Something's missing here. Teen Titans the television show is a fun, vibrant series that's a lot more entertaining than it looks. Following the show's recent cancellation, it seems like Trouble in Tokyo is the last we'll get of our intrepid heroes. Unfortunately, as a swan song or otherwise, when squeezed Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo reveals itself for what it really is: a suspiciously average direct-to-DVD movie that looks good, but doesn't do anything to conceal the fact that underneath it's fake.
What's puzzling about this movie is the fact that instead of just average, it should have been very cool. Glen Murakami, the show's creator and Exec Producer seems to have been heavily involved, and the writer, David Slack, penned some of the series' finest episodes. Place Slack's own season one finale, 2003's Apprentice: Part 2, side-by-side with this movie and there's no comparison. So who fell asleep at the controls here?
When you see a direct-to-DVD movie chances are you know what you're getting into. That is to say, a whole barrel of "not much". With the exception of the excellent Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, affairs of this sort seem designed to tap parents and die-hard fans for a round of sweet DVD green before sailing quietly into the sunset. A complete disregard for what it means to be a "movie" is a sad symptom.
That's what we get with Trouble in Tokyo. Okay, the story: some funky, neon Ultraman thing shows up in San Francisco and blows up Titans Tower. Robin is quite miffed by this and after a brief interrogation determines that the villain came from Tokyo. So off the gang goes to the land of the rising sun to find out who wants them blowed up. They fight some dudes, Cyborg eats a squid, and then it's time to go home. The normally awesome Raven chews gum. Right on.
From the extra features on the first season's DVD set (a benchmark for that type of show) I was under the impression that the people behind this series really cared for it. So why did they just churn this thing out? There's nothing "movie" about this movie. Other than the location change, the only significant development is that the romantic tension between Robin and Starfire is dealt with, but even that lacks the sweetness regularly found in the series. I don't want to keep comparing this movie to the show, but in this case it feels warranted, if only because the series is so much better.
The imaginative "MurikAnime" that so uniquely defined the series (a mixture of Anime conventions with the traditional North American style) is in short supply, and when it does pop up it feels restrained. What happened to the stylish silhouette battles of the series, where the bottom four-fifths of the screen were taken up by a black horizon, acting as a stark contrast to the action?
Even the animation feels Plain Jane. In fact, the fluidity of the Jackie Chan-like battles in both of the first two season finales trumps the animation in this flick for both energy and style. Did they just not have a budget here? If so, and you know the higher-ups don't care, why not try to sneak something meaningful by?
That's not to say that it's all bad - it's just average. But it should have been great. The voice actors deliver, the music is fitting, and the bright style of the series, though dimmed, is still appealing.
It's a real shame that this is the last we'll see of the Titans. Then again, there is a new direct-to-DVD movie scheduled for next year, an adaptation of Perez and Wolfman's classic The Judas Contract, but that is done by different people and in a totally different style.
As a farewell to this interpretation of these characters, Tokyo is a disappointment. How can it not be when the last three episodes of any season make for a better movie than this "actual" movie? Then again, what am I saying? It's obvious what's missing here: Ron Perlman, who voices badass mercenary Slade. I'm sure if they'd just given him a few minutes of time, everything would have flowed from there. That's got to be it. Listen up, folks: if you're making a movie and it's severely lacking in Perlman, you're only hurting yourself. For the rest of us, it's not "Teen Titans Go!" that we're thinking, but "Teen Titans good riddance..."
Score: 5 out of 10