Trolls: Band Together

 

Trolls: Band Together
Starring Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Eric Andre, Camila Cabello
Directed by Walt Dohrn

The "Trolls" franchise has been a very popular and lucrative deal for Dreamworks, and the train keeps rolling down the tracks with a third installment in the film series. It seems that the company at first didn't have enough faith in the film because as each movie is released more information comes out regarding the Trolls that should've been known beforehand - like in the second film, where they find out there's other Trolls and other types of music out there, which seems like something they should've known already. Now it's about hidden family, which given the different movies, short films, television specials and television series, you'd think again at least someone would've known this already - that Branch was a part of the biggest boy band ever, or that Poppy had a secret sister. Yet none of this came to light until "Band Together," and it seems that the writers are trying to incorporate new ideas that weren't meant to exist in the first place in order to keep the profits rolling in.

At the wedding of her friends Bridget and Gristle, Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) are enjoying the festivities when its interrupted by John Dory (Eric Andre), Branch's long lost brother. It turns out when he was a baby, Branch was a member of the boy band BroZone featuring his brothers John, Spruce (Daveed Diggs), Clay (Kid Cudi), and Floyd (Troye Sivan), but they broke up after a disastrous performance and conflicting egos. Now John's back and needs Branch's help - Floyd has been kidnapped by the brother/sister duo Veneer (Andrew Rannells) and Velvet (Amy Schumer) who uses Floyd's talent for their own, but in the process also drains his life force. The only way to free him is the perfect family harmony, so they embark on an adventure to find the other brothers and save Floyd before his essence is depleted. Along the way they run into Viva (Camila Cabello), who turns out to be Poppy's long lost sister, and who wants to make up for lost time - and keep Poppy close to her.


The Good:
"Band Together" is an obvious nod to Justin Timberlake's stint in N'Sync, and honestly I'm surprised it took this long for a film series about singing pop trolls to delve into this history. There's obvious nods to his real-life singing career and in-jokes that are cringy but also illicited a few chuckles.

The songs are alright, and the animation is as beautiful as ever, which are givens for a series of this caliber. They're enough to keep the kids entertained through its 90 minute runtime and is just enough for parents to sit through without wanting to completely gouge their eyes out or wish they were deaf. The voice talent is as peppy as ever, with everyone keeping the energy active.

The story centers on siblings and the ties that they hold. Branch and his brothers were once so tight, but due to their egos and differences they split so much they spend decades not talking to each other. Yet when one of their own is threatened they put aside their differences and come back together to show the true power of family. Poppy didn't know Viva existed, but immediately they're connected because of their sisterhood. Then on the opposite end of the spectrum, brother/sister Velvet and Veneer are constantly at odds, with Velvet treating Veneer as a lackey and someone who's beneath her. Veneer is afraid of his sister and there's clearly no love between the two. It shows that sometimes family bonds cannot be broken, while at other times family means absolutely nothing because there's no love there.


The Bad:
This isn't a film geared for me, obviously, but it feels entirely like a quick cash grab idea. It could've been put into a short film on Netflix, and the story is disjointed when it comes to the entire franchise as a whole. There's an obvious desire for profit over substance, and in the end there's no real lessons learned.

The movie itself is a hodgepodge of ideas that don't fully land in any meaningful way. While the concept of family love is there, in the end it's pretty much as you'd expect - the good side proves family is everything, while the bad side proves that family doesn't necessarily equate love. It's something we've seen better in numerous other films, and here it just seems hollow.


The Summary:
While children will enjoy the visuals and music, adults will roll their eyes at the numerous cringy 90s boy band jokes in "Trolls: Band Together" that tries to prove its own existence but instead proves it's nothing more than another cash grab in the far-too-long franchise.


The Score: C-