Trolls World Tour (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, April 10

PG Running Time: 90 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Fans of Trolls will likely have a similar experience with Trolls World Tour. The ultimate message is a good one, and the movie’s heart is in the right place.

  • The film has a bold, vivid look and moves constantly - though some will find the film’s energy exhausting, Trolls World Tour will not slow down…like ever.

  • With 39 songs used within the film’s 90 minutes, including some new songs and many covers, Trolls World Tour could easily serve as the basis for a karaoke sing-along party. So if that’s what you are looking for - have at it!

NO

  • Blissfully unaware of how obnoxious it is for much of its 90-minute running time. Pass the Tylenol.

  • 39 songs in 90 minutes is definitely a choice. Pass the Tylenol.

  • A good message, a few fun moments notwithstanding, Trolls World Tour feels focus grouped and board room approved to appeal to a massive audience. There’s no real conviction behind the story or the characters. We are singing songs, selling merchandise, and basically creating a 90-minute karaoke party. Pass the Tylenol.


OUR REVIEW

39 songs in 90 minutes. 8 songs in the first 8 minutes of the movie. Trolls World Tour is not so much a movie as it is an endurance test.

A follow-up to the 2016 hit film, Trolls, this sequel is making some interesting history as the first major studio film to not delay its release because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Instead, Universal Pictures opted to hold to the original release date of April 10, 2020 and send the film directly to VOD for families around the world.

The sensory assault of Trolls World Tour works likely just as fine at home as it would in a theatrical setting. Sure, the bold color palette, near-constant song score, and frenetic energy lends itself to a big, widescreen presentation, but with this film being little more than just a series of episodic-style vignettes held together through tenuous storytelling, an at-home television viewing experience certainly suffices.

This time around, Queen Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and boyfriend Branch (Justin Timberlake) are leading their village of trolls, now known as Pop Trolls, through a seemingly peaceful existence. After vanquishing and making peace with the menacing Bergins at the end of the first film, the Pop Trolls sing constantly, party always, and have resumed frequent hugging.

Soon, the Pop Trolls learn of something called the “One Nation Under Rock Tour.” Organized by Barb (Rachel Bloom), a mohawk-wearing Rock Troll, Poppy wants to join the tour and meet a fellow musical troll she never knew existed. Branch follows, but what we already know, from an earlier encounter Barb had with the Techno Trolls, is Barb has ulterior motives. She uses songs like “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and “Barracuda” to enact a nebulous plan of Troll Universe domination.

Did I mention Ozzy Osbourne cameos as Barb’s dad?

Trolls World Tour is co-directed by Walt Dohrn, who co-directed Trolls and provides several supporting voices for fringe characters within the film. The screenplay, drafted by five writers (FIVE!), somehow finds a way to create an entirely new premise to deliver nearly the exact same message found in the first Trolls film. Accept people’s differences. Appreciate the “true colors” everyone puts out into the world. Hug people whole bunches.

At least this movie speaks somewhat to cultural appropriation. So, props for that I suppose?

We learn that our beloved Pop Trolls are one of six distinctive troll communities, formed around a different genre of music. In addition to Pop Trolls and Rock Trolls, we have wiry-haired bundles of energy identified as Techno Trolls, Country Trolls, Funk Trolls, and Classical Trolls.

Did I mention George Clinton portrays the Funk Troll King Quincy? And yes, he sings “Atomic Dog.”

Eventually, the chaotic energy calms down enough to get the basic story out. And when that story features six different troll communities, it allows you to stack the roster with lots of cameos and guest appearances. Kelly Clarkson, Kenan Thompson, J Balvin, Mary J. Blige, Ester Dean, James Corden, Sam Rockwell, Anthony Ramos, and more, fail to move the needle all that much. (Clarkson does predictably nail her musical moment however in the Country Troll section of the film).

Ultimately, Trolls World Tour wears thin. The songs drive the film, and even if the production design for the different Troll communities is impressive, and the animation is crisp, clean, and seamless in design and execution, Dohrn and co-director David P. Smith never let moments resonate or land with any significance. Kendrick and Timberlake are lost in the shuffle, while an inspired Bloom sadly overwhelms many of her scenes.

While nothing rises to the level of the previous film’s Oscar-nominated #1 smash, “Can’t Stop The Feeling,” Timberlake’s curated soundtrack, in collaboration with Grammy and Oscar-winning composer/producer Ludwig Göransson plays a bit better outside of the overstuffed film. The animated choreography sequences, with characters whizzing in and out of one dizzying set piece after another, unfortunately snuffs out many of the creative and clever song structure both Timberlake and Göransson have put together.

A new song arrives, on average, every two-and-a-half minutes in Trolls World Tour. While colorful, kind-hearted, and inoffensive, this is the movie version of a party where someone has commandeered the playlist and keeps skipping through the songs, barely allowing one song to play long enough to make it to a verse and a chorus.

And the skips appear to be unlimited.

CAST & CREW

Starring the Voices of: Anna Kendrick. Justin Timberlake, Rachel Bloom, James Corden, Ron Funches, Kelly Clarkson, Anderson .Paak, Sam Rockwell, George Clinton, Mary J. Blige, Kenan Thompson, Kunal Nayyar, Caroline Hjelt, Aino Jawo, J Balvin, Flula Borg, Ester Dean, Jamie Dornan, Gustavo Dudamel, Ozzy Osbourne, Anthony Ramos, Karan Soni, Charlene Yi, Red Velvet, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kevin Michael Richardson, Walt Dohrn, DaVine Joy Randolph, The McElroy Brothers.

Director: Walt Dohrn, David P. Smith
Written by: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky, Elizabeth Tippet (screenplay); Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger (story).
Based on the Troll Dolls toy line, created by Thomas Dam.
Release Date: April 10, 2020
Universal Pictures