Trolls: World Tour

Trolls: World Tour
Starring Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Rachel Bloom, James Corden
Directed by Walt Dohrn & David Smith

In this time of uncertainty, doubt, fear, confusion, and hostility, we often forget how this newfound world affects those most innocent: the children.  Kids see their parents worrying more than ever (even if they try to hide it), and the adults' apprehension will inevitably fall to their children.  It's during this murky, dark time that "Trolls: World Tour" came out, and even though it's nowhere near as great as the original or even original in any aspect, it's the perfect thing for kids to enjoy as it seems they're enjoying things less and less.

After saving her world, Poppy (Anna Kendrick) becomes Queen of the Trolls, and her best friend Branch (Justin Timberlake) still harbors emotional feelings for her, but doesn't have the guts to tell her.  They think they live in their own happy little world, but soon discover that the world is much bigger - and more dangerous - than they thought.

Poppy's world is just one of six Troll worlds, each based on a certain type of music: Pop, Country, Classical, Techno, Funk, and Rock.  At one point in history all six were able to live in harmony, but soon they began hating the other types of music, until each of them took their string and went their separate ways.  Now Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom) of the Rock Trolls wants to unite everyone - by taking their strings and insuring that only Rock will remain.  Poppy, Branch and their friends head out to stop her, and along the way learn important lessons about the importance of individuality.

What I can appreciate most about this film is that it managed to balance music and story in a coherent, perfectly blended way.  Last year's "UglyDolls" failed on both of those levels, providing only a vomit-inducing spread of colors landscaped by mediocre songs and terrible voice acting, while trying to tell an important message about acceptance.  "World Tour" tells a message that its your individuality that really makes you special, and we shouldn't want to conform and be just like everyone else - because how else will people know we rock if we're all the same?  They manage to tell this story with upbeat visuals that comes thisclose to making your eyes bleed in the best way possible, by incorporating songs to accentuate their message (instead of "UglyDolls" which used songs exclusively to tell their story), and most importantly by an A-list voice cast that proves that singers can also do tremendous voice acting work (again, unlike "UglyDolls").

Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, and (most) of the gang from the original return, but this time they merely serve as a connecting device to introduce kids to a load of new trolls that could be capitalized with a new line of toys.  Still, Kendrick and Timberlake bring their A-game as they deal with their own issues - Poppy with being the best Queen possible, and Branch fighting to tell Poppy how he feels about her.  Yes, this is all part of the territory for a sequel like this, and honestly there's no real surprises in store for the viewers, but it's still a fun, color-filled ride.  Even Rachel Bloom gives a more open-ended feel to Barb than just a villain and nothing more, and in a sense makes her just as endearing as the other characters in the film (however, I'm still torn that Kelly Clarkson was cast as the Country Troll, when they could've gotten any number of actual country singers for that role, as Clarkson is more pop than country, and I'll die on that hill).  

That being said, it's easy to think that "World Tour" was never on the minds of the executives at DreamWorks.  Before the first film was released it was lauded for being a few years too late due to the sinking popularity of the Treasure Troll franchise, but it became a surprise hit - something I'm sure they weren't expecting.  So to capitalize on their possible money-maker, they churned out this sequel which - being honest - would've been just fine if it was a made-for-TV film (which, unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic, became a reality), because it doesn't link up much to the original - especially due to it introducing a whole new world that was never mentioned or even uttered in the previous entry.

Bringing some much needed light and love to a darkened world, "Trolls: World Tour" is just the thing disenchanted kids need to believe in the world again, and isn't too stupid for adults to enjoy either.

The Score: A-