terrible) and are fed up with how Warner Bros. is handling their live action films in general, then you should definitely be checking out their animated films. They are consistently entertaining and stay very true to the comic source material.
The film is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio and 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio. Once again Warner Bros. has produced a beautifully looking and sounding animated film.
Extras include: Growing Up Titan (24 min.), Heroes And Villains: Raven (6 min.) and Trigon (5 min.), Preview for Batman: The Killing Joke (10 min.), From The Vaults including The Brave and the Bold, “Sidekicks Assemble” and Teen Titans “The Prophecy”.
Justice League vs Teen Titans proves once again that Warner Bros. animation team knows what they’re doing. They introduced a great young team here in the Teen Titans and I’m sure we’ll see them again and again.
Warner Bros. presents Justice League vs Teen Titans. Written by: Bryan Q. Miller and Alan Burnett. Directed by: Sam Liu. Starring: Jason O’Mara, Rosario Dawson, Jerry O’Connell, Stuart Allan and Taissa Farmiga. Running time: 78 min. Rating: PG-13. Released on DVD: April 12, 2016.
