Trolls

Based on the immensely popular toys from the 70s to the 90s, it's now Dreamworks' turn to do a movie based on a toy line akin to The Lego Movie. Featuring the likes of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Christine Baranski, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Zooey Deschanel, Gwen Stefani, James Corden and Russell Brand, it's safe to say that Dreamworks is keeping its streak of hiring numerous celebrities to get money out of people. And on top of the hit summer single Can't Stop the Feeling, I think it's also safe to say that they have high hopes for this movie despite their recent decline in box office results. So can this movie
put the Trolls toys back on the map, or is it as disgusting as A Troll in Central Park? Let's take a look.

Story: Right from the start, it's clear what the director and producers did not focus on was the writing. More of a checklist of cliches than an actual plot, it follows the incurably optimistic Princess Poppy who wants to save her troll friends, with the help of a cynical troll named Branch, from being eaten by the evil Bergens. That's literally the entire plot. So what do they do to make up for the 'simplicity?' Filler, bad fart jokes and obnoxious musical numbers, of course! The other subplot I'm talking about involves scullery maid Bergen Bridget being in love with the immature King Gristle and the trolls giving her relationship advice leading to a confusing Cinderella story. But even if it gave me a few chuckles, all it does is hammer down the obvious message that you don't need to make others suffer in order to be happy! Even within the first five minutes of backstory, I could tell it was going to go down that route and I was just sitting there waiting through all the filler, fart jokes, 'cool and hip' slang and stock characters to get to that part. It doesn't really help that there's no stakes or feeling of danger and the climax certainly is the epitome of that problem because it's incredibly rushed. On top of that, the pacing is also a massive problem because everything feels way too rushed, especially the journey Poppy and Branch take to get to the Bergen Kingdom which only takes up about a fifth of the running time. It really just feels like a load of scenes of vignette cobbled together instead of a cohesive narrative. However, I'm not gonna say that all the humour is terrible. There are times where it can be self aware of how annoyingly cutsey and happy go-lucky the trolls are through Branch's cynical nature. But soon after, it can get confusing of who we're meant to side with because there are times where Branch is painted as the bad guy when he's the only one that's making sense. And the 'emotional' stakes also feel as artificial as the trolls themselves and it made it very hard for me to feel for them because of how obnoxiously happy they are. I've known movies to have very simple plots up to the point that there isn't really one, but what they do to make up for it is by giving the characters proper development. This however, doesn't do that.

Animation: Despite the lack of effort put into the plot, thankfully, the animation is the polar opposite. Not only is the colour pallette really vibrant and bright, but also the character designs and backgrounds of the Troll's hideout and outside are very zany and creative in their own right. Even the world of the Bergens, while very dull and grey in colour pallette, is still interesting to look at. The kingdom itself looks grand in architecture and seeing it to scale from the troll's perspectives can make it fun during chase scenes or musical numbers. The textures are definitely the highlight, especially with the attention put into the trolls' hair and the almost felt-like texture of the world, Poppy's scrapbooking and constant use of glitter. The character animation is also very creative, especially on the hair being used either as a mode of transportation, a weapon like whipping enemies or as a mode of camouflage as Bridget's wig. However, I do have a problem with the character designs themselves because while the trolls do look MUCH better compared to their scary toy counterparts (which cleverly have a cameo during the prologue), I still found them a bit unsettling. I think it might be because of the overtly cutesy tone...it's just my opinion, they're still creative designs regardless! To call the animation creative in this is as massive understatement, but given that this is Dreamworks after all, so it shouldn't be a surprise.

Characters: Same as the writing, the characters definitely aren't the strongest aspect of this movie. Each one can either be summed up as having one personality trait or a plot device with absolutely no dimension and is just there to get a celebrity's name. Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) is the princess who is infuriatingly optimistic with trying to save her friends. Branch (Justin Timberlake) is just the grumpy cynical character trope until his reason behind why he acts this way comes out of nowhere in the halfway point for some cheap sympathy. Although as mentioned, I gravitated towards him more because he was literally the only character that had a shred of common sense. The villain, Chef (Christine Baranski) recaptures the trolls after the last trollstice 20 years ago went horribly wrong and wants to rule the Bergen kingdom. Why? Who cares because the movie clearly doesn't! Bridget (Zooey Deschanel) is the scullery maid Bergen used for the Cinderella-style subplot, and I will admit that Deschanel's performance did leave me chuckling even if the character herself was very one dimensional. King Gristle Jr (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is just an overgrown child who can get annoying pretty quickly, even if all he wants is to experience happiness. Creek (Russel Brand) is the spiritual troll and false love interest for Poppy who loves yoga. As for everyone else, they literally serve no purpose at all. Absolutely none. There's the one that farts glitter, the DJ one voiced by Gwen Stefani who I barely remembered, the fashion loving twins voiced by Icona Pop and the giant troll voiced by James Corden who carries that very creepy worm thing. Finally, there's King Gristle Sr (John Cleese) who only appears at the beginning clearly as a favour for the director because of the Shrek movies. Come to think of it, there are some uncanny resemblances to the Shrek universe in this movie...oh yeah, and GloZell voices Branch's grandmother along with a load of other singers, youtubers and TV actors who I couldn't recognise! Seriously, what was the point of their casting? As you can tell, this movie did not make up for the simplicity of the plot with interesting characters! All they are is one dimensional tropes who are being advertised as merchandise for kids!

Songs: Like Strange Magic, this movie decides to use songs from various decades with their own twist to them. And like so, it doesn't make any sense. I get why with the Shrek universe because it's supposed to be a parody, but it doesn't fit in a movie like this where people supposedly don't exist! At least they sound a bit better and they attempt to do original songs. Probably my favourite is Get Back Up Again because it's really the most self aware of Poppy's optimism clouding her judgement despite it's perkiness and catchiness. There's another admittedly catchy song sung by Ariana Grande during Gristle and Bridget's date. The covers don't fare well because of how random they are, from Zooy Deschanel's cover of Hello having no purpose despite her singing, Sound of Silence coming out of nowhere despite being admittedly funny, a mash-up of Move Your Feet, D.A.N.C.E & It's A Sunshine Day which grated on my nerves and a remix of September in the end credits. But the overall problem is they instantly date the movie. From one troll literally having an autotuned voice, to raps and twerking, they feel like they're trying way too hard to be hip and cool for the kids. But there's one exception: Timberlake and Kendrick's version of True Colours. While in context comes out of nowhere as a declaration of love for Poppy and to lift the other trolls' spirits, it just lets the lyrics do the talking without any unnecessary remixing, autotuning or rap. And of course, I can't go into this section without mentioning Can't Stop the Feeling. While I still stand that it feels too much like Happy from Despicable Me 2, it's still a very joyous song which leaves me grinning and dancing whenever I hear it on the radio. And given that kids in the cinema were singing along to it, it just shows how it's become a pop culture staple. So overall, it's more of a mix. Despite serving no purpose in the narrative and trying too hard to be cool, the versions themselves aren't that bad.

Trolls was exactly what I expected it to be: a very generic, simplistic and overtly cutesy story with one dimensional characters and creatively amazing animation. I guess I could recommend it for kids or those who are. And given how depressing of a year 2016 has been for everyone, I guess a cutesy movie with a sugar overload was exactly what I needed.  Don't get me wrong, it is much better than A Troll in Central Park or Shark Tale, but this definitely is a weaker addition to the Dreamworks library. And I'm not gonna lie, but I have massive doubts for Boss Baby coming out next year...
Story: 3/10
Animation: 8/10
Characters: 2/10
Songs: 5/10
Overall: 5/10