Thursday, July 26, 2018

Teen Titans Trouble In Tokyo

This is how it happened. This is how the Teen Titans ended.


After several seasons and the conclusion of the original Teen Titans show back in the day, they created one more adventure to end the series. Did it succeed? This wasn't the grand finale, the climax culminating through years of television like they are doing with Steven Universe, the show ended and on a quite somber and unclear setting. People wondered if that was really the end, and the movie doesn't really conclude anything from the series but gives one last fun adventure with the Titans. Released 8 months after the series ended, the Titans are attacked by a mysterious villain that soon leads the group to Tokyo to find out the mastermind behind it all. And the movie is very, very good even if you did not grow up watching the show. The movie is very self contained, and can be enjoyed by all though I do urge you to watch the show because it is well worth your time. All the original cast is present, the excellent and clearly anime inspired animation style brings a really sleek and wonderful view of Tokyo, they delve heavily into Japanese pop culture ranging from kaiju movies with a giant monster resembling Titanosaurus attacking the Titans, not one but two Akira references one more subtle than the other, the police force helmets look like Ultraman, plus a quite hilarious karoake and sushi scene makes it even more enjoyable to me now than when I was 11 years old. I really loved the series and the movie when I was a kid and to revisit it brings back good memories. It's a nostalgia trip for sure, but the movie has it's own merits and is not solely banking on fond memories. The story is good, the characters are wonderful and they show growth from the first episode of the show, the humor is good and I greatly enjoyed the movie, plus it has a long awaited moment for fans of the show leading to quite a rough scene to sit through. It's such a good scene, it gives weight to these character's interactions and it's like well....for lack of a better word if The Dark Knight level of conversations met a Lost In Translation situation. Dude. It's like...really, really good. Teen Titans was a show renowned for it's perfect mixing of humor, and more deep moments. Nowadays you see it all the time, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, but Teen Titans for a lot of kids showed that a cartoon show can be serious, it can talk about character dilemmas, it can go to more mature themes, that's why so many people held it near and dear to their hearts. And probably why most of them think Teen Titans Go is the worst thing invented since nazism, seriously I have never heard so much almost universal hatred and ill will towards a show, let alone a cartoon in my life. And I just don't get it. I love Teen Titans Go, it's a lighthearted comedic romp with comic book characters. Is it as good as the old show? Absolutely not. Is it still entertaining and a good show? Of course! Which is why I'm psyched to see the new movie tomorrow, cause we could have a Lego Batman Movie situation here again with great animation, witty writing, and could be just as good as this movie. But that will come tomorrow so until then, mata ne minasan!

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