‘Justice League vs. Teen Titans’ Film Review

by Jasef Wisener Published Mar 30, 2016

Justice League vs. Teen Titans

The past seven days have been absolutely packed with big DC Comics crossovers on film and television. Things kicked off with the highly-anticipated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in theaters, and the crossovers continued with the absolutely charming Supergirl/The Flash team-up on CBS. There was still more to come, though, and the DC Animated Universe got a chance to build itself up even more with Justice League vs. Teen Titans.

Set in the same continuity that began in Justice League War and continuing, more or less, from January’s Batman: Bad Blood, Justice League vs. Teen Titans tells the story of Damien Wayne’s Robin, after botching up one of the Justice League’s missions, being assigned to the Teen Titans in order to learn the value of teamwork. Things don’t go well at first (we all know how Damien can be by now), but he is eventually able to connect with his new teammates as they save the world from Trigon (essentially DC’s version of Satan) and his possessed Justice League, explaining the film’s title.

While the Justice League is featured in the film’s title and definitely play a role in the story, Justice League vs. Teen Titans is very much a Teen Titans adventure. Drawing inspiration from Titans history and blending in with the current continuity, the film introduces us to the DC Animated Universe versions of Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire, who serves as the team’s mentor. The introduction of Robin to the team is usually a fun experience in any medium, and I really enjoyed getting to see the different dynamic that comes from the current Robin being Damien Wayne. Damien has been one of the most complex and intriguing characters in DC Comics lore since his introduction years ago, and I love the Animated Universe’s commitment to fleshing him out as a character and establishing him in the minds of the public. The rest of the Teen Titans are also wonderfully played out in the film, with my personal favorites being the multifaceted Raven and the comedic Beast Boy. The entire team gets their moments to shine, though, and we even get a tease of a history between Starfire and Nightwing (who, unfortunately and despite the film’s promotional material, is relegated to a very small role here). Each film in this continuity has done a fantastic job of universe-building outside of its actual narrative, and I’m always left wanting more (which is definitely a good thing).

The story of Justice League vs. Teen Titans is largely unoriginal and typical for the team, but it still does a good job of introducing the characters and their history into the current continuity. I do think that the story suffered a bit from having to tie-in the Justice League in such a major way, but I’m hopeful that the team’s establishment here will lead to a full-on Teen Titans movie in this animated world. The action in the film is as good as we’ve come to expect from this series, and the animation (aside from a couple of costume choices) is absolutely perfect. There was a very odd Power Rangers-esque “morphing sequence” at one point in the movie that stood out in a bad way, but it’s easy to overlook that to focus on the film’s much better qualities. As always, the returning voice cast is excellent, and I love the new additions that come with the Teen Titans world.

Overall, Justice League vs. Teen Titans was a great entry in the DC Animated Universe series that successfully established a large new aspect to the world while hinting at the past and opening up plenty of future stories. It was brought down a bit from its inherent requirement to tie-in more well-known heroes from the Justice League and a few odd decisions here and there, but the film accomplished what it needed to do in a fun way.

Justice League vs. Teen Titans is available now on Digital HD, and the DVD/Blu-ray releases on April 12! Let us know what you think of the film in the comments down below!