September 9, 2025 • 43 mins
DJ Nik and Keith Bliss review "Teen Titans : Trouble In Tokyo" !!! Enjoy ! If you would like to come on and discuss YOUR favourite movie send us a email with your movie of choice to : happinessindarknesshow@gmail.com . Check out our great tiers on Patreon : patreon.com/happinessindarkness !!!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
For the first time ever in an all new original movie,
The Teen Titans are going to Tokyo. Pack your thanks,
you're heading for Tokyo. I really need a vacation.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We're heroes, peace boys, we don't take vacations.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
But they won't be welcome from long Tokyo. We made
Justice is going global Titan's Trouble in Tokyo and All
new movie on DVD.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
He was telling us to stay out of trouble.
Speaker 5 (00:34):
Show our people, and welcome to our three hundred and
eighth episode of Happiness and Darkness, the Superior Movie Podcast
where we discuss Superhio movies, Marvel, DC, dark Horse, Image
and Beyond. Naturally, there will be spoilers, folks, so you
have been warned. I'm one of your co hosts, Viujenek,
and it's always joined me as my superhero partner in crime,
(00:55):
mister Keith Blass. Hey, Keith, how's Live treating you today?
Speaker 4 (01:00):
So you know me, I can't complain too much. The
military is trying to blow up my house presently because
I live about two miles from the base and they're just,
I don't know, bored, So my walls are rattling. We're
here to talk about some Teen Titans that I have
to give a quick shout out to my coworker and friend,
Raven for requesting. We had a conversation last weekend or
(01:20):
with the weekend before about movies Raven would like us
to review. And Raven is literally named after the character
Raven from Teen Titans who just so happens to be
gracing my wrist as a tattoo. So I really appreciated
this recommendation, so I of course had to do it well.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
I definitely, of course, you know, if listen is requestings,
we're more than happy to acquiesce to their wishes. And Raven,
thank you, of course for listening to the show and
for your support, because today, yes, we are discussing Teen
Titans Trouble in Tokyo from two thousand and six. This
was directed by Michael Chang, Ben Jones and Matt Youngberg,
(02:00):
was written by David Slack, while the score was by
Christopher Carter, Michael mcchostian and Lolita Alitta Manis. So this movie,
of course in not airing theaters. It actually was aired
on Telly, so we don't really have sort of budget
numbers or anything of that nature. But getting to general impressions, Keith,
(02:20):
was this the first time you sat down to watch
this and different? If so, if not, what did you
make of it?
Speaker 4 (02:26):
No, I'm older tech, we know this. We've talked about
this before. I'm old as dirt and just as krusty.
So I've actually saw this movie when it aired on
television way back when in two thousand and six. This
was probably the second or third time I've actually seen this,
but it has easily been over a decade since I've
watched this movie. I enjoy this group of Teen Titans immensely.
(02:51):
They're the Teen Titans I grew up with, so I
enjoy watching them. And I see how they pivoted from
this to The Teen Titans Go, because they foreshadowed it.
Foreshadowed it so much with beast Voy singing the song
Teen Titans Go and them just kind of ramping up
the silliness a little more so than we're familiar with.
(03:14):
I liked the voice cast. They've always been the ones
I appreciated. Not that I'm discrediting Young Justice, which is
essentially Teen Titans two point zero. I just like these
characters because they displayed different characteristics of the comic books
that we were all familiar with at the time, and
(03:34):
in some cases they ratchet it up to eleven, like
with Robin occasionally he was a murdering sociopath and no
he did not actually murder anybody. Is just he was
that intense, like he could stare you down. He's be
like nope, I out, and like people would fold just
knowing that he was there. And then you had other
(03:54):
silly episodes with you know, beast Boy being stuck in
an animal form or whatever the case may be, and
then ray In going through her crisises of her origins.
I guess that's the best way of putting it, and
then Starfire having to deal with her family tree because
that was a different one. So this was a nice
(04:16):
little crescendo to all those crazy story arcs that they
had for each character, and it while I didn't agree
with some of the decisions they made with in terms
of the character's intelligence levels, like Robin being so down
on himself and doubting everything when we had seen him
in other seasons just like shake it off like nobody's business.
(04:39):
But for whatever reason, this just got to him more
so than any other season. So that was just a
little outside of his character at this point in time
because of previous stuff that we had seen him go through.
The character the Big Bad was fun but had the
dumbest weakness known to man. And it's one of those
watching it now I was an adult, it's it's so foreshadowed.
(05:02):
It wasn't like, oh my god, I didn't see this coming.
Who would have been like, now now we knew all
of this was going to happen, just because of certain
things that happened. That being said, is it terrible?
Speaker 3 (05:15):
No?
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Is it a fun watch? Yes? Did I laugh?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
What?
Speaker 4 (05:19):
I watch it again?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I have.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
I've watched this numerous times. If it's on TV, I'm
definitely gonna put it on the background because I just,
you know, all the silliness and shenanigans, and this was
the first time that Robin and Starfire really kind of
the sparks really kind of were there, and even Cyborg
was like, it's about time that they kissed when he
(05:42):
makes that closing remark. And it's nice that they brought
that forward to Young Justice because they've aged these characters
up now, so they're now adults and doing adult shenanigans.
And we're not going to talk about that because this
is a family show.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
Well, that's that's great stuff. I mean, yeah, I I
was obviously familiar with the show Teen Titans, and like
you said, I had watched that for quite a while,
but then at some point just abandoned the show and
stopped watching, especially when Teen Titans Go Grace the scene,
because that was way.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Too young for me.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
I mean, it was clearly not the target audience for
Teen Titans Go, whereas Teen Titans. Yes, I understand it
was obviously once again targeted to an audience much younger
than I am. But there were elements that I could
definitely enjoy. Like you mentioned, the whole concept of Raven
having to deal with her daddy issues with Trigone, and
(06:38):
that was actually one of my favorite story arcs in
the Tea in the animated show, or even the Slade
storyline with Robin and such. So there was some really
good good There were some really good stories within the show.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
But of course, added to that, like you said, it was.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
Almost hyped up when it heightened, rather almost to an
anime level when it came to reactions from the our
various characters. And this is very evident when it comes
to this film. To excuse me, to the point of
where it almost annoyed me when we got these heightened reactions.
I know I should not have gone like, you know,
rolled my eyes or anything of that nature, because this
(07:15):
was pretty much what the show, the TV show was
at the time, but I guess now so many years later,
it didn't work for me as much as it did
possibly a couple of years back. The film itself, I think,
is fine. It's a well constructed movie, it's a good story,
but it, you know, like we've talked about when we
reviewed other films, it did feel like an extended episode
(07:38):
of Teen Titans is what it is what it was,
rather than something completely different or something separate from that. Now,
I agree, the voice performances are great because we have
all the actors reprising their roles from the TV show.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
The villain was.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
An interesting one, and we'll get to we'll get to
that one too. But yes, I was happy for the
most part, but the same time, I was kind of
almost shaking my head, going, maybe I am too old
to be watching this now. I'm not saying that, you know,
you can't enjoy things that are are meant for a
younger audience, but I really felt I'm like, oh man,
this is and yeah, I probably not connecting with this
(08:15):
because I'm not in that.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Age age ratio age group.
Speaker 5 (08:20):
And of course at the times when I was kind
of criticizing things that I saw, where things seemed a
little bit juvenile, a little bit childish, I had to
once again check myself saying, these are teenagers, so likely
this is how they will behave. But there were part
of was I that I found a little bit annoying,
but we will get to that as we get to
our characters. So yeah, I'm glad. I'm glad I watched it.
It did take me back to the good old days
(08:42):
of teen Titans, and of course the theme song and
search and of course being very Asian inspired, you know,
could either been a K pop song or a K
or even a rock song in that.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Vein I really appreciate. Of course, while they're in.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Tokyo, they had to have that at a at a
karaoke night, so I thought I thought it was cool
with this sort of you know, Asian take on pop,
which I was, which I was very happy with and
that I did enjoy. So I guess then let's get
to our characters on the board, starting with our titular team.
We have a Scott Menville as Robin, Hindon Walsh as Starfire,
(09:23):
taras Strong as Raven, Greg SIPs as beast Boy, and
Carrie Peyton as Cyborg.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
So Keith you know you touched.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Up on them a little bit. But yeah, we're getting
into a bit more detail here. What did you make
of the Teen Titans in this.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Film, Well, they're pretty much par for the course of
you if you know some person had watched the other
five seasons, this is on brand for the group. They're silly,
kind of over the top ness. While it isn't as
bad as Teen Titans go, where every episode is just
slapstick silly, this one had elements of seriousness and each
(10:03):
character kind of played their part, you know, exactly the
same if I had turned on any episode from any season.
This is what I expect to see beast Boy do
transform into you know, x y Z, Critter, Animal, Lion,
Tiger Bear. He's always loved Struck, so that wasn't outside
of his character. Cyborg being kind of over the top,
(10:25):
always hungry, again not outside of his character. So like,
this is just literally, as you said, a longer episode
of each one of them. The only character that seemed
a little kind of out of character per se was Robin.
He was very like, I don't know why we're doing
these things, like I'm always a superhero, I can't have downtime,
and just like really like down on himself over some
(10:45):
like really minor crap. I mean, let's be honest, a
weird half blue, half pink villain blows up your building
and he just goes on this we must figure this
out and goes on this excursion to Japan, where like
that was literally any episode of Teen Titans one through four.
(11:06):
So it's like, why you went so unhinged on this one.
I guess maybe because we're adults and I'm looking at
it through adult eyes. He's got some unresolved PTSD that
he needs to go talk to somebody about. Maybe I
don't know. So it's just that they want on such
a like random adventure to go on random adventure, and
(11:28):
then the fact that they can't figure out that these
bad guys that are being up were made of paint,
Like really, you're covered in pink paint and you're like, oh,
it's paint, or oh I didn't kill him, No, it's
literally paint. One dude disappeared under a sprinkler, Like, how
did you miss this giant chess piece there, Champ, Like,
(11:50):
we're not talking, We're trying to crack the atom here.
He's supposed to be this well known or well educated detective.
He's been trained by Batman, He's done a lot of crap.
He's fought Slade Wilson, who was a big bad for
him for many seasons, you know, all this stuff, and
then like he gets hung up on the dumbest little thing.
(12:10):
He's sitting there with the little squishy stress ball and
it bleeds in his hand and like, again, there's no
light bulb moment for him at all. It eventually has
to be spoon fed to him by Raven, which I
appreciate that they leaned into the supernatural aspect of the
Tokyo history and how the bad guy was really just
(12:33):
essentially a corrupted individual that not on purpose, just because
he wanted to try to take his skills to the
next level, gets corrupted by a demon. Why he didn't
think this was a bad thing, I don't know, but
essentially he becomes a yokai and he gets captured by
the Commander, which we're not gonna explain any of that
(12:55):
at all, just gets glossed right over. The commander captured
him at some random point at some previous time and history,
and then bolted into a printing press, which again I'm
not gonna explain any of this. We're just gonna like,
all right, we're gonna run with this. You're an adult,
you're overthinking this. It's a kid's movie. Just shut up
and watch. And you know, again when they have their
(13:20):
big fight at the end, like what are we gonna do?
Get a garden hoset?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Stupid?
Speaker 4 (13:24):
It's ink, wash it away, like this is not hard.
I so that that was kind of a Again, it's
more of a as you had mentioned, watching this in
adult eyes, you tend to get more like okay, but
just do this, or okay, how about that or you
know x y Z. So you have to definitely turn
(13:45):
your brain off a little bit more for this, because
again this was early two thousands and they were gearing
this toward a younger generation. But all of that negativity,
you know, negative things said, it's still a fun watch.
I still laughed. I still you know, cracked up when
cyborgs sitting at the All you Can Eat and he's like,
that's all I know is all you can eat and
he sits down. He's literally eating everything, and You're like, okay,
(14:07):
that's kind of funny. And then he gets chased out
of the restaurant because again he's literally eaten everything in
the restaurant, just shy of like the table he was
sitting at. So beast Boy was one of those I
think they just didn't know what to do with him,
and that's why they threw him into the karaoke bar
because beast boys energy and the karaoke bar energy kind
(14:27):
of worked really well. And I will say I laughed
when he made up the words to the song because
he didn't know and he couldn't read it. He's like,
I don't know and then just runs with it, and
I'm like, okay, that's still funny. Even to this day,
I still laugh at that because how many times have
you gone to a karaoke bar and somebody's like, here,
sing this song. You have no idea what it is,
(14:49):
sober or drunk, they just throw you in front of
a microphone and say go. And that's exactly what they
did with beast Boy. So I will say that was
entertaining and then all the girls swooning over him was
the one thing I was expecting more of Originally when
I watched this was the group of girls that were
chasing him or madly in love with him. I was
(15:09):
expecting those to be more of the villain's henchmen opposed
to just crazy teeny boppers. I don't know why I
expected that, And it was only the one individual character
that was the henchmen of the bad guy. So that
was one of the things I was let down with.
If I had to, you know, nitpick, that was what
I was expecting, more henchmen or in henchmen, whatever we're
(15:33):
gonna call him. And it's fine. I don't expect, like,
you know, Oscar Worthy acting here.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
It's a kid show. No, no, well, of course, of course.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
But at the same time, though, the argument that I
guess one could make is, even if you're making a
kids show, you don't want to necessarily insult the kid's
intelligence either.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
That's you know, the way so I see it.
Speaker 5 (15:54):
I mean, yes, you can watch a show that is
targeted for younger people, but I think at the same
time you have to give give your audience some credits.
It makes me think of something completely different, like say Blue,
which is enjoyed the world over by both adults and children,
even though it is clearly targeted for children.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
But there, of course, I think what they were.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
Was very clever about the Bluey Show is that it
is able to cater to both audiences and there's something
for both audiences to enjoy when it comes to a
show like Blue for example.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Heck, even the Disney movies.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
I know that of course, as I said, they're not
for adults, but they work because you can appreciate other
aspects of it here, you know, as I mentioned earlier,
when it came to certain episodes of Teen Titans, that
was something which I think they did really really well,
where it's like you can enjoy the sillier aspects as
a kid and find those in craigbly hilarious, but you
(16:49):
can also tell very serious stories as well, you know,
when we talked about Robin's Ark or ravens Ark or others. Heck,
there's even a really really creepy episode with Cyborg which
I thought I really thoroughly enjoyed that was really really
good where he but he falls into this hole and
is found by this lonely robots who tries to piece
him together and perfect make him into even more of
a perfect organism, and that was so well done here.
(17:13):
When it came to our characters, I do agree with you.
I think it is pretty much sure we're picking up
with our characters from where we left off from the
TV show with a few added elements. Because you mentioned
Robin being uber serious, I think it might be the
fact that with the adventures that he's had to think one,
it might be PTSD in two. I think when your
mentor is Batman, he is going to tend to rub
off on you. And I think that was what was
(17:35):
what they were trying to show you, that he has
that imprinting from Batman where the mission is everything and
there's no time for fun and games. This is your
life's work, this is what you signed up for. You
can't there's no time for women or fun times with
your friends or anything else that is not pertinent.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
To the mission.
Speaker 5 (17:55):
And we do see this for a while when it
comes to him, when you know these boys all excited
again going to Japan, and Robin's like heroes don't take vacations,
or even when there is that tension between him and
Starfire on the rooftop and it seems it's a whole
will they won't they? And almost hilarious moment where both
where Starfire is shoving her mouth with breath mints and
(18:16):
Robin is spraying some obviously mental into his mouth and
it seems like they might finally get a kiss. That's
when suddenly a pin drops and he completely ruins the
moment and goes back to it's all about the mission,
what am I doing here? And obviously clearly hurts Starfire's feelings,
but I think obviously I guess the takeaways from this
is ultimately, by the end of the movie, Robin realizes
(18:38):
that you can both try to save the world but
also enjoy the pleasures that this world offers, such as
finding love, for example, or hanging out with your mates.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
And I did appreciate that. Ark.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
Yes, he has been trained by the world's greatest detective,
and I agree with you, there are things. I was
rather surprised that he didn't put two and two together,
but I did like the fact that he that he
does have those Batman elements to him, like even when
he escapes, or rather is let out of prison, there's
a jail break and he meets that one scientist dude
(19:14):
looking dude with the sunglasses on, and the fact that
he literally beats him up and then heads off to
the cdous bar. Ever, I did like those moments, like
this is the Robin that I know, and this is
the Robin that I respect and I like.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
So there were those moments which I thought were great.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
Yes, I do think he could have he could have
realized what was going on, but then again, I guess
it wouldn't have given the Raven anything to do, because
I think Raven is the one who's probably the most
short changed in this film. I mean, other than going
to an occult library and looking for grimoires or tales
about supernatural beings in Japan, what she really the purpose
(19:54):
she really really fulfills in this film is info dump,
literally giving us the origins of Brush with Gun and
who he was. So I think if you didn't have that,
you wouldn't really have give Raven wouldn't really have much
to do. And so I think what they were trying
to is give every character a decent amount of screen
time and decent amount of once again things to do.
(20:16):
Beast Boy with being obviously the loving the ladies and
really wanting to hook up with a Japanese girl.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I did like that. Almost it almost turned into a
monkey's poor situation where he had all the.
Speaker 5 (20:30):
Women loving on him and it was getting too much,
and so the way was that she had to escape
from it cyborg coming to an all you can eat place,
and that then also turning around on him and being
chased out by the chefs. So I did appreciate those
comedic moments. Those were fun, and I thought that they
made for a great tale and story, and I love
them as a team.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
They're always very fun.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
And lastly, Starfire, other than she's another one who I
think was a little bit underserved because other than pining
over Robin and hoping that things will check and or
hoping the two will get together, she doesn't really get
to do much either. I mean, I think her main
purpose here is the advancement of Robin as a person,
(21:10):
as in, we both like each other, but I have
to almost help Robin snap out of it and realize
that he can enjoy being with somebody. I think that
was her main purpose in this, which I've always a
little bit sad because Starfire is a great character both
in comics and all sorts of shows. So and then
of course her randomly talking to her child on the street,
(21:32):
trying to you know, find a.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Shoulder to cry on.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
It seemed to me that her main purpose throughout this
whole thing was being the love interest for Robin and
even making him jealous. You know, when she kisses the
guy and learns Japanese because apparently that's how they do
it on Tamaran in order to learn a language. Don't
try that around folks, because you'll probably get slapped if you,
like dram Me try to kiss someone's like, this is
(21:56):
how we do things to learn a new language. So, yeah,
you know, she was there to make Robin jealous, to
make him, to make him grow, And I don't think
she really really got more of the character of Starfire
being STAFFI yes, she was playful, Yes she was fine,
issue was a bit of a bad ass, But I
think the character was lacking a little bit. And it's
(22:18):
not easy when you're juggling a team to give everybody
the right amount of screen time and the right and
enough you know story, because here was about thirteen versus
the big bad they will encounter in Tokyo. So I
think they did a decent job, good but not great.
If you ask me, so, I guess this this week,
I'm Keith and Keiths nick I suppose, so, I guess
(22:41):
let's try and gop our characters with our faux villain
and our true one. Unless Keith, you had anything else
you wanted to add about the Titans.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
No, I agree with you on a lot of the
points of wasted potential for the group and just kind
of giving them crap to to keep themselves busy, all right?
Speaker 5 (23:02):
And then, well, so I guess running off our characters. Yeah,
we let's get to a phovid in no true one.
We have Harry he Do Tagawa as Brushugan and keone
Young as Commander Wha Daizel.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
So what did you make of our to our received
villain and our true villain?
Speaker 4 (23:21):
I mean, Rushia Gon got the short end of that stick. Again.
He who knows how old he is because in the
flashback it looks like it's feudal Japan, and when the
movie takes place or show, it's present day Japan. So
he has been creeping around for quite some time. And
(23:42):
he again didn't I guess, mean to sell his soul,
but did or got corrupted by it, so he had
a really sad origin, which while they really kind of
glazed over, I wish they'd spent a little bit more
time in terms of, as I mentioned before, how we
got from feudal Japan to present day and why he
(24:05):
was a bad guy and if he actually was ever
a bad guy, because it sounds like the commander caught
him somehow again we're not gonna explain any of this
and made him do all this essentially negative stuff so
he could build up his you know, his presence within Japan.
(24:25):
He can get all these awards and accolades and become
the commander of this super special squad to hunt himself effectively.
And nobody seemed to think it was odd that he
had all the tools he needed to stop whatever thing
he was fighting, Like, Boyd's just a coincidence that you
happen to have the laser net thing to capture giant
(24:49):
pseudo Godzilla guy, or you have XYZ technology available to
stop such and such thing from going on. Like again,
red flags, like even Robin makes the Joe like, man,
I wish I had one of those, and he just
kind of chuckles it off and you're like that seems odd.
Like do you get attacked by Godzilla very often? Because
(25:09):
I would think not just because of you know, you'd
hear about this in the in the news a little
bit in DC like such and such hero had to
go to fly over to Japan and stop you know,
Kaiju from decimating the city or you know, anything of
that nature. But none of that is mentioned. And this
commander has single handedly wiped out all crime or a
(25:32):
bulk of the crime, because clearly there are still bad
guys doing things such as the guy trying to stick
up Robin, the bar that Robin goes into and beats
everybody up, and then you know, puts the bartender against
the wall and essentially threatens him passive aggressively with asking
(25:53):
him for information about brush you goun. So it's not
clear if he is just going after the big bad
guys or all criminals, but it seemed more like this
was the big thing kind of guy. And then we
have the local police force for everything else, because again
he had this oodles and oodles of men at his
(26:17):
disposal to fight Brushugne. So essentially, again he was just
chasing himself. Once you know the story or the whatever's
going on behind the scenes, with the two of them,
you have the Wizard of Oz and then the actual Wizard,
and you're like, oh, that's kind of dumb. And then
again when you realize all these things that he's been
fighting or they've been fighting, or paint based objects, you're like, dude,
(26:41):
get the garden hose or a bucket of water hella
water balloon, and you're instantly going to beat any of them.
So it's like they were so close to making like
a perfect little story, but then as you start applying
logic to it, you're like, well, all right, I I
feel bad for Bushugan because he finally gets out of
(27:03):
the machine because God knows how long he's been in
that machine. And what happens he fades into exactly just
poof into the dust, and you're like, oh, that's sad,
very very sad, and Commander he just gets arrested maybe
and we're good, and then you know justice has been restored,
and then Titans get to leave Tokyo no longer wanted felons.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
And everybody gets what they want. Happened that ever after?
Speaker 5 (27:29):
And I think you definitely hit the nail on the
head when it comes to Brushuagon because the fact that
he likely his origin probably started in fuel Japan because
you just look at the name Shogun, which of course
was a figure obviously in feudal Japan. Actually fun fact,
they tend to they almost tended to have more power
than the emperor or the Mikado, I suppose, and so
they were very obviously powerful lords within within the fu
(27:52):
with the feudal system in Japan at the time. So
I think that's and clearly obviously they wanted a Japanese
sounding character for the new to introduce here. And of
course the whole play on brush Ugan because of course
he uses brushes and he is an artist and so on.
So like, ah, I see what you did there, very
DC or very sort of comic bookie, which is fine.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
I did.
Speaker 5 (28:14):
I thought it was a very creative choice to have
a character like brush Ugan because and there was there's
so much going on with this character, like you said,
had it been explored more other than the info dump
we get from Raven of where he came from and
how he came to be, it would have made from
much and even more of a compelling story because the
whole idea of you because you have so many things
(28:36):
going on with this character. I mean, on one side, yes,
he is such a dedicated artist and he's almost in
love with his art, and he wished that he wishes
that the figures that he creates could come to life.
It is almost a it's almost Pigmalian like when it
comes to this, where the creator falls in love with
what he's created and then they ultimately come to life.
(28:57):
So there was a little bit to me. It did
come across a little bit of Pigmalion there, and also
that he gets so obsessed with that. I think the
tale they're trying to tell with brusha Gaunt is when
you're so passionate about something and you want something so badly,
the lengths you'll go to achieve that can be nefarious
(29:18):
as well, or you're going down dark alleys in order
to achieve your goal. So that I think it also
plays into the Faustian contract as well, because the fact
that he is ultimately using dark magic in order to
achieve his goal, and we all know what happens when
you use dark magic kids, It usually does not turn
out well. So of course, the whole concept is, you know,
(29:41):
he draws this circle, invokes these demons, and he's excuse me,
ultimately possessed by a demon himself, and so he's able
to achieve his goal, but at what price. He has
literally lost his humanity now. At the same time, though,
as time passes, I guess he's able to gain control
of his human again, because he seems like a decent
(30:02):
dude when we actually meet him in present day Japan,
where it's like, save me, I'm not doing this, I'm
forced to do this. So we never sort of see
anything an evil about so I I definitely you definitely
sort of feel bad for him at the end that
you think find out he's been trapped for so long.
But I thought it was very compelling concept, the fact
(30:24):
that these characters are being created from literally inc because
of course we are dealing with a comic book property,
and so it's almost a homage to the genre itself,
and the fact that the Headquarters are literally the most
popular store for manga so or comic books because obviously
be Sport refers to them as comics, and so it's
it's all. It's also almost a you know, spinning the
(30:46):
whole thing on its head. It's like this, this is
a show featuring comic book characters and the and the
and the character the character was supposed to be after
is literally drawing, is literally and artist.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
So I did appreciate that.
Speaker 5 (31:02):
I did kind of see it coming myself, because as
soon as the Commander is introduced, you and I are
actually talking about this off air, you get a brand
new character in a show. Granted this is a movie,
so it's not an episode of the Teen Titans, but
you're like, he's probably somebody you want to keep your
eye on, and he's probably somebody who is not all
he says he is. And also here I did like
(31:25):
Daiso because I think here he's taking control of Brushiaghan
to create crime where there isn't crime and to make
himself look better. It almost reminds me of a Spider
Man far from Home when it comes to Mysterio and
the fact that he's creating these elementals which don't exist
(31:46):
and is literally defeating them in order to gain personal
fame and be loved by people. So it is I
think very much that same case with the Commander, because
these characters don't exist. He's literally using Brushaghan to career
these these perceived dangers, which obviously then he can get
rid of with the greatest of these, so and there's
(32:10):
you often like to bring up Keith. He's the hero
in his own mind because he feels that this way.
One obviously he's making himself look cool and winning tons
of medals. But on the other he might see this
as I'm kind of keeping the city safe because it's
acting as the terrant that all these monsters get put
down by me and my special force, that maybe it
(32:30):
might be the terrent to other criminals. Clearly it's not,
because there are still see the individuals running around Tokyo.
But I did kind of see this coming, And yes,
I thought that maybe the send off was a little
bit flat because brush uganold to be pays for all
this with his life and the commander just literally gets
the good old bracelets slapped on him and sent to prison.
(32:53):
So I guess you couldn't kill the commander because it's
teen Titans, and so the kiddies might because once again
you're maybe insulting the children's intelligence saying this guy can't
die because we can't have a death. But I guess
that's probably why they where they drew the line. Possibly,
I'm not sure, but I think that's that's probably why
(33:14):
they did that, but I was actually more intrigued by
Brussia Gun than that was the Commander, even though he
turned out to actually be our villain.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
So I guess those.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
Are my thoughts on that, Keith. Did you did you
have anything else to add on either these two characters
or anything else before we get to ratings.
Speaker 4 (33:32):
No, I think that since we've talked about brush your
Gun so much, Like I don't know if anybody realizes
the voice actor is, like, he is such a famous
individual that they got this him and actually the commander,
the two of them. If you realize who it is,
they're just wasted resources. You're like, oh my god, I
(33:53):
can't believe, Like you know, he was a Mortal Kombat
he did this, and there's all the other hundreds of
movies and then you're like, oh, yeah, you're a dude
that had like seven lines in a movie or whatever.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
I do think it was a waste of both Carrie
and Chone. But here we are, I suppose, And yeah, no,
I I think you know, personally, I said everything I
had to say, so getting probably a little bit more
long winded than usually I do apologize listeners. So getting
thus to ratings, Keith what do you give this this
(34:27):
movie out of ten?
Speaker 4 (34:29):
Oh, I don't know, and then you know this happens
to be every episode, so this shouldn't be a shock fans.
Nick is nodding, Yes it is, and I'm gonna drag
this on. I might even talk about the gettysburg of
dress while I'm deciding my fate. Here.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Take a drink, dear listens.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
Yeah, yeah, every time I didn't do the YadA YadA
YadA or blah blah blah, so you can't take a
drink yet. I think we're gonna have to go seven
and a half out of ten just because of the
reminisc value of all the characters. This could have been
(35:07):
another season or start of a season, but unfortunately we'll
never get any more of it. So seven and a
half out of ten for me, totally fair.
Speaker 5 (35:15):
I'm gonna go one wrong lower than you. I'm going
to give this a seven out of ten. It was
nice to revisit these characters after so long, because, believe you,
me and folks, it had been a while since I
had visited with this version of the Teen Titans, and
of course there have been many more since then, but
it was nice to revisit. Yes, there were a few
things that annoyed me. I would have liked a few
things expanded. I did you know added then? I guess
(35:36):
to Keith's pointer, you do have some great guest actors,
especially when it comes to our villains that were not
probably given the chance that they deserved. So it was enjoyable,
but I kind of wanted more and I kind of
thought the story could have could have been done a
little bit better. Granted it's hard to do when you
have only an hour and fifteen minutes to play with.
(35:56):
So to seven and a half and seven out of
ten for me. So getting those two recommendations, Keith, what
would you like to recommend to the class this week?
Speaker 4 (36:09):
If you enjoy this movie, I would definitely go check
out the previous seasons of Teen Titans nineteen Titans Go.
While they have their own thing going on, they did
bring back the original cast for teen Titans Ago. Check
out the original Teen Titans where you do see all
this character development and growth. Teen Titans Go is very
(36:32):
much the slapstick PG version of Teen Titans, So skip that.
I think that's actually gonna be my only recommendation because
that's five seasons that'll keep you busy for a day
or two.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
Well, that works perfectly, I suppose, going very very left
field with all the other properties that I had mentioned,
I guess if you haven't seen and now I probably
spoiled it for you, so I do oologize you might
want to check out Spider Man Far from Home or
revisit it. I definitely will because it's one of my
(37:06):
I mean, I've enjoyed all the Spider Man films thus far.
When it comes to the Sony MCU collaboration, so you
might want to check that out. And I do think
Jake Jillen hall Or does a great job as Mysterio,
so definitely check that out if you haven't.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Sorry about the spoiler.
Speaker 5 (37:24):
And also going back to classic classic stuff, I did
mention pig Malion, and I'm sure a lot of folks
are familiar with the original Greek myth, but if you
want to see how it kind of got to spun
on its head, check out Believe It or Not My
Fair Lady, which is very much inspired by that story.
So if you want to check out a good old musical,
(37:46):
definitely check that one out. And it was actually a
Best Picture winner. I'm just going to say, so it's
you know, it definitely is worth the watch for Surean
has some very very catchy and memorable songs, So getting folks,
of course, if you do want to throw your pennies
worth in when it comes to your thoughts on the
films we discuss here, you can cause tune and email
(38:07):
to Happiness and Darkness hoow at gmail dot com. Once again,
Happiness and Darkness how at gmail dot com. Be sure
to follow us on our social media if you aren't
doing that already, you can follow us on Facebook where
you can find us as Happiness and Darkness and of
course you can follow us on x wake and find
us as High Darkness Pod. Also very important if you
(38:28):
are listening to this show where please be sure to
rate and review it because it definitely helps it to grow.
It keeps the algorithm stimulated and so allows it to
become more available to other like minded ears like yours.
So big thank you to those who have done so,
and the future thank you to those who will. Big
shout out to a raven of course today for this episode,
(38:49):
so getting those to well, we're not here of course,
sir Keith, when you're not here discussing films like Teen
Titans Trouble in Tokyo, A great alliterative title. Where can
folks find you on the interweal pypes?
Speaker 4 (39:01):
Oh? Well, you know, when I'm not here or every
week here, you can catch me on Star Trek the
Undiscovered podcast did a couple episodes this season, did their
Closer and Opener I believe it was as well, was
on episode of Gold Standards with yourself. Did a episode
of Real Reaction with our friend Greg and Kyle. What
(39:23):
else did I do this year? Man Lamb Chop. We
did an episode just recently of that. So you guys
can kind of find me all over the internet. Weirdly
enough for a guy who doesn't do social I do
a lot of podcasting, and then when I'm not doing
any of that, you can find me on our Facebook page.
You can drop a comment message, whatever the case may be.
I'm always willing, ready and able to talk about cartoons, combooks,
(39:45):
animated lions, tigers and bears.
Speaker 5 (39:48):
Well great stuff, of course, and I do believe Keithy
you will be gracing well, I know you will be
gracing Gold Standards soon. And also, of course, says Star Trek,
The un Discovered pub.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Cast when it can always great great times.
Speaker 5 (40:02):
Of course, folks that lovely check out all the shows
that Keith has guested on because he always does a
fantastic job and brings great insights. When it comes to myself,
you can find me hosting the radio show Whiskey and
Cigarettes where we play the very best and nothing but
the best of country music for you guys from Malabama
to Zach Brown. More information about that, you can vis
our website which is Whiskey and Cigarettes show dot com.
(40:25):
Podcast Wise, you can also find myself, Zan Sprouse and
Rachel Friend on gold Standard the Oscars podcast, where we
have reviewed all the Best Picture winning movies in chronological order.
Now as we wait for the ninety eighth Best Picture
to reveal itself, we are reviewing movies that we have picked,
and we also have returning in new guest co hosts
like Keith bring their favorite films to the gold Standard Theater.
(40:48):
We recently reviewed Rachel's pick which was Get Out of Course,
the Jordan Peel film from twenty seventeen. Coming up next,
we will be having returning guest co host Maureen van
Zandt coming to the gold Standard Theater and the movie
that she has selected is rock Star from two thousand
and one, starring of course, Jennifer Aniston and Mark Wahlberg
(41:11):
amongst others, and last per say Not Least Myself and
the Child. Skaggs can be found on the fandom Zone
podcast where we're currently reviewing the second season of Peacemaker
and having a way of a time doing that. And
when it comes to this show my friends. Coming up,
we will be taking on the twenty twenty three Macon
(41:31):
Blair film The Toxic Avenger. So a Keith, anything you
would like to add on our upcoming movie or anything
else before we sign off.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
I cannot wait for this movie. I have a love
hate relationship with the original. It is so bad you
have to hate it, but you'll love it because it's terrible.
So I'm looking forward to see what we did with
this quote unquote reboot or reinterpretation. So I have to
wait and see.
Speaker 5 (41:59):
Being a big Peter Dinklage fan, I'm very very curious
to see how Peter embraces the role of Toxy. So
I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about when
it comes to that. So, of course, dear listeners, thanks
for listeners show and supporting us. We will see you
next time with the toxic Avenger. Until then, thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
So much for the privilege of your time stay super.
Shall mope
For the first time ever in an all new original movie,
The Teen Titans are going to Tokyo. Pack your thanks,
you're heading for Tokyo. I really need a vacation.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We're heroes, peace boys, we don't take vacations.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
But they won't be welcome from long Tokyo. We made
Justice is going global Titan's Trouble in Tokyo and All
new movie on DVD.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
He was telling us to stay out of trouble.
Speaker 5 (00:34):
Show our people, and welcome to our three hundred and
eighth episode of Happiness and Darkness, the Superior Movie Podcast
where we discuss Superhio movies, Marvel, DC, dark Horse, Image
and Beyond. Naturally, there will be spoilers, folks, so you
have been warned. I'm one of your co hosts, Viujenek,
and it's always joined me as my superhero partner in crime,
(00:55):
mister Keith Blass. Hey, Keith, how's Live treating you today?
Speaker 4 (01:00):
So you know me, I can't complain too much. The
military is trying to blow up my house presently because
I live about two miles from the base and they're just,
I don't know, bored, So my walls are rattling. We're
here to talk about some Teen Titans that I have
to give a quick shout out to my coworker and friend,
Raven for requesting. We had a conversation last weekend or
(01:20):
with the weekend before about movies Raven would like us
to review. And Raven is literally named after the character
Raven from Teen Titans who just so happens to be
gracing my wrist as a tattoo. So I really appreciated
this recommendation, so I of course had to do it well.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
I definitely, of course, you know, if listen is requestings,
we're more than happy to acquiesce to their wishes. And Raven,
thank you, of course for listening to the show and
for your support, because today, yes, we are discussing Teen
Titans Trouble in Tokyo from two thousand and six. This
was directed by Michael Chang, Ben Jones and Matt Youngberg,
(02:00):
was written by David Slack, while the score was by
Christopher Carter, Michael mcchostian and Lolita Alitta Manis. So this movie,
of course in not airing theaters. It actually was aired
on Telly, so we don't really have sort of budget
numbers or anything of that nature. But getting to general impressions, Keith,
(02:20):
was this the first time you sat down to watch
this and different? If so, if not, what did you
make of it?
Speaker 4 (02:26):
No, I'm older tech, we know this. We've talked about
this before. I'm old as dirt and just as krusty.
So I've actually saw this movie when it aired on
television way back when in two thousand and six. This
was probably the second or third time I've actually seen this,
but it has easily been over a decade since I've
watched this movie. I enjoy this group of Teen Titans immensely.
(02:51):
They're the Teen Titans I grew up with, so I
enjoy watching them. And I see how they pivoted from
this to The Teen Titans Go, because they foreshadowed it.
Foreshadowed it so much with beast Voy singing the song
Teen Titans Go and them just kind of ramping up
the silliness a little more so than we're familiar with.
(03:14):
I liked the voice cast. They've always been the ones
I appreciated. Not that I'm discrediting Young Justice, which is
essentially Teen Titans two point zero. I just like these
characters because they displayed different characteristics of the comic books
that we were all familiar with at the time, and
(03:34):
in some cases they ratchet it up to eleven, like
with Robin occasionally he was a murdering sociopath and no
he did not actually murder anybody. Is just he was
that intense, like he could stare you down. He's be
like nope, I out, and like people would fold just
knowing that he was there. And then you had other
(03:54):
silly episodes with you know, beast Boy being stuck in
an animal form or whatever the case may be, and
then ray In going through her crisises of her origins.
I guess that's the best way of putting it, and
then Starfire having to deal with her family tree because
that was a different one. So this was a nice
(04:16):
little crescendo to all those crazy story arcs that they
had for each character, and it while I didn't agree
with some of the decisions they made with in terms
of the character's intelligence levels, like Robin being so down
on himself and doubting everything when we had seen him
in other seasons just like shake it off like nobody's business.
(04:39):
But for whatever reason, this just got to him more
so than any other season. So that was just a
little outside of his character at this point in time
because of previous stuff that we had seen him go through.
The character the Big Bad was fun but had the
dumbest weakness known to man. And it's one of those
watching it now I was an adult, it's it's so foreshadowed.
(05:02):
It wasn't like, oh my god, I didn't see this coming.
Who would have been like, now now we knew all
of this was going to happen, just because of certain
things that happened. That being said, is it terrible?
Speaker 3 (05:15):
No?
Speaker 4 (05:15):
Is it a fun watch? Yes? Did I laugh?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
What?
Speaker 4 (05:19):
I watch it again?
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I have.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
I've watched this numerous times. If it's on TV, I'm
definitely gonna put it on the background because I just,
you know, all the silliness and shenanigans, and this was
the first time that Robin and Starfire really kind of
the sparks really kind of were there, and even Cyborg
was like, it's about time that they kissed when he
(05:42):
makes that closing remark. And it's nice that they brought
that forward to Young Justice because they've aged these characters
up now, so they're now adults and doing adult shenanigans.
And we're not going to talk about that because this
is a family show.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
Well, that's that's great stuff. I mean, yeah, I I
was obviously familiar with the show Teen Titans, and like
you said, I had watched that for quite a while,
but then at some point just abandoned the show and
stopped watching, especially when Teen Titans Go Grace the scene,
because that was way.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Too young for me.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
I mean, it was clearly not the target audience for
Teen Titans Go, whereas Teen Titans. Yes, I understand it
was obviously once again targeted to an audience much younger
than I am. But there were elements that I could
definitely enjoy. Like you mentioned, the whole concept of Raven
having to deal with her daddy issues with Trigone, and
(06:38):
that was actually one of my favorite story arcs in
the Tea in the animated show, or even the Slade
storyline with Robin and such. So there was some really
good good There were some really good stories within the show.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
But of course, added to that, like you said, it was.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
Almost hyped up when it heightened, rather almost to an
anime level when it came to reactions from the our
various characters. And this is very evident when it comes
to this film. To excuse me, to the point of
where it almost annoyed me when we got these heightened reactions.
I know I should not have gone like, you know,
rolled my eyes or anything of that nature, because this
(07:15):
was pretty much what the show, the TV show was
at the time, but I guess now so many years later,
it didn't work for me as much as it did
possibly a couple of years back. The film itself, I think,
is fine. It's a well constructed movie, it's a good story,
but it, you know, like we've talked about when we
reviewed other films, it did feel like an extended episode
(07:38):
of Teen Titans is what it is what it was,
rather than something completely different or something separate from that. Now,
I agree, the voice performances are great because we have
all the actors reprising their roles from the TV show.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
The villain was.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
An interesting one, and we'll get to we'll get to
that one too. But yes, I was happy for the
most part, but the same time, I was kind of
almost shaking my head, going, maybe I am too old
to be watching this now. I'm not saying that, you know,
you can't enjoy things that are are meant for a
younger audience, but I really felt I'm like, oh man,
this is and yeah, I probably not connecting with this
(08:15):
because I'm not in that.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Age age ratio age group.
Speaker 5 (08:20):
And of course at the times when I was kind
of criticizing things that I saw, where things seemed a
little bit juvenile, a little bit childish, I had to
once again check myself saying, these are teenagers, so likely
this is how they will behave. But there were part
of was I that I found a little bit annoying,
but we will get to that as we get to
our characters. So yeah, I'm glad. I'm glad I watched it.
It did take me back to the good old days
(08:42):
of teen Titans, and of course the theme song and
search and of course being very Asian inspired, you know,
could either been a K pop song or a K
or even a rock song in that.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Vein I really appreciate. Of course, while they're in.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Tokyo, they had to have that at a at a
karaoke night, so I thought I thought it was cool
with this sort of you know, Asian take on pop,
which I was, which I was very happy with and
that I did enjoy. So I guess then let's get
to our characters on the board, starting with our titular team.
We have a Scott Menville as Robin, Hindon Walsh as Starfire,
(09:23):
taras Strong as Raven, Greg SIPs as beast Boy, and
Carrie Peyton as Cyborg.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
So Keith you know you touched.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Up on them a little bit. But yeah, we're getting
into a bit more detail here. What did you make
of the Teen Titans in this.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Film, Well, they're pretty much par for the course of
you if you know some person had watched the other
five seasons, this is on brand for the group. They're silly,
kind of over the top ness. While it isn't as
bad as Teen Titans go, where every episode is just
slapstick silly, this one had elements of seriousness and each
(10:03):
character kind of played their part, you know, exactly the
same if I had turned on any episode from any season.
This is what I expect to see beast Boy do
transform into you know, x y Z, Critter, Animal, Lion,
Tiger Bear. He's always loved Struck, so that wasn't outside
of his character. Cyborg being kind of over the top,
(10:25):
always hungry, again not outside of his character. So like,
this is just literally, as you said, a longer episode
of each one of them. The only character that seemed
a little kind of out of character per se was Robin.
He was very like, I don't know why we're doing
these things, like I'm always a superhero, I can't have downtime,
and just like really like down on himself over some
(10:45):
like really minor crap. I mean, let's be honest, a
weird half blue, half pink villain blows up your building
and he just goes on this we must figure this
out and goes on this excursion to Japan, where like
that was literally any episode of Teen Titans one through four.
(11:06):
So it's like, why you went so unhinged on this one.
I guess maybe because we're adults and I'm looking at
it through adult eyes. He's got some unresolved PTSD that
he needs to go talk to somebody about. Maybe I
don't know. So it's just that they want on such
a like random adventure to go on random adventure, and
(11:28):
then the fact that they can't figure out that these
bad guys that are being up were made of paint,
Like really, you're covered in pink paint and you're like, oh,
it's paint, or oh I didn't kill him, No, it's
literally paint. One dude disappeared under a sprinkler, Like, how
did you miss this giant chess piece there, Champ, Like,
(11:50):
we're not talking, We're trying to crack the atom here.
He's supposed to be this well known or well educated detective.
He's been trained by Batman, He's done a lot of crap.
He's fought Slade Wilson, who was a big bad for
him for many seasons, you know, all this stuff, and
then like he gets hung up on the dumbest little thing.
(12:10):
He's sitting there with the little squishy stress ball and
it bleeds in his hand and like, again, there's no
light bulb moment for him at all. It eventually has
to be spoon fed to him by Raven, which I
appreciate that they leaned into the supernatural aspect of the
Tokyo history and how the bad guy was really just
(12:33):
essentially a corrupted individual that not on purpose, just because
he wanted to try to take his skills to the
next level, gets corrupted by a demon. Why he didn't
think this was a bad thing, I don't know, but
essentially he becomes a yokai and he gets captured by
the Commander, which we're not gonna explain any of that
(12:55):
at all, just gets glossed right over. The commander captured
him at some random point at some previous time and history,
and then bolted into a printing press, which again I'm
not gonna explain any of this. We're just gonna like,
all right, we're gonna run with this. You're an adult,
you're overthinking this. It's a kid's movie. Just shut up
and watch. And you know, again when they have their
(13:20):
big fight at the end, like what are we gonna do?
Get a garden hoset?
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Stupid?
Speaker 4 (13:24):
It's ink, wash it away, like this is not hard.
I so that that was kind of a Again, it's
more of a as you had mentioned, watching this in
adult eyes, you tend to get more like okay, but
just do this, or okay, how about that or you
know x y Z. So you have to definitely turn
(13:45):
your brain off a little bit more for this, because
again this was early two thousands and they were gearing
this toward a younger generation. But all of that negativity,
you know, negative things said, it's still a fun watch.
I still laughed. I still you know, cracked up when
cyborgs sitting at the All you Can Eat and he's like,
that's all I know is all you can eat and
he sits down. He's literally eating everything, and You're like, okay,
(14:07):
that's kind of funny. And then he gets chased out
of the restaurant because again he's literally eaten everything in
the restaurant, just shy of like the table he was
sitting at. So beast Boy was one of those I
think they just didn't know what to do with him,
and that's why they threw him into the karaoke bar
because beast boys energy and the karaoke bar energy kind
(14:27):
of worked really well. And I will say I laughed
when he made up the words to the song because
he didn't know and he couldn't read it. He's like,
I don't know and then just runs with it, and
I'm like, okay, that's still funny. Even to this day,
I still laugh at that because how many times have
you gone to a karaoke bar and somebody's like, here,
sing this song. You have no idea what it is,
(14:49):
sober or drunk, they just throw you in front of
a microphone and say go. And that's exactly what they
did with beast Boy. So I will say that was
entertaining and then all the girls swooning over him was
the one thing I was expecting more of Originally when
I watched this was the group of girls that were
chasing him or madly in love with him. I was
(15:09):
expecting those to be more of the villain's henchmen opposed
to just crazy teeny boppers. I don't know why I
expected that, And it was only the one individual character
that was the henchmen of the bad guy. So that
was one of the things I was let down with.
If I had to, you know, nitpick, that was what
I was expecting, more henchmen or in henchmen, whatever we're
(15:33):
gonna call him. And it's fine. I don't expect, like,
you know, Oscar Worthy acting here.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
It's a kid show. No, no, well, of course, of course.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
But at the same time, though, the argument that I
guess one could make is, even if you're making a
kids show, you don't want to necessarily insult the kid's
intelligence either.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
That's you know, the way so I see it.
Speaker 5 (15:54):
I mean, yes, you can watch a show that is
targeted for younger people, but I think at the same
time you have to give give your audience some credits.
It makes me think of something completely different, like say Blue,
which is enjoyed the world over by both adults and children,
even though it is clearly targeted for children.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
But there, of course, I think what they were.
Speaker 5 (16:15):
Was very clever about the Bluey Show is that it
is able to cater to both audiences and there's something
for both audiences to enjoy when it comes to a
show like Blue for example.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Heck, even the Disney movies.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
I know that of course, as I said, they're not
for adults, but they work because you can appreciate other
aspects of it here, you know, as I mentioned earlier,
when it came to certain episodes of Teen Titans, that
was something which I think they did really really well,
where it's like you can enjoy the sillier aspects as
a kid and find those in craigbly hilarious, but you
(16:49):
can also tell very serious stories as well, you know,
when we talked about Robin's Ark or ravens Ark or others. Heck,
there's even a really really creepy episode with Cyborg which
I thought I really thoroughly enjoyed that was really really
good where he but he falls into this hole and
is found by this lonely robots who tries to piece
him together and perfect make him into even more of
a perfect organism, and that was so well done here.
(17:13):
When it came to our characters, I do agree with you.
I think it is pretty much sure we're picking up
with our characters from where we left off from the
TV show with a few added elements. Because you mentioned
Robin being uber serious, I think it might be the
fact that with the adventures that he's had to think one,
it might be PTSD in two. I think when your
mentor is Batman, he is going to tend to rub
off on you. And I think that was what was
(17:35):
what they were trying to show you, that he has
that imprinting from Batman where the mission is everything and
there's no time for fun and games. This is your
life's work, this is what you signed up for. You
can't there's no time for women or fun times with
your friends or anything else that is not pertinent.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
To the mission.
Speaker 5 (17:55):
And we do see this for a while when it
comes to him, when you know these boys all excited
again going to Japan, and Robin's like heroes don't take vacations,
or even when there is that tension between him and
Starfire on the rooftop and it seems it's a whole
will they won't they? And almost hilarious moment where both
where Starfire is shoving her mouth with breath mints and
(18:16):
Robin is spraying some obviously mental into his mouth and
it seems like they might finally get a kiss. That's
when suddenly a pin drops and he completely ruins the
moment and goes back to it's all about the mission,
what am I doing here? And obviously clearly hurts Starfire's feelings,
but I think obviously I guess the takeaways from this
is ultimately, by the end of the movie, Robin realizes
(18:38):
that you can both try to save the world but
also enjoy the pleasures that this world offers, such as
finding love, for example, or hanging out with your mates.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
And I did appreciate that. Ark.
Speaker 5 (18:51):
Yes, he has been trained by the world's greatest detective,
and I agree with you, there are things. I was
rather surprised that he didn't put two and two together,
but I did like the fact that he that he
does have those Batman elements to him, like even when
he escapes, or rather is let out of prison, there's
a jail break and he meets that one scientist dude
(19:14):
looking dude with the sunglasses on, and the fact that
he literally beats him up and then heads off to
the cdous bar. Ever, I did like those moments, like
this is the Robin that I know, and this is
the Robin that I respect and I like.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
So there were those moments which I thought were great.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
Yes, I do think he could have he could have
realized what was going on, but then again, I guess
it wouldn't have given the Raven anything to do, because
I think Raven is the one who's probably the most
short changed in this film. I mean, other than going
to an occult library and looking for grimoires or tales
about supernatural beings in Japan, what she really the purpose
(19:54):
she really really fulfills in this film is info dump,
literally giving us the origins of Brush with Gun and
who he was. So I think if you didn't have that,
you wouldn't really have give Raven wouldn't really have much
to do. And so I think what they were trying
to is give every character a decent amount of screen
time and decent amount of once again things to do.
(20:16):
Beast Boy with being obviously the loving the ladies and
really wanting to hook up with a Japanese girl.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I did like that. Almost it almost turned into a
monkey's poor situation where he had all the.
Speaker 5 (20:30):
Women loving on him and it was getting too much,
and so the way was that she had to escape
from it cyborg coming to an all you can eat place,
and that then also turning around on him and being
chased out by the chefs. So I did appreciate those
comedic moments. Those were fun, and I thought that they
made for a great tale and story, and I love
them as a team.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
They're always very fun.
Speaker 5 (20:50):
And lastly, Starfire, other than she's another one who I
think was a little bit underserved because other than pining
over Robin and hoping that things will check and or
hoping the two will get together, she doesn't really get
to do much either. I mean, I think her main
purpose here is the advancement of Robin as a person,
(21:10):
as in, we both like each other, but I have
to almost help Robin snap out of it and realize
that he can enjoy being with somebody. I think that
was her main purpose in this, which I've always a
little bit sad because Starfire is a great character both
in comics and all sorts of shows. So and then
of course her randomly talking to her child on the street,
(21:32):
trying to you know, find a.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Shoulder to cry on.
Speaker 5 (21:35):
It seemed to me that her main purpose throughout this
whole thing was being the love interest for Robin and
even making him jealous. You know, when she kisses the
guy and learns Japanese because apparently that's how they do
it on Tamaran in order to learn a language. Don't
try that around folks, because you'll probably get slapped if you,
like dram Me try to kiss someone's like, this is
(21:56):
how we do things to learn a new language. So, yeah,
you know, she was there to make Robin jealous, to
make him, to make him grow, And I don't think
she really really got more of the character of Starfire
being STAFFI yes, she was playful, Yes she was fine,
issue was a bit of a bad ass, But I
think the character was lacking a little bit. And it's
(22:18):
not easy when you're juggling a team to give everybody
the right amount of screen time and the right and
enough you know story, because here was about thirteen versus
the big bad they will encounter in Tokyo. So I
think they did a decent job, good but not great.
If you ask me, so, I guess this this week,
I'm Keith and Keiths nick I suppose, so, I guess
(22:41):
let's try and gop our characters with our faux villain
and our true one. Unless Keith, you had anything else
you wanted to add about the Titans.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
No, I agree with you on a lot of the
points of wasted potential for the group and just kind
of giving them crap to to keep themselves busy, all right?
Speaker 5 (23:02):
And then, well, so I guess running off our characters. Yeah,
we let's get to a phovid in no true one.
We have Harry he Do Tagawa as Brushugan and keone
Young as Commander Wha Daizel.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
So what did you make of our to our received
villain and our true villain?
Speaker 4 (23:21):
I mean, Rushia Gon got the short end of that stick. Again.
He who knows how old he is because in the
flashback it looks like it's feudal Japan, and when the
movie takes place or show, it's present day Japan. So
he has been creeping around for quite some time. And
(23:42):
he again didn't I guess, mean to sell his soul,
but did or got corrupted by it, so he had
a really sad origin, which while they really kind of
glazed over, I wish they'd spent a little bit more
time in terms of, as I mentioned before, how we
got from feudal Japan to present day and why he
(24:05):
was a bad guy and if he actually was ever
a bad guy, because it sounds like the commander caught
him somehow again we're not gonna explain any of this
and made him do all this essentially negative stuff so
he could build up his you know, his presence within Japan.
(24:25):
He can get all these awards and accolades and become
the commander of this super special squad to hunt himself effectively.
And nobody seemed to think it was odd that he
had all the tools he needed to stop whatever thing
he was fighting, Like, Boyd's just a coincidence that you
happen to have the laser net thing to capture giant
(24:49):
pseudo Godzilla guy, or you have XYZ technology available to
stop such and such thing from going on. Like again,
red flags, like even Robin makes the Joe like, man,
I wish I had one of those, and he just
kind of chuckles it off and you're like that seems odd.
Like do you get attacked by Godzilla very often? Because
(25:09):
I would think not just because of you know, you'd
hear about this in the in the news a little
bit in DC like such and such hero had to
go to fly over to Japan and stop you know,
Kaiju from decimating the city or you know, anything of
that nature. But none of that is mentioned. And this
commander has single handedly wiped out all crime or a
(25:32):
bulk of the crime, because clearly there are still bad
guys doing things such as the guy trying to stick
up Robin, the bar that Robin goes into and beats
everybody up, and then you know, puts the bartender against
the wall and essentially threatens him passive aggressively with asking
(25:53):
him for information about brush you goun. So it's not
clear if he is just going after the big bad
guys or all criminals, but it seemed more like this
was the big thing kind of guy. And then we
have the local police force for everything else, because again
he had this oodles and oodles of men at his
(26:17):
disposal to fight Brushugne. So essentially, again he was just
chasing himself. Once you know the story or the whatever's
going on behind the scenes, with the two of them,
you have the Wizard of Oz and then the actual Wizard,
and you're like, oh, that's kind of dumb. And then
again when you realize all these things that he's been
fighting or they've been fighting, or paint based objects, you're like, dude,
(26:41):
get the garden hose or a bucket of water hella
water balloon, and you're instantly going to beat any of them.
So it's like they were so close to making like
a perfect little story, but then as you start applying
logic to it, you're like, well, all right, I I
feel bad for Bushugan because he finally gets out of
(27:03):
the machine because God knows how long he's been in
that machine. And what happens he fades into exactly just
poof into the dust, and you're like, oh, that's sad,
very very sad, and Commander he just gets arrested maybe
and we're good, and then you know justice has been restored,
and then Titans get to leave Tokyo no longer wanted felons.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
And everybody gets what they want. Happened that ever after?
Speaker 5 (27:29):
And I think you definitely hit the nail on the
head when it comes to Brushuagon because the fact that
he likely his origin probably started in fuel Japan because
you just look at the name Shogun, which of course
was a figure obviously in feudal Japan. Actually fun fact,
they tend to they almost tended to have more power
than the emperor or the Mikado, I suppose, and so
they were very obviously powerful lords within within the fu
(27:52):
with the feudal system in Japan at the time. So
I think that's and clearly obviously they wanted a Japanese
sounding character for the new to introduce here. And of
course the whole play on brush Ugan because of course
he uses brushes and he is an artist and so on.
So like, ah, I see what you did there, very
DC or very sort of comic bookie, which is fine.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
I did.
Speaker 5 (28:14):
I thought it was a very creative choice to have
a character like brush Ugan because and there was there's
so much going on with this character, like you said,
had it been explored more other than the info dump
we get from Raven of where he came from and
how he came to be, it would have made from
much and even more of a compelling story because the
whole idea of you because you have so many things
(28:36):
going on with this character. I mean, on one side, yes,
he is such a dedicated artist and he's almost in
love with his art, and he wished that he wishes
that the figures that he creates could come to life.
It is almost a it's almost Pigmalian like when it
comes to this, where the creator falls in love with
what he's created and then they ultimately come to life.
(28:57):
So there was a little bit to me. It did
come across a little bit of Pigmalion there, and also
that he gets so obsessed with that. I think the
tale they're trying to tell with brusha Gaunt is when
you're so passionate about something and you want something so badly,
the lengths you'll go to achieve that can be nefarious
(29:18):
as well, or you're going down dark alleys in order
to achieve your goal. So that I think it also
plays into the Faustian contract as well, because the fact
that he is ultimately using dark magic in order to
achieve his goal, and we all know what happens when
you use dark magic kids, It usually does not turn
out well. So of course, the whole concept is, you know,
(29:41):
he draws this circle, invokes these demons, and he's excuse me,
ultimately possessed by a demon himself, and so he's able
to achieve his goal, but at what price. He has
literally lost his humanity now. At the same time, though,
as time passes, I guess he's able to gain control
of his human again, because he seems like a decent
(30:02):
dude when we actually meet him in present day Japan,
where it's like, save me, I'm not doing this, I'm
forced to do this. So we never sort of see
anything an evil about so I I definitely you definitely
sort of feel bad for him at the end that
you think find out he's been trapped for so long.
But I thought it was very compelling concept, the fact
(30:24):
that these characters are being created from literally inc because
of course we are dealing with a comic book property,
and so it's almost a homage to the genre itself,
and the fact that the Headquarters are literally the most
popular store for manga so or comic books because obviously
be Sport refers to them as comics, and so it's
it's all. It's also almost a you know, spinning the
(30:46):
whole thing on its head. It's like this, this is
a show featuring comic book characters and the and the
and the character the character was supposed to be after
is literally drawing, is literally and artist.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
So I did appreciate that.
Speaker 5 (31:02):
I did kind of see it coming myself, because as
soon as the Commander is introduced, you and I are
actually talking about this off air, you get a brand
new character in a show. Granted this is a movie,
so it's not an episode of the Teen Titans, but
you're like, he's probably somebody you want to keep your
eye on, and he's probably somebody who is not all
he says he is. And also here I did like
(31:25):
Daiso because I think here he's taking control of Brushiaghan
to create crime where there isn't crime and to make
himself look better. It almost reminds me of a Spider
Man far from Home when it comes to Mysterio and
the fact that he's creating these elementals which don't exist
(31:46):
and is literally defeating them in order to gain personal
fame and be loved by people. So it is I
think very much that same case with the Commander, because
these characters don't exist. He's literally using Brushaghan to career
these these perceived dangers, which obviously then he can get
rid of with the greatest of these, so and there's
(32:10):
you often like to bring up Keith. He's the hero
in his own mind because he feels that this way.
One obviously he's making himself look cool and winning tons
of medals. But on the other he might see this
as I'm kind of keeping the city safe because it's
acting as the terrant that all these monsters get put
down by me and my special force, that maybe it
(32:30):
might be the terrent to other criminals. Clearly it's not,
because there are still see the individuals running around Tokyo.
But I did kind of see this coming, And yes,
I thought that maybe the send off was a little
bit flat because brush uganold to be pays for all
this with his life and the commander just literally gets
the good old bracelets slapped on him and sent to prison.
(32:53):
So I guess you couldn't kill the commander because it's
teen Titans, and so the kiddies might because once again
you're maybe insulting the children's intelligence saying this guy can't
die because we can't have a death. But I guess
that's probably why they where they drew the line. Possibly,
I'm not sure, but I think that's that's probably why
(33:14):
they did that, but I was actually more intrigued by
Brussia Gun than that was the Commander, even though he
turned out to actually be our villain.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
So I guess those.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
Are my thoughts on that, Keith. Did you did you
have anything else to add on either these two characters
or anything else before we get to ratings.
Speaker 4 (33:32):
No, I think that since we've talked about brush your
Gun so much, Like I don't know if anybody realizes
the voice actor is, like, he is such a famous
individual that they got this him and actually the commander,
the two of them. If you realize who it is,
they're just wasted resources. You're like, oh my god, I
(33:53):
can't believe, Like you know, he was a Mortal Kombat
he did this, and there's all the other hundreds of
movies and then you're like, oh, yeah, you're a dude
that had like seven lines in a movie or whatever.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
I do think it was a waste of both Carrie
and Chone. But here we are, I suppose, And yeah, no,
I I think you know, personally, I said everything I
had to say, so getting probably a little bit more
long winded than usually I do apologize listeners. So getting
thus to ratings, Keith what do you give this this
(34:27):
movie out of ten?
Speaker 4 (34:29):
Oh, I don't know, and then you know this happens
to be every episode, so this shouldn't be a shock fans.
Nick is nodding, Yes it is, and I'm gonna drag
this on. I might even talk about the gettysburg of
dress while I'm deciding my fate. Here.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
Take a drink, dear listens.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
Yeah, yeah, every time I didn't do the YadA YadA
YadA or blah blah blah, so you can't take a
drink yet. I think we're gonna have to go seven
and a half out of ten just because of the
reminisc value of all the characters. This could have been
(35:07):
another season or start of a season, but unfortunately we'll
never get any more of it. So seven and a
half out of ten for me, totally fair.
Speaker 5 (35:15):
I'm gonna go one wrong lower than you. I'm going
to give this a seven out of ten. It was
nice to revisit these characters after so long, because, believe you,
me and folks, it had been a while since I
had visited with this version of the Teen Titans, and
of course there have been many more since then, but
it was nice to revisit. Yes, there were a few
things that annoyed me. I would have liked a few
things expanded. I did you know added then? I guess
(35:36):
to Keith's pointer, you do have some great guest actors,
especially when it comes to our villains that were not
probably given the chance that they deserved. So it was enjoyable,
but I kind of wanted more and I kind of
thought the story could have could have been done a
little bit better. Granted it's hard to do when you
have only an hour and fifteen minutes to play with.
(35:56):
So to seven and a half and seven out of
ten for me. So getting those two recommendations, Keith, what
would you like to recommend to the class this week?
Speaker 4 (36:09):
If you enjoy this movie, I would definitely go check
out the previous seasons of Teen Titans nineteen Titans Go.
While they have their own thing going on, they did
bring back the original cast for teen Titans Ago. Check
out the original Teen Titans where you do see all
this character development and growth. Teen Titans Go is very
(36:32):
much the slapstick PG version of Teen Titans, So skip that.
I think that's actually gonna be my only recommendation because
that's five seasons that'll keep you busy for a day
or two.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
Well, that works perfectly, I suppose, going very very left
field with all the other properties that I had mentioned,
I guess if you haven't seen and now I probably
spoiled it for you, so I do oologize you might
want to check out Spider Man Far from Home or
revisit it. I definitely will because it's one of my
(37:06):
I mean, I've enjoyed all the Spider Man films thus far.
When it comes to the Sony MCU collaboration, so you
might want to check that out. And I do think
Jake Jillen hall Or does a great job as Mysterio,
so definitely check that out if you haven't.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Sorry about the spoiler.
Speaker 5 (37:24):
And also going back to classic classic stuff, I did
mention pig Malion, and I'm sure a lot of folks
are familiar with the original Greek myth, but if you
want to see how it kind of got to spun
on its head, check out Believe It or Not My
Fair Lady, which is very much inspired by that story.
So if you want to check out a good old musical,
(37:46):
definitely check that one out. And it was actually a
Best Picture winner. I'm just going to say, so it's
you know, it definitely is worth the watch for Surean
has some very very catchy and memorable songs, So getting folks,
of course, if you do want to throw your pennies
worth in when it comes to your thoughts on the
films we discuss here, you can cause tune and email
(38:07):
to Happiness and Darkness hoow at gmail dot com. Once again,
Happiness and Darkness how at gmail dot com. Be sure
to follow us on our social media if you aren't
doing that already, you can follow us on Facebook where
you can find us as Happiness and Darkness and of
course you can follow us on x wake and find
us as High Darkness Pod. Also very important if you
(38:28):
are listening to this show where please be sure to
rate and review it because it definitely helps it to grow.
It keeps the algorithm stimulated and so allows it to
become more available to other like minded ears like yours.
So big thank you to those who have done so,
and the future thank you to those who will. Big
shout out to a raven of course today for this episode,
(38:49):
so getting those to well, we're not here of course,
sir Keith, when you're not here discussing films like Teen
Titans Trouble in Tokyo, A great alliterative title. Where can
folks find you on the interweal pypes?
Speaker 4 (39:01):
Oh? Well, you know, when I'm not here or every
week here, you can catch me on Star Trek the
Undiscovered podcast did a couple episodes this season, did their
Closer and Opener I believe it was as well, was
on episode of Gold Standards with yourself. Did a episode
of Real Reaction with our friend Greg and Kyle. What
(39:23):
else did I do this year? Man Lamb Chop. We
did an episode just recently of that. So you guys
can kind of find me all over the internet. Weirdly
enough for a guy who doesn't do social I do
a lot of podcasting, and then when I'm not doing
any of that, you can find me on our Facebook page.
You can drop a comment message, whatever the case may be.
I'm always willing, ready and able to talk about cartoons, combooks,
(39:45):
animated lions, tigers and bears.
Speaker 5 (39:48):
Well great stuff, of course, and I do believe Keithy
you will be gracing well, I know you will be
gracing Gold Standards soon. And also, of course, says Star Trek,
The un Discovered pub.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Cast when it can always great great times.
Speaker 5 (40:02):
Of course, folks that lovely check out all the shows
that Keith has guested on because he always does a
fantastic job and brings great insights. When it comes to myself,
you can find me hosting the radio show Whiskey and
Cigarettes where we play the very best and nothing but
the best of country music for you guys from Malabama
to Zach Brown. More information about that, you can vis
our website which is Whiskey and Cigarettes show dot com.
(40:25):
Podcast Wise, you can also find myself, Zan Sprouse and
Rachel Friend on gold Standard the Oscars podcast, where we
have reviewed all the Best Picture winning movies in chronological order.
Now as we wait for the ninety eighth Best Picture
to reveal itself, we are reviewing movies that we have picked,
and we also have returning in new guest co hosts
like Keith bring their favorite films to the gold Standard Theater.
(40:48):
We recently reviewed Rachel's pick which was Get Out of Course,
the Jordan Peel film from twenty seventeen. Coming up next,
we will be having returning guest co host Maureen van
Zandt coming to the gold Standard Theater and the movie
that she has selected is rock Star from two thousand
and one, starring of course, Jennifer Aniston and Mark Wahlberg
(41:11):
amongst others, and last per say Not Least Myself and
the Child. Skaggs can be found on the fandom Zone
podcast where we're currently reviewing the second season of Peacemaker
and having a way of a time doing that. And
when it comes to this show my friends. Coming up,
we will be taking on the twenty twenty three Macon
(41:31):
Blair film The Toxic Avenger. So a Keith, anything you
would like to add on our upcoming movie or anything
else before we sign off.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
I cannot wait for this movie. I have a love
hate relationship with the original. It is so bad you
have to hate it, but you'll love it because it's terrible.
So I'm looking forward to see what we did with
this quote unquote reboot or reinterpretation. So I have to
wait and see.
Speaker 5 (41:59):
Being a big Peter Dinklage fan, I'm very very curious
to see how Peter embraces the role of Toxy. So
I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about when
it comes to that. So, of course, dear listeners, thanks
for listeners show and supporting us. We will see you
next time with the toxic Avenger. Until then, thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
So much for the privilege of your time stay super.
Shall mope
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