Trolls World Tour was supposed to have a wide release in
theaters. But because of the coronavirus
pandemic – which essentially put 2020 cinema on pause – it was instead released
digitally on its scheduled release date.
It’s kinda historic. Nothing exactly
like this has ever happened before with a movie. Other theatrical movies whose impending release
dates got affected by the coronavirus (e.g. Black
Widow, Mulan, No Time to Die, A Quiet Place Part II, The
New Mutants, etc.) simply moved their releases to a later date. Trolls
World Tour, on the other hand, pushed through with the original release
date, but changed it from theatrical to VOD.
The somewhat remarkable nature of its release is what appealed me to
watch it more than the actual movie itself.
Anyway, Trolls World Tour is the sequel to Trolls, an animated movie based on the Troll doll toys that were
popular back in the late 20th century. It reveals that the Trolls we saw in the
first movie are really called the Pop Trolls, and that there are five other music-loving
Troll kingdoms out there. Each Troll
kingdom is named after the musical genre they’re exclusively devoted to – pop, techno,
rock, country, classical, and funk – and each one holds a magical guitar
string. One day, the Rock Trolls, led by
Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom), launch a campaign to conquer all other kingdoms and
collect all six strings in order to destroy other kinds of music, leaving only
rock. It falls to Queen Poppy (Anna Kendrick),
Branch (Justin Timberlake), and their friends – new and old – to save the
diversity of music.
The first Trolls movie was nothing special.
Still, I had some enjoyment for it – enough, actually, to make me even
check out its subsequent holiday TV special, Trolls Holiday, as well as this sequel. I don’t know if this was intentional on the
side of the filmmakers (if it is, it’s actually genius), but regardless, the
formerly downbeat Branch’s character arc served as a parallel to my watching
experience of the first Trolls movie,
and the relatability I got from that somehow became the key for me to enjoy
whatever merits that movie had.
On the other hand, Trolls World Tour had nothing that
functions like Branch’s arc in the first movie.
Thus, while it’s still tolerable, it doesn’t have much true
entertainment value that will appeal beyond children-level sensibilities. It has moments here and there that amuse, of
course. I particularly chuckled at the flashy
medley performed by Poppy, Branch, and Biggie when they arrived at the land of
the Country Trolls as well as at the dance off between the K-Pop and Reggaeton
bounty hunter trolls. However, a few fun
moments don’t make a good movie, especially if they aren’t held together by a worthwhile
story – something it doesn’t really have.
In the end, Trolls World Tour is intended for kids anyway. One may fairly enjoy it if he or she keeps that in my mind and accept it as it is. It’s not rewarding for more sophisticated
tastes. But as far as disposable distractions go, you can do worse.
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