Trolls Band Together

Last night, I saw “Trolls Band Together,” which came out last month, but on VOD on the 19^th. Now, I will let everyone know what I thought about the third installment in this franchise.

Frank Sheck started his review by saying, “It’s a mantra that I dearly wish the creators of the third installment in the hugely successful animated Trolls series had taken to heart. Capitalizing on the fact that one of the film’s main voice stars, Justin Timberlake, was formerly a member of one of the biggest boy bands in pop history, Trolls Band Together is stuffed with so many groan-worthy punning jokes and one-liners referencing such bands from the ‘90s and other eras that you wonder whether the film was made for its target tyke audience or their parents. Many of the latter will at least enjoy the pop culture nostalgia while enduring the perfunctory storyline.”

You have to like Timberlake for wanting to make fun of his past. The story is about the revelation that his character, Branch, was once the baby (literally) member of BroZone, a hugely successful boy band with his four brothers, who broke up, leaving him with a feeling that he was abandoned (not really how it worked out with NSYNC, but that’s another story). Branch’s now-life partner Poppy (Anna Kendrick) finds out about his past when his brother (Troye Sivan) is kidnapped by evil pop siblings, Velvet (Amy Schumer, a comedian I do not like at all) and Veneer (Andre Rannells), who want to steal his talents. Now Branch must reunite with his other siblings – John Dory (Eric Andre), Spruce (Daveed Diggs), and Clay (hip-hop artist Kid Cudi) – to rescue Floyd from their diamond bottle.

That’s one of several storylines, including the wedding of Bridget (Zooey Deschanel) and Gristle (Christopher Mintz-Plass) and the sudden appearance of Viva (singer Camila Cabello), who turns out to be Poppy’s sister that she never knew she had. Some of the characters from the previous films have either been dropped or make only small appearances (James Corden is not in here anymore). In contrast, the new ones include Crimp (Zosia Mamet), Velvet and Veneer’s overworked assistant, who vents her frustrations with a passionate rendition of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5.

Sheck said, “The song is one of an endless series of musical numbers featuring tunes both old and new, but with an emphasis on the former. The pop earworms, performed energetically by the trolls in annoying high voices, are sprightly enough, and include just about every hit from a boy, girl or family band you can think of. But the musical novelty has somewhat worn off, and nothing on the soundtrack matches the endless catchiness of “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from the first film — including the much ballyhooed “Better Place,” for which NSYNC reunited.”

The over-talented voice cast goes through their paces with such great enthusiasm. Still, all get sidelines by the hilarity of Kenan Thompson as the one-liner infant Tiny Diamond, who keeps offering Patch his pacifier that looks like a Ring Pop. Kunal Nayyar voices his dad.

Elizabeth Tippet’s screenplay gets laughs thanks to the large amount of jokes (the hit-to-miss level is very unbalanced), and there are so many funny one-liners about the music business. Sheck said, “Those include one character’s lament that there are few possibilities left in his career other than “a desperate Christmas album or one-off National Anthem performance.”’

The computer animation, like the previous films, is exciting and colorful, with one highlight being a hand-drawn intoxicating sequence set to the disco classic “The Hustle.” However, how much you’ll enjoy the visuals will depend on your appreciation of trolls, which are not exactly the most pleasing of creatures. Sheck ended his review by saying, “I’ll take a minion any day.”

Like the previous films in the franchise, this one is good for kids. I don’t see anything in here that makes it horrible, but I found this one very enjoyable. You can see this and enjoy it great, so check it out on VOD. Have an enjoyable time with the music and have your kids get up, sing, and dance along with the music.

Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Look out tomorrow when I talk about the next season of one of my favorite shows in “Disney Month 2023.”

Trolls World Tour

Today I checked out “Trolls World Tour,” which was released on “Video On Demand” today, and I will let everyone know what I thought about it.

In 2016, “Trolls” gave us the glittery, polychromatic world of the eponymous small, singing, dancing beings. They had a rather nice, though predictable, story helped by the handful of pop songs that worked into the story. Now the trolls are back in “Trolls World Tour,” which enlarges the world of the trolls, including its musical collection, and is all the better for it. While the movie still has a similar colorful artistic, this film introduces a lot more shades of grey while telling nice lessons about tolerance and leadership.

“Trolls World Tour” starts by introducing a new colony of trolls, whose techno music, is interrupted by the hard-rock trolls, led by punk-rocker Queen Barb, voiced by Rachel Wood. Barb makes a plan to bring the trolls together by uniting them under rock – and expunging every other type of music. From there the movie takes us back to the colony of the trolls we know from the first film – labeled here as the pop trolls – where the group learns about Barb’s plans and that there are, actually, six tribes of trolls whose musical differences made them separate long ago.

Even though her father (Walt Dohrn) warns her and Branch (Justin Timberlake), Queen Poppy (Anna Kendrick) can’t imagine of a place where Barb’s purposes could be bad. She believes in the idea of uniting the trolls again and believes Barb wants to celebrate their differences like she does. That makes her go off to find Barb and help her on her journey. She’s teamed up by a hesitant Branch and passengers Biggie (James Corden) and Mr. Dinkles (Kevin Michael Richardson). As they travel they stop by the places of the classical music trolls, the country music trolls and the funk trolls.

Cynthia Vinney said in her review, “Barb’s desire to oppress those with other musical tastes and Poppy’s inability to listen to anyone else’s concerns are thinly veiled metaphors for the evils of intolerance and the need to listen to others, even those you might not agree with. Although these aren’t the most revolutionary ideas, the movie presents them in a fun music-filled way that will appeal to both children and adults.”

The different type of music all over the movie makes it even more charming. Even though the pop music that helped the first movie is still here, it’s really nice to hear the voices of a wide range of musical artists voicing different characters. Kelly Clarkson sings a sad country song, Anderson .Paak raps a lesson about the trolls’ dangerous history, rock star legend Ozzy Osborne plays Barb’s aged father and classic singers Mary J. Blige and George Clinton appear as the King and Queen of the funk trolls.

As everyone knows, “Trolls World Tour’s” was tasked to being the first studio movie to not be released in theaters and instead be released directly on “Video on Demand” with the coronavirus epidemic. Vinney said, “Many will be watching to see how the movie fares, with some suggesting that if Trolls World Tour does well, it could have long-lasting implications for theatrical movie-going. It’s easy to see the movie having success on-demand. After all, it’s the first new big-budget movie available to viewers in almost a month, plus it has the added appeal of keeping antsy house-bound children occupied for an hour and a half.” When seeing that, Universal’s choice to release “Trolls World Tour” for home viewing makes sense. However, that also means it’s a task that won’t work for every upcoming large movie, and will be unlikely to destroy the traditional theatrical release.

Vinney said, “Ultimately, Trolls World Tour is an exuberant blast of big-screen movie energy that those who choose to watch it at home will appreciate. Fans of the first Trolls will find more to love here, and those who were only lukewarm on that movie are likely to appreciate the expansion of the trolls’ world.” Even though every movie that did not get delayed due to the coronavirus, it works for the small world of “Trolls World Tour,” which actually is an entertaining and hopeful distraction from what we’re experiencing currently.

If you saw the first movie and liked it, it wouldn’t hurt to check this sequel out On Demand. It’s a nice little harmless family flick with a lot of diverse songs in here that should get kids and maybe even parents up and dancing. Check it out and see for yourself.

Thank you for joining in on today’s review. Stay tuned next week for the continuation of “Jackie Chan Month.”

Trolls

Tonight, my brother and I went to see the new "Trolls" movie. This movie is based on a toy line that I never owned any action figure of growing up. However, how is this movie that is based on a successful toy line be? Let's take a look:

Even though "Trolls" won't be regarded as an animated masterpiece in the same vain as "Frozen," "Toy Story," "Wall-E" or "Inside Out," I have to say that this new entry from DreamWorkds Animation is fairly entertaining from beginning to end. It will attract and entertain children, but will also entertain the adults who bring their children to the theater - thanks to so many elements.

Bill Zwecker stated in his review, "First of all, “Trolls” is visually captivating — and that, I believe, could have been achieved even without 3D. The intensity of colors and the non-stop, almost happily manic action on the screen will keep children of all ages glued to their seats from the moment the movie opens all the way to its joyous end."

This was released close to the most devastating presidential election this country has ever seen, but "Trolls" is actually a nice, escapist enjoyment - with the main theme being: What, exactly, is the secret to true happiness? Zwecker advised, "The not-so-subtle message here is that one should not find happiness or success in life at the expense of others. It’s a lesson that is obviously universal, but one that can always be reinforced, especially at times when happiness is indeed under siege!"

The story is easy. The cute tiny Trolls, as large-eyed and pointy-haired as the action figures it was based on, are the world's happiest beings, who main tasks are to dance, sing and hug on a daily basis of joyfullness.

However, we find out, the Trolls arch-enemies that they have been hiding from are the hideous, giant Bergens. The always heartbroken Bergens are under the thought that they can only be happy - even if it's for a short period - if they eat Trolls.

The way they decide that is their annual holiday they call "Trollstice."

The most evil of the Bergens is Chef, voiced by Christine Baranski, who has her mind-set being to recapture the Trolls (who found a new solitude to hide from the Bergens for 20 years) and bring back Trollstice to the Bergens.

Co-directors Mike MItchell and Walt Dohrn have brought together a cast of voice actors who are also singers, including the hot Anna Kendrick as protagonist Princess Poppy, along with former NSYNC member Justin Timberlake as Branch, the one Troll who rejects singing, dancing and hugging, because of his pessimsim of being found and eaten by the Bergens. Zwecker stated, "Timberlake also doubles as the film’s musical executive producer — adding his great skill to creating a musical backdrop that is rich and perfectly executed."

Along with these big-name singers, the cast is filled with top singers including Zooey Deschanel, Russell Brand, "Monty Python" member John Cleese, the hot Gwen Stefani, Jeffrey Tambor, "The Late, Late Show" host James Corden and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

In every way, "Trolls" gives. Zwecker said, "It is nicely paced, the jokes are spot-on (and will work for both the kids and their parents) and, again, this is visually a very special piece of animated artistry."

Both the happy little Trolls and the depressive, evil Bergens will entertain you. Zwecker said, "Most important, the lessons expressed in the storyline, while pretty obvious, are not delivered in a heavy-handed way."

You will walk out - or maybe dance out - of the theater feeling the music.

If you like animated movies and are a fan of any of the singers in this movie, you should definitely see this movie. The songs are really catchy and you will nod your head whenever these songs play in the movie, like I did. Definitely do not miss the chance to see this in the theater, you will love it. Take your children, they will love it as well.

Look out tomorrow because I will start a great month of reviews that I'm really excited for.