Justice League vs Teen Titans Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Justice League vs Teen Titans Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 5, 2016

Hmmmmm. . . A DC Universe offering with Vs. in the title. That couldn’t be just a coincidence, could it? This obvious marketing tie in to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is a case study in the kind of interlinked strategies that major studios (and in fact even some miors) typically utilize these days to get keisters into theater seats or credit cards out and at the ready for online purchases of either actual Blu-ray product or (heaven forfend) digital streaming. What’s kind of funny about this particular tie-in is how it’s fared vis a vis the critical backlash engendered by the feature film pitting two of DC Comics’ most iconic characters against each other. A number of industry types, including the “bible of show business” Variety, have gotten downright snarky that audiences flocked to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice despite a lot of critics’ withering assessments of the film (the really funny thing about all of this is that Variety’s own review was actually more positive than negative, an outlier amongst most “major” publications’ analyses). This kind of “meta” reaction to reviews seemed to suggest something along the lines of, “How dare audiences not pay attention to our Words of Wisdom, instead having the audacity to make up their own minds?” With that probably self-defeating prelude out of the way, I'll go ahead and offer my thoughts on Justice League vs. Teen Titans with an obvious awareness that fans will indeed make up their own minds.

According to our running tally, this is the twenty-fifth DC Universe Animated Original Movie, and though my reviewing duties of this franchise are relatively recent, I can already see that there are certain tropes this series likes to exploit. One of those is dropping the viewer down in medias res, with a slam bang action sequence that typically includes a glut of characters battling each other. True to form, Justice League vs. Teen Titans does in fact begin with just such a sequence, one which pits the Justice League against the Legion of Doom. A number of intersecting vignettes gets the character introductions out of the way without too much fuss or bother, allowing a little extra time to develop the idea that the “new Robin”, Bruce Wayne’s son Damian, is at best a petulant brat and at worst perhaps a nascent psychopath. Robin’s pouty demeanor is evidently supposed to give this film some edge, though some may find it unintentionally funny.

It may also strike some fans as tilting toward a bit of “borrowing” from DC’s main rival, Marvel, when Robin is delivered to the Teen Titans in a gambit that plays a bit like X-Men’s Xavier Academy in the guise of a putative reform school. The Titans are, much like the mutants, “outcasts” who are forced to band and bond together in a kind of “you and me against the world” attitude. Will Damian’s inherent snarkiness allow him to become a “team member”? If you need to think too long about that, chances are you haven’t seen many of these animated outings.

That aforementioned opening battle hints at what will become the recurring threat throughout this film, the demonic presence known as Trigon, a baddie who can possess various characters and control them, as is evidenced in the first knock down, drag out fight when a big shadowy glob of goop is released from Weather Wizard, who has no idea of what just happened. Without giving too much away, Trigon’s “black magic” doesn’t give up with that particular possession, and soon one of the more iconic DC characters has been put under mind control, leading to predictably calamitous consequences.

Woven into this plotline is a fairly felicitously linked unfolding dealing with Robin learning to matriculate with the Teen Titans. That’s when an interaction between Raven and Robin begins to hint at a further link to Trigon, something that ultimately colors the Teen Titans’ reactions to both characters and finally begins to make sense out of the perhaps initially confusing title pitting two sets of heroes against each other. Justice League vs. Teen Titans moves through its paces with requisite briskness, even though there are occasional lapses of logic. Its headlong rush through salient plot points make leave a few heads spinning, but the general ease with which it handles so many characters in such a relatively brief running time is generally commendable.

Still, there’s a slightly less than ambitious feeling about the plotting of this particular entry in this ever expanding franchise. For all the supposedly provocative content involving satanic cults and demonic possession, Justice League vs. Teen Titans often plays like the “second” story in comic books of yore used to—decent enough filler material, but hardly the sort of thing that would make the cover.

Justice League vs Teen Titans Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Justice League vs. Teen Titans is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of DC Comics and Warner Animation with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Fans who have been enjoying the DC Universe Animated Original Movies on Blu-ray will know pretty much what to expect with this release, as it's very much in line with previous outings in the series. There's a nicely burnished palette at play and a tendency to offer a more painterly, "old school", look to many of the characters (even those that have been "updated" for this outing). Blues, reds and purples are in abundant supply throughout the film and are vividly saturated. Line detail remains sharp and the effects, while a little hokey at times, look good if occasionally soft. In fact, large swaths of this feature are seemingly intentionally on the soft side, giving a kind of Fleischer-esque look to Superman, to cite one example. Contrast is excellent and there are no issues with image instability. Banding is also at a minimum in this offering, something that may be an encouraging sign for those who have been following this series.

Justice League vs Teen Titans Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Justice League vs. Teen Titans features a forceful and often nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The opening battle scene sets the audio bar relatively high, with excellent panning effects and some nice rattling LFE. The quasi-electrical effects that recur during battles offer some good opportunities for sound effects as well, effects which are often offered in discrete channels to create a lifelike rendering of audio spatial placement. This film has a bit more downtime in between set pieces than Batman: Bad Blood did, and the track similarly supports straightforward dialogue scenes, though even here there is good attention paid to placing ambient environmental effects around the surround channels. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range extremely wide on this problem free track.

Justice League vs Teen Titans Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Growing Up Titan (1080p; 23:46) is a rather well done piece documenting the background of the franchise.


• Heroes and Villains: Raven (1080p; 6:05) offers a biography of this "half breed".


• Heroes and Villains: Trigon (1080p; 5:17) does much the same for this satanic arch-villain.


• A Sneak Peek at DC Universe's Next Movie: Batman: The Killing Joke (1080p; 10:15)


• From the DC Comics Vault

  Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Sidekicks Assemble! (1080p; 22:52)

  Teen Titans: The Prophecy (1080p; 23:02)

Justice League vs Teen Titans Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I haven't yet seen Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, so I can't adequately "compare" it to this outing, at least in terms of critical umbrage and potential fan appeal. One thing this animated feature has going for it is its relative brevity, for clocking in at fewer than 80 minutes means there's simply not enough time for things to get too lethargic. This still has a kind of rote, by the numbers feel to it, though, and that may deprive it of some of the depth that has tended to creep into previous DC Universe Animated Original Movies. Technical merits are generally very strong, and the supplemental package quite enjoyable, for those considering a purchase.