Justice League vs. Teen Titans Review

First Thoughts

You have no idea how much I was nerding out when I heard about this movie. I have always loved the Justice League cartoons and movies, and I still feel nostalgic over the Teen Titans series that Cartoon Network gave us. I was flipping out when I heard that both teams were going to be in a movie, and they were also going to fight. The DC animated movies have not let me down, so I knew this one was going to be satisfying.

Synopsis

After a quick battle against the Legion of Doom, the Justice League find themselves targeted by Trigon, a demon who is as evil as it gets. Meanwhile, Batman sends his son, Damian Wayne, to work with the Teen Titans, so Damian can learn the value of having teammates. Damian is not thrilled about this at all, and causes conflict with the rest of the Titans. Things start to get bad when Trigon posses Superman, and

uses the Man of Steel to set up for his revival. Trigon is also targeting Raven as she is the key to his revival. Damian starts to warmup to his team, and Raven is attacked by Trigon's demons, but the Titans fend them off. A trap is set for the titular teams; Wonder Woman, Flash, and Cyborg get possessed by Trigon. Batman is able to stop Trigon from possessing him, but is immobilized in the process. The Justice League defeat the Titans with ease, and are about to kill them, but Raven saves them by agreeing to release Trigon. As the Justice League and Raven leave through a portal, Blue Beetle is able to turn Cyborg back to normal. Cyborg aides the Titans as they fight Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Trigon. With strategic teamwork, they are able to turn Superman back, and then he turns Wonder Woman and Flash back to normal. However, Trigon (now released) is too powerful. The Titans and Cyborg travel to the underworld where Raven can once again seal away Trigon. Cyborg, Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, and Starfire keep Trigon's demons busy, while Raven and Damian reach the crystal that Raven will use. Damian is confronted by his grandfather, Ra's al Ghul, and is tempted to revert to his old ways when he was with the League of Assassins. Damian chooses the Titans over Ra's, and Raven is able to seal Trigon away. Raven wants to take on the burden by remaining in the underworld, so she can watch Trigon, but Damian and the Titans convince her to go home with them. Raven returns with the Titans. She wears the crystal on her head, so Trigon will always be close to her. The movie ends with Terra approaching the Titan Tower.

Character Spotlight

Damian Wayne is the son of Bruce Wayne, and the grandson of Ra's al Gul. He is very arrogant, and dislikes working with others. He truly believes that his way is the only way. Damian is always looking for a fight, and he definitely backs up his arrogance while fighting. He challenges Blue Beetle, and nearly beats him, even though he didn't have the time to fully analyze Blue Beetle's abilities. Damian is also an extremely quick learner as shown when he beat Beast Boy in a dancing game without any prior experience, and he only had a limited time to study Beast Boy's movements.

The movie did a great job introducing and developing Damian. At first, I hated him because he was such a little prick, but then the backstory kicked in, and I knew why he was like that. His character is interesting because it ties in with the theme of Nature vs. Nurture. Damian was made into an emotionless killer, but he is actually kind at heart. Sometimes your true nature is oppressed by your environment. The new environment with the Titans gave Damian a chance to change. It was great seeing him reject, but then accept the Titans.

Raven is the daughter of the demon Trigon. She is very shy and withdrawn, but she cares deeply about her friends. She will go to great lengths to protect those around her as shown when she gives herself up to Trigon, so she can save the Titans. Raven is not afraid to take on burden. She was planning to stay in the underworld to guard Trigon, and her alternative was to have Trigon be apart of her. Raven is extremely skillful with magic; she was able to seal away Trigon at a very young age. She is powerful enough to hold her own against Trigon's demons before she was finally outmatched by sheer numbers. She also knows a lot of magic, including near mastery of healing as shown when she healed Damian's burns caused by Blue Beetle's alien tech.

Raven's character was also a good touch for the movie. I remember most of her story from Cartoon Network's version. This movie was a good reminder of what she is about. I felt for Raven since her backstory is really messed up. It felt real when Raven made her mistakes. A person rarely knows exactly how to overcome their demons (literally with Raven), but it is through hardships that a person rises above it. Raven reminds me of that idea, and I stood by her the entire movie.

Quote of the Movie

"Faith is the absence of data," delivered brilliantly by Stuart Allan, the voice of Damian.

Pros

The pace of the movie was great. This is what Dawn of Justice should have done. Both movies had a ton of characters involved, specifically new characters that needed to be established and developed, but Justice League vs. Teen Titans did it way better. This movie gave us Titans that were not the ones from the Cartoon Network version, so we needed to know them again. Raven and Damien were the main focus with both of them receiving full story arcs. However, the rest of the Titans were not left out. They each had an adequate amount of development. The pace was great because the movie was able to balance out the characters, and buildup a great conflict, even though it had half the run time that Dawn of Justice had.
Damian and Raven's characters were great. They were well developed. Also, they had great chemistry together (not implying anything).

This movie is another prime example of why DC animated movies are great. It kept its dark nature with its fight scenes and story content, but it was also able to complement those elements with humor. It is great when a movie can give its audience a breather with fun scenes and witty humor. This is exactly what Justice League vs. Teen Titans did.

The fight scenes were good, the animation was solid, and the soundtrack was enjoyable.
I enjoyed Cyborg working with the Titans. There was great chemistry, and reference to when he was apart of the team. Beast Boy even wanted him to ditch the League and join the Titans, which I found hilarious.

The cliffhanger with Terra definitely had me wanting more.

It was just great seeing a Teen Titans movie. My love for the Cartoon Network series fueled my interest for this movie, but ultimately it was this movie's good execution that made it enjoyable.

Cons

I wanted more of the Justice League. I know they were already developed in movies like Justice League: War, but they should have had a bit more focus.
I was not ok with Superman turning Wonder Woman and the Flash back to normal, after he came to. I wanted members of the Titans to do it. After all, this was supposed to be the Titans fighting the League. Also, Damian had just stabbed Superman with kryptonite to turn him back, so Supes should have been weakened to a point were he needed an adequate amount of time to heal. This was just another example of how OP Superman is.
Some of the characters in the movie were not aware like they should have been. Diana was with Clark when he lost control to Trigon, but she didn't even bother following him to see what was wrong. Batman was prepping up against the Trigon threat, but he didn't see the trap coming. He blindly lead the league into it. In fact, it was Damian who knew what was up. Starfire being the leader of the Titans didn't even know the situation with Raven. Starfire likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, but Damian was right when he told her that she needed to know everything about her team. It would have made her a stronger leader.

(Batman F'd up)

Speaking of Starfire, I wasn't really a fan of her in this movie. I didn't like her character design or her voice.
I hated how Nightwing was only a background character. His only purpose was to drive Damian to the Titan Tower. I thought he was going to enter the story during the midway point, but he was made into a comic relief with a failed booty call on Starfire. Nightwing was even featured posing with the team before the credits played, which is just a slap in the face.
I wanted the movie to touch up on Talia al Ghul since she is Damian's mother. She didn't need to be introduced, just at least talked about.

Final Thoughts

Justice League vs. Teen Titans was a fun movie that was executed properly. There were definitely problems, but it didn't ruin the experience for me. I am once again impressed with how well the DC animated movies handle their story and characters. Zach Snyder should take notes from these movies. I am looking forward to the next movie featuring the Titans after the Terra cliffhanger. I will give Justice League vs. Teen Titans an 8/10.

#movie #review #justiceleague #teentitans