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Trolls World Tour Movie Review

Trolls World Tour is a 2020 animated musical film from DreamWorks Animation directed by Walt Dohrn and starring Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake. It’s such a crazy flick.

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“Denying our differences is

denying the truth of who we are“

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Poppy and Branch discover that there are six different troll tribes scattered over six different lands, each devoted to six different kinds of music – funk, country, techno, classical, pop and rock. When rockers set out to destroy the other music, Poppy and Branch embark on a daring mission to unite the trolls and save the diverse melodies from becoming extinct.

I actually find this concept ingenious, and though the execution is not up to par, the movie is still wildly original in its first half before it becomes all standard animated family fare in terms of messaging and the resolution of conflict.

I loved the different music genres being portrayed here. The first movie was just about pop music, but this one introduces other genres, and most got their moments to shine. The classical music suffered due to a lack of screen time, but techno and funk got some great moments, rock is of course where the whole conflict arises and to me country was very amusing in its colorful characters.

The first half is absolutely terrific. Yes, it’s fast paced ridiculously so. Yes, it’s colorful to the point of becoming garish. And yes, its attention span is very short. However, somehow that first half was hugely entertaining in its mish-mash of different ideas and simply the whole premise being rapidly executed and in a very authentic, even artistic manner appealed to me a lot.

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The second half suffered in comparison to the first for resorting to the standard conclusion, though there is one thing here that truly impressed me, and that is the message that all of us are simply different, and that we should respect our differences, but never forget that we are and should be proud to be different. I loved that sentiment as it’s often forgotten in today’s political climate.

Trolls World Tour features crazy animation. It’s maybe too colorful, but I certainly appreciated the very diverse styles and imagery in it, and in particular the character designs are wholly unique and versatile. The movie is at its best when being offbeat and insane with its designs.

As for the soundtrack, it’s a jukebox musical with many famous songs being played throughout its runtime. But many are forgettable, though One More Time is so well executed and it offers such a fun party all its own. Trolls Wanna Have a Good Time is silly, but fun. I liked Born to Die quite a bit as well, but others are all quite unremarkable, and the new numbers are especially weak.

As for the characters, they’re also the weaker part of this movie. Anna Kendrick’s Queen Poppy is grating, there is no other way to say it as she is so annoying all the time. Branch is better, but far from interesting, though I liked the two’s interactions. Queen Barb is a lot of fun as this over-the-top hard rock villain, but all the others are only passable. The movie is also messy in pacing, direction and structure, but it still trumps its predecessor in terms of the overall quality, which I certainly did not expect.

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Though the characterization left a lot to be desired and the second half resorted to the standard genre fair, the first half of Trolls World Tour is so insane in terms of visuals, scope and plot that I ended up liking this sequel more than its predecessor. Though garish, the colorful animation is at its best in offbeat character designs, and the inclusion of different genres of music was an inspired choice, even if not all are well utilized. The whole premise is excellent as is the world building, but the pacing and the execution are certainly messy. What I respected the most here is its message about respecting and acknowledging our differences instead of acting as if we are all the same. That is an all too important message in today’s political climate.