Movie Review: Trolls: World Tour

Trolls World Tour (2020) ** ½ / *****

Directed by: Walt Dohrn   

Written by: Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger and Maya Forbes & Wallace Wolodarsky and Elizabeth Tippet based on the Good Luck Trolls created by Thomas Dam.

Starring: Anna Kendrick (Poppy), Justin Timberlake (Branch), Rachel Bloom (Barb), James Corden (Biggie), Ron Funches (Cooper), Kelly Clarkson (Delta Dawn), Anderson .Paak (Prince D), Sam Rockwell (Hickory), George Clinton (King Quincy), Mary J. Blige (Queen Essence), Kenan Thompson (Tiny Diamond), Kunal Nayyar (Guy Diamond), Caroline Hjelt (Chenille), Aino Jawo (Satin), J Balvin (Tresillo), Flula Borg (Dickory), Ester Dean (Legsly), Jamie Dornan (Chaz), Gustavo Dudamel (Trollzart), Ozzy Osbourne (King Thrash), Anthony Ramos (King Trollex), Karan Soni (Riff), Charlyne Yi (Pennywhistle).

 

I know that logically, I should hate the Trolls movies. They are everything about children’s entertainment I usually find loathsome – crass, cynical commercial enterprises – made not so much to tell a story or entertain kids and adult alike – but rather as an act of brand extension and corporate synergies – here made even more cynical by adding in music stars and soundtracks to milk even more money out of parents. Yes, all movies are made to make money – and all kids movies are used to sell merchandise as well – at least if it’s good – but there is something about movies like Ugly Dolls and Angry Birds that seem so cynical. Frozen has all the same commercial and merchandising ambitions – hell, more considering the theme parks, and how many decades Disney will milk their products – but they also concentrate on delivering a good movie first, and everything else second. These others have that backwards. And Trolls really should be exhibit A of everything that is wrong with contemporary children’s entertainment. And yet, I have to say, the movies are kind of fun. There is no reason to see either Trolls movie – especially this latest one, which you have to “rent” for $20 as it is the lone big studio movie to opt for home viewing options rather than just push their release date – unless you have children. But I do have children – girls who are 8 and 6 – who both loved the first film, and couldn’t wait for the second film, so I bite the bullet, and shelled out the $20. And the whole family had fun watching this goofy movie. It isn’t very good – it isn’t even as good as the last film. But it’s fun.

 

If you remember the last Troll film, you’ll know that Poppy (Anna Kendrick) is now Queen of the Trolls, and her best friend Branch (Justin Timberlake) has been brought out of his shell, and now these pop music loving trolls live in absolute harmony with each other. So the writers have to invent another conflict (and do so in a way that will conveniently create all kinds of different troll dolls for you to purchase). Apparently, Troll kind used to be united – but they were separated years ago along musical lines – Pop, of course, Classical, Techno, Funk, Country and Rock – each being given a string, and separated. Now Barb (Rachel Bloom), the Queen of the Rock Trolls, has decided she wants all the strings for herself – uniting them all under the banner of Rock, and destroying all other kinds of music. She is doing pretty good too – rolling over the techno and classical trolls easily. So, of course, it’s up to Poppy and Branch to stop her.

 

The movie is pretty much a 90-minute assault on the senses - even more so than the original, which was already a non-stop parade of colors, glitter, music and motion. This movie doesn’t ever pause itself – the characters barely function as characters, and aren’t even given the depth they had last time. Instead, this movie just wants to get from one set piece to another, one musical number to another, one scene of glittery confection after another. It can be absolutely exhausting.

 

It is also just about the most colorful and cheerful movie in existence – and perhaps in a world this dark, that is precisely what is need – especially for children. I keep reading articles and tweets about how exhausting and difficult it is to be a parent, trying to work from home and homeschool your kids, and never having a second to yourself, always trapped with your kids 24/7 for who knows how long. But I do think we have to remember that if we’re trapped with our kids, that means they’re trapped with us. And this is a dark and confusing time for them.

 

So, no, Trolls: World Tour isn’t exactly a good movie. Perhaps in a theater, with 3-D, and the non-stop colors and all the sound, it would be been guaranteed headache inducing horror show. But released for home viewing, on Easter weekend, during a week’s long lockdown where you and your kids cannot get away from each, it was for us, just what was needed.

Movie Review: Trolls

Trolls

Directed by: Walt Dohrn & Mike Mitchell. 

Written by: Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger and Erica Rivinoja based on the Good Luck Trolls created by Thomas Dam. 

Starring: Anna Kendrick (Poppy), Justin Timberlake (Branch), Zooey Deschanel (Bridget), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (King Gristle0, Christine Baranski (Chef), Russell Brand (Creek), Gwen Stefani (DJ Suki), John Cleese (King Gristle Sr.), James Corden (Biggie), Jeffrey Tambor (King Peppy), Ron Funches (Cooper), Aino Jawo (Satin), Caroline Hjelt (Chenille), Kunal Nayyar (Guy Diamond), Quvenzhané Wallis (Harper). 

 

Before I begin my review of Trolls, let me acknowledge the obvious and say that the film is quite clearly a cynical exercise in brand extension – a way to get Dreamworks animation and the troll doll company more revenue than simply selling movie tickets – because there is now a line of toys and everything else kids will want (a trip to Wal-Mart after the movie with my five-year-old confirms this). I know that. I also know that Trolls is the type of animated kids’ movie that normally I don’t like – it’s brightly colored, loud, fast-paced and frenetic in a way that often gives me headaches when I see it in kids films. Its message is both obvious, and yet I’m not sure is entirely thought through. Had I seen this film say 6 years ago, I may well have loathed it. Seeing it sitting next to my five year old though – who was completely into the film, so much that at the end she even got up and danced along with the trolls – I have to admit it – the film won me over.

 

As the title implies, the film is about trolls – specifically, trolls that look like those annoying troll dolls that for some reason have been popular for years and years. 20 years ago, this specific group of trolls escaped from the tree where they were held by the Bergens – a much bigger species, who looks more like what I envision trolls to look like, rather than the cute ones who are our heroes, but I digress. Once a year, the Bergens eat the trolls of Trollstice – and the Bergens believe this is the only way to be happy. When news of the escape breaks to the Bergens, they expel their Chef (Christine Baranski) whose job it was to keep them. All these years later, the trolls live in peace and harmony – doing nothing all day except for singing and dancing – unless it’s time to break for their hourly hug time. You see where this is going – Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick), decides to hold the biggest, brightest, loudest party ever – the chef finds them, and kidnaps some of the trolls. Princess Poppy is determined to get them back – and ends up alongside Branch (Justin Timberlake) – the only troll who hates singing, dancing and hugs – but knows a lot about Bergens.

 

The plot is perhaps too complicated – there are double crosses, and mistaken identifies – and a whole one involving the King of the Bergens (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and a scullery maid who is in love with him (Zooey Deschanel), and various degrees of deception, etc. The film works best when it jettisons all that aside, and is just a pure, fun, entertaining musical. On that level, Anna Kendrick is perfectly cast as Poppy – perky in the extreme at all times, but never more some than when she’s singing jukebox versions of classic dance songs in full Pitch Perfect mode. And we all know that the film doesn’t have Justin Timberlake as Branch to have him not sing – and when he does, he’s fun to see to.

 

The film is rather and fast paced – and last only 90 minutes – which is good, because anymore and the film couldn’t sustain its sugar high. It isn’t a good film per se – and I don’t think I would want to see it more than once (which doesn’t seem to be an option, since my five year old has already seen it twice – she saw it at a birthday party opening weekend, and insisted on taking me the second weekend, because she didn’t want me to miss it – and she loved it both times). But for parents looking for a relatively pain free 90 minute activity with their kids, Trolls does the job. If that sounds like I’m damning the movie with faint praise, maybe I am – but I will say that for 90 minutes, I had fun. What more really did you expect from Trolls?