Teen Titans Go! To the Movies

Like its source material, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies tries to be clever and subversive, only to wind up crude and obnoxious.

Instead of straight-up adapting the rather obscure animated series, the film tries to repurpose the characters into a wide-ranging satire of the modern superhero landscape — especially the proliferation of film franchises.

The problem is that this sort of self-referential lampoon has been done by now, from Guardians of the Galaxy to Deadpool to The Lego Batman Movie and others. And this effort simply isn’t as snappy or sophisticated by comparison.

It follows a ragtag group of castoff sidekicks and fledgling apprentices who are shunned by their mentors, the Justice League, for their immaturity — as demonstrated by the lack of a blockbuster movie about them.

So the quintet, led by Batman’s protege Robin (voiced by Scott Menville), seeks to prove its collective legitimacy to a movie director (Jade Wilson) with multiple schemes that don’t work, followed by an effort to manufacture a rivalry with an arch-nemesis (Will Arnett). However, that backfires and causes them to show their true heroism.

The eclectic supporting voice cast includes such recognizable names as Nicolas Cage, Jimmy Kimmel, Stan Lee, singer Michael Bolton, and rapper Lil Yachty.

The film finds some comic potential in a world in which superheroes aren’t judged on their powers or courage, but on their box-office clout. It provides some scattered big laughs in its hyperactive collection of sight gags and one-liners, along with some moments of quirky lunacy.

Yet with its build-up to an obligatory final showdown, the film winds up embracing the very clichés that it seeks to satirize. Visually, the rudimentary animation style seems a better fit for Saturday morning television than the theater.

Fans of the show might find some nostalgic value in these throwback characters, who jam to a soundtrack of peppy 1980s pop songs — the film’s primary original song is quite amusing — but there’s little reason for newcomers to embrace them. Their names and powers are revealed in an opening montage, but other than Robin, are of little consequence as the story progresses.

Aimed primarily at children, it’s mildly ambitious but perhaps ultimately proves that its wannabe protagonists aren’t ready for the big-screen spotlight.

Rated PG, 84 minutes.