When the first Trolls movie came out in 2016, it was a surprise at how it managed to mix adult and children’s humour throughout while maintaining this musically charged storyline. It ended up being an incredible movie, launching the Trolls franchise back into the spotlight. But after stretching the world as far as it did for Trolls World Tour, was there much left in the well to be tapped for a third film to make it stand out as much? Trolls Band Together tries to show that there is more, but it starts to feel stretched out, especially around the midpoint when they repeatedly hit the same story beat.
Trolls Band Together follows Branch and Poppy attending King Gristle and Bridget’s wedding, only to have it crashed by one of Branche’s long-lost brothers proclaiming they need to get their boy band BroZone back together in order to save another kidnapped brother. Branch and Poppy then go on another adventure to gather his lost siblings, each one having an issue they need to work through first, only for Queen Poppy to find out she also has a long-lost sibling.
Resolved rather quickly, the whole movie tries to deal with themes of toxic family and the power of found family. Although not to the depths it could have, as the first movies had very dark moments that helped get its point across, whereas Trolls Band Together feels overall more like a way just for them to say, “Hey, we got NSYNC.”
Speaking of NSYNC, there seems to be a little step back when it comes to the soundtrack on display in Trolls Band Together. The previous entry, Trolls World Tour, had a little bit of every genre, so there was something for you no matter your music taste. It’s clear here that the focus is on boy bands and Pop in general. Usually, that wouldn’t be an issue because each boy band through the ages had a song that absolutely blew the roof off or was catchy enough.
“Trolls Band Together still has some of the magic from the series, but it does feel like the franchise is starting to lose some of its lustre.”
But going with NSYNC, it would have been a no-brainer to use tracks like “Bye Bye Bye” to help ease in children and parents alike into the whole vibe. Instead, to use less popular songs by a big-name band makes you feel like NSYNC was only used because they couldn’t get Backstreet Boys.
Each Trolls movie has a point in the films where they have this grand remix of music spanning all genres. However, in Trolls Band Together, the big culmination remix felt half-hearted, full of songs that weren’t as big as the first two were able to get, and most importantly, dull. It’s a weird vibe for a kids’ movie to just be boring when you are able to get NSYNC back together for your climactic piece.
Mostly, it feels like because past Trolls movies have shown us how they can open it up to various genres, bringing it back down to a singular genre and not doing it as well as the first movie made it seem like the franchise has taken a huge step back.
“…in Trolls Band Together, the big culmination remix felt half-hearted, full of songs that weren’t as big as the first two were able to get, and most importantly, dull.”
One of the most significant changes is the addition of the antagonists, Velvet and Veneer, two pop star wannabes who are in line with the people who think they deserve to be famous for no other reason than they are rich. But, whereas we have had Bergens and Trolls, even Cooper, who looks wildly different, is considered a funk troll. Our protagonists are much more human-like in appearance, and it introduces a weird vibe that makes them uncomfortable to watch.
Otherwise, the voice acting is excellent as usual, with Anna Kendrick‘s Queen Poppy and Zooey Deschanel‘s Bridget clearly far and above everyone else. It is a shame we don’t get as many of the side trolls like Cooper and Cloud Guy. Whatever happened to Barb? The songs are catchy and help the flow of the movie, but they aren’t as big as they have been in the previous movies.
Lastly, the humour of the Trolls movies has always been spot on, but it feels a little lacking here, especially for kids. There are some slapstick jokes that feel overused, and the jokes about everyone having long-lost siblings were funny the first time, but when they keep bringing it up, they lose their lustre.
The big takeaway here is that there are some very adult jokes thrown in. I appreciated them, but they were slyly thrown in to go over kid’s heads like usual. They are front and centre. For example, there is a point where Bridget and King Gristle are tied up, and Bridget says, “I didn’t think we would BOTH end up tied up on our honeymoon” wild stuff.
Trolls Band Together still has some of the magic from the series, but it does feel like the franchise is starting to lose some of its lustre. The songs are okay at best, and the voice acting is excellent. But the story feels like an excuse to show off NSYNC, and that’s it.
