Trolls (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – After the Bergens invade Troll Village, Poppy, the happiest Troll ever born, and the curmudgeonly Branch set off on a journey to rescue her friends.

My Take – Right from the trailers, this seemed like one of those animated features which we have seen already, and probably wouldn’t watch again. A film based on plastic figurines with vibrant, up-combed hair who were presented more for their novelty and idiocy than an upright toy, just seemed like a bad idea. Produced at DreamWorks animation studios, who have always differentiated themselves from the works of Pixar, Laika and BluSky mainly as their films are littered with pop culture references, they’re kind of loud and more ‘zippy’ in nature, and have much less interesting stories than the competition. However, despite a compelling voice cast, the teaser looked just dreadful and the first trailer only marginally better, hence the lowered expectations. But hey, didn’t Lego Film surprise us? Here, directors Walt Dohrn and Mike Mitchell, the guys behind the Shrek franchise, bring Thomas Dan‘s iconic, legendary ‘Good Luck Trolls’ to life, for a film that will take out the kid in you, no mater how deep you hide it! With its mix off colors, jokes and fun music, the film is spot on for its target audience (kids ranging from 4-8 years old), but for the rest, this may end up being yet another good-looking, mildly funny but ultimately forgettable film. This year in terms of animated films, studios have offered a wild assortment of big-screen releases, ranging from exceptional to downright awful, sadly this latest effort from DreamWorks Animation fits somewhere in between. As an adult myself with there was a lot to like, with the colors, the music, the characters, energy and overall atmosphere more than compensating and almost masking a story that narratively and structurally is not really all that special. There isn’t really anything new as such conceptually and not a lot done in bringing freshness to it, while the magical hair subplot did feel shoe-horned in and as a result of not being elaborated upon quite enough it doesn’t make as much sense as it ought to have done.

The story follows Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick), the current leader of the colorful, high-haired so-ugly-that-they’re-cute creatures known as Trolls. The trolls are a happy group who spend all of their time singing, dancing and hugging. People say that happiness is contagious. If so, it can apparently also be ingested. Years ago, the miserable ogre like creatures known as Bergen discover that if they eat trolls, they can be briefly happy, so they capture the smaller sized Trolls and institute an annual troll-eating holiday called “Trollstice”. King Peppy (Jeffrey Tambor), the then leader of the Trolls, leads the little guys and gals in a daring escape from Bergen Town right before the annual Trollstice leaving the Bergens very upset. King Gristle Sr. (John Cleese), ruler of the Bergen, is especially angry because this Trollstice was to be the first for his son, Prince Gristle Jr. (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). In anger, the King exiles Chef (Christine Baranski) for her failure to produce the annual Trollstice meal, leaving her to rot and vow revenge on the Trolls. Twenty years later, Princess Poppy who has now become the de facto leader of the Trolls, due to her kindness, joy and activities. Everyone except the joyless, virtually colorless Troll named Branch (Justin Timberlake) refuses to join in any singing, dancing or hugging. Constantly warning his fellow Trolls to tone down their activities or risk being found by the Bergen. When his worst fears become reality, Poppy manipulates Branch into coming with her to Bergen Town to help free several captured trolls. First, let me say that if you don’t like films that have songs every three to five minutes, then this isn’t the film for you. But, if you love music and love to sing along with some of the songs, then this film is for you. Clearly aimed at the little ones, with a high cuteness quotient and lessons about selflessness, loyalty and even a subtle anti-drug message (seen most clearly when Chef tries to maintain her power in Bergen Town by insisting that the Bergen continue to get happy “my way” – by eating trolls – even as the Trolls are trying to show the Bergen that they can find happiness in ways that are more natural and don’t hurt anyone), but ultimately derivative. If you haven’t guessed from the trailers (and this review) this film isn’t the most complex story to grace the market. It seems influenced, to varying degrees, by “The Smurfs”, “Frozen”, “Tangled” and “Cinderella”, but, hey, those are some very good influences and their combination here produces some quality entertainment.

This kind of films usually have deep plot lines with dynamic relationships and character development. The film has a little of this especially in the stories of Branch and Bridget who need the biggest personality adjustments of the bunch. Outside of that, the film lacks depth, because most of the characters are on happy pills who only want to dance and sing. While this is certainly entertaining, the simplicity is a bit predictable and boring at times. The film feels like the filmmakers put some of the most popular family entertainment of the past into a blender and hoped for the best. I guess they focused more on music and dancing instead of storyboard. Unlike films like The Lego Film, the film has little interest in sending a deeper message. The film offers one, but its predictable script doesn’t do enough to justify what it thinks it’s trying to say. In fact, the only truly clever moment comes early on when the Troll dolls themselves make a brief appearance. The film has a few of these moments that sort of derailed the momentum of the film. For a film that was played up to be an extremely happy film there were a lot of sad parts. I couldn’t believe how slow it got during those parts as well. That would have to be the biggest downfall of the film: the slow parts. It is understandable as to why some will still not like it or find it entirely appealing to them. It is somewhat younger-crowd oriented, so older children and adults may find, and have found, it too cute, too hyper-active and too cloying for their taste buds. On the other hand, the animation is brilliant. No surprise here, DreamWorks knows how to animate and Trolls is yet another example of the talent. Our characters run, jump, sing, and more importantly dance in impressive style that brings the unique world to life. The colorful characters (in both skin tone and personality) are charming, and the energy they infuse into the scenes adds another element to the animation. And the design of all the creatures is very unique almost as it is being designed for merchandise. There is so much imaginative detail, the characters are well modelled, the backgrounds meticulous and best of all the colors are gorgeously vibrant and leap out at you from the screen. The soundtrack is like a musical extravaganza, and an upbeat and infectious one that has a huge presence in the film without being overkill. Much of the songs are covers of famous songs, but these remixes work very well and represent the theme of their accompanying scenes as Kendrick, and sometimes Justin Timberlake, led the way. You think you know a voice until the see the credits of an animated film as it’s surprising to hear the all-star cast including Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Jeffrey Tambor, Zooey Deschanel, Russell Brand, John Cleese, James Cordon, Gwen Stefani and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. All giving great voice performances that capture each character’s personality. On the whole, ‘Trolls’ is a cute film with stunning animation run down by a generic story and insipid attempts at humor.