Trolls Band Together
review by Bobby Blakey
Through the years Dreamworks Animation has been churning out some great films that spun into big franchises including Kung Fu Panda and How To Train Your Dragon. Now they are returning yet again to another of their films Trolls for the third film in the franchise Trolls Band Together starring Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Camila Cabello, Eric André, Amy Schumer, Andrew Rannells, Troye Sivan, Daveed Diggs, Kid Cudi, Zosia Mamet, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, RuPaul Charles, Aino Jawo, Caroline Hjelt, Kenan Thompson, Anderson .Paak, Kunal Nayyar and Ron Funches. Could this latest entry bring the funk or will it fail to hit the right note?
Trolls: Band Together follows Poppy and Branch who are now officially, finally, a couple (#broppy)! As they grow closer, Poppy discovers that Branch has a secret past. He was once part of her favorite boyband phenomenon, BroZone, with his four brothers: Floyd, John Dory, Spruce and Clay. BroZone disbanded when Branch was still a baby, as did the family, and Branch hasn’t seen his brothers since. But when Branch’s bro Floyd is kidnapped for his musical talents by a pair of nefarious pop-star villains—Velvet and Veneer—Branch and Poppy embark on a harrowing and emotional journey to reunite the other brothers and rescue Floyd from a fate even worse than pop-culture obscurity.
I was surprised how entertaining the first two films in this series had been. I mean I was a fan and owned a Troll doll as a kid like most in my generation, but a movie about them? Well, here we are with not only another film in the series but also TV series as well. Anytime you get past the first couple of films I tend to get a little more cautious on the quality, but this one was already backed by the hype of the N’Sync reunion therefore had more to offer in
theory, but is it worth a new Trolls film? The answer is once again surprisingly yes.
Once again, the film brings its A game with great music, laughs and a heartfelt story. This time around we get to learn more about Brach’s past and meet some of his family. This sets the stage for silly fun and some reunions that don’t always go as planned. This story, like the last film works to bring more music to the storyline that makes sense as opposed to just the random singing often done. The cast are all great in the roles and bring all the levels of fun and emotion you would want.
As great as the story and fun of it all is, the film wouldn’t work without the insanely beautiful animation. The entire film is once again colorful, vibrant and full of life in every scene. The attention to detail is crazy with everything having the look of felt. It still amazes me the detail they can bring to films like this, especially all wrapped up into these creative worlds and characters. This is a well-crafted series that knows just what it is and will no doubt once again bring more smiles and dancing to the fans.
In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes and so much more. Return to the musical filled fun of the trolls with the Trolls Band Together Sing-Along Edition available now on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on January 16th from Universal Home Entertainment.
