Trolls

Voices of: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Christine Baranski, Russell Brand, Gwen Stefani, John Cleese, James Corden, Jeffrey Tambor, Ron Funches, Quvenzhane Wallis
Directed by: Walt Dohrn, Mike Mitchell
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: When the troll village is invaded, two trolls (Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake) reluctantly team up to save their friends.

Review:

Tim: After the success of The Lego Movie, it's probably not fair to say "I can't believe they are making a movie about X". It's less about what the source material is and more about whether the filmmakers have a clear vision for the story that isn't clouded by dollar signs. So, when I heard they were making an animated movie about Trolls, I had to fight myself to immediately scoff at the idea as a poor one that was designed not to make a good movie but to make a good buck. I went into this with as open a mind as I could. And unfortunately, the worst fears came to light. Now, Trolls did get good critical reviews (is it just me, or does it seem like every animated film is being embraced by critics?). Unfortunately, I disagree with them. This is not a good movie. It has nothing unique or interesting to say. It's a movie that shouldn't have been made.

Dreamworks has certainly had some success in the animation department, but I wouldn't put this movie anywhere near their best films. It's a film about a phenomenon that stopped being cool over a decade ago. It feels like a movie designed to resurrect toy sales, to appeal to the lowest common denominator in the audience. It's the kind of film that tells a lackluster story we've seen before and then talk about family and being yourself, and we're supposed to leave the film saying "What a powerful message for kids!" Unfortunately, too many people got caught up in this film. It's a subpar movie because there's nothing special or ambitious about anything in the film. It's a film that feels like it never tried to be among the best in the genre.

The story is pretty basic and a little mature for its audience (the villains literally eat the protagonists, in theory). You basically have two groups- the trolls are kind and fun and cute, and you have the Bergens (I still don't fully get why they are called that) who are miserable creatures and only experience happiness when they are eating a troll. Seriously, this is the story that adult humans wrote. "But it allows us to talk about different emotions, blah blah blah" The whole thing is devoid of inspiration. It feels generic and churned out. Our heroes have to go save some trolls who were kidnapped, friendships are formed, and everyone learns a little more about themselves. The simplistic story will obviously appeal to non-discerning young viewers. For anyone who knows anything, though, the film is going to feel much longer than its 1 hour, 32 minute run time.

The cast is one of the stronger aspects of the film. Anna Kendrick has a delightful voice and does a good job in the lead role. Justin Timberlake is also really strong as well and it was fun that he got to write and sing several songs for the film. Zooey Deschanel was pretty decent, as was Russell Brand. The supporting cast is fine, but Kendrick and Timberlake really make this movie from a cast perspective.

The movie does offer animated versions of quite a few popular songs. Some of them feel forced and pandering ("I'm Coming Out", for example). I actually loved Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick's version of "True Colors". "Can't Stop The Feeling!" was a pretty good song, too- Timberlake gets a lot of credit for that one. As a whole, the musical selection felt mixed- some songs were good, others just didn't connect as well.

If you're going to make an animated movie about a toy that was kind of stupid to begin with and is now way past its heyday, you need to surround it with a really great story. Trolls doesn't do that. The film never elevates any of its material, it just tells an expected story in an expected way. I can't claim to have enjoyed this movie very much and despite what a lot of critics said, this is truly not a very good movie. I certainly wasn't expecting greatness out of this film, but I wanted something a lot better than this.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Croods, How to Train Your Dragon