I guess you could say that I was looking for an excuse to watch this film. I’ve only recently started watching the show but it was mostly so I could finally see this film. All I was hearing about it was fantastic. To be honest, it was probably as soon as I heard Greg Davies talking to Richard Herring about having a role in it. I mean, I had to see what that was like. Davies is a great comedian and seemed like the perfect person to cast as a villain in a children’s animated film. Obviously, that’s not the only reason. Davies was only going to be a minor part. My decision to finally watch it became clear after it was mentioned in the same podcast that prompted my impromptu DC blog week. And how could I miss the chance to hear Nicolas Cage finally play the role of Superman? We’ve all been curious. It’s one of the greatest “what if’s” in Hollywood.

Superhero movies are a dime a dozen these days. They have become such a mainstream stape that even the heroes nobody remembers are getting their time in the spotlight. Before Guardians of the Galaxy came out in 2014, how many people in the world knew who Star-Lord and co were? And it’s not as if it’s over, either. Disney has announced so many new and potential projects with Marvel that it genuinely feels as though this is never going to end. Don’t get me wrong, I love a Marvel film as much as the next person but I can’t be the only feeling a bit exhausted by it all. This has been slowly getting out of hand for years now.

And who would have thought that Teen Titan Go! To The Movies would be exactly the kind of film we needed to refresh everything. The Titans are surrounded by celebrity superheroes who have taken the world by storm thanks to their endless stream of movies. Enough is enough for Robin, who believes that he deserves his chance to shine. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t see the Boy Wonder and his Titans as a big deal. Well, not until Slade comes to town. After successfully beating the new villain, Robin is given his own film. With all of his dreams finally coming true, Robin starts to forget who he really is and why he’s a hero in the first place.

Teen Titans Go! is a great TV show but, I have to admit, watching it made me feel super old. Of course, it’s a lot of fun and very silly. I’m just not the target demographic. It was the show I watched in the morning when I was getting ready for work. The kind of brightly coloured, easy to watch kind of show that wasn’t too engrossing. It was the perfect companion at 7am. It’s exactly the kind of show that I wish had existed when I was a kid. I would have loved it. The humour is perfect for its audience but is also clever enough to do something a bit different. It’s not quite got the balance between immaturity and maturity right but it’s close. And the film is no different.

Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is an unexpectedly meta film. It’s so clever and has no problem making fun of DC’s past adaptations. We see references to all of their past movies and to a lot of super-deep DC geekery. Taking pop-shots at the Martha scene in B vs S and Green Lantern, this is a film that isn’t afraid to tear apart the whole superhero film genre. Which, considerig what it is, is a pretty bold move. Thankfully, it is one that works for the most part. Do some of the tongue-in-cheek moments get a bit much? Yes. The Stan Lee cameo was fun but it went on that little too long. However, that’s a small price to pay for the world to finally get their chance to see (okay, hear) Nicolas Cage as Superman.

Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is not the best or slickest film you’ll ever see. It drags on a bit and indulges itself a little too much. But it is up there with the most fun superhero films you could ask for. Lego Batman showed us that there is room to bring superheroes back to a childish and silly level. That was a film that worked on so many levels. The Teen Titans might not be quite there but it shows what could happen if we all just lightened up about this kind of thing. Comic book films don’t need to be all doom and gloom. Sometimes they can be about Greg Davies paying a huge balloon monster who is caught up in his own fart joke.