The month of April usually sparks a new season full of new movies for all ages. However, due to Covid-19, most movies are getting postponed from their original release date, all except for one title. Trolls: World Tour was released online and is available for you to watch from the comfort of your own home. Trolls: World Tour is directed by Walt Dohrn and stars Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Kunal Nayyar, and James Corden who are reprising their roles as Poppy, Branch, Guy Diamond, and Biggie, respectively. The plot centers around the trolls discovering that there’s a world full of trolls that represent different tribes of music genres. When rocker Queen Barb sets out to annihilate the other music genres and it’s up to Poppy and Branch to unite the trolls to save their world and music from being wiped out for good.
Since the first Trolls film was such a success, it was a no-brainer for Dreamworks Animation to create a sequel. What makes Trolls: World Tour good is that it entertains children for an hour and a half about different music genres and though their animation is targeted at children, a wider demographic can enjoy the movie. Trolls: World Tour is more than the sum of its parts. Gone are the glum goblins from the original film, replaced instead with a more fully fleshed-out Trolls Universe, showcasing different lands devoted to music genres and their Trolls citizens.
One minor issue with the film’s story is that it’s not very original. A quest to unite six different tribes against a common enemy is fairly predictable, and a tactic employed by many sci-fi and superhero films today. The story and ensemble cast are an echo of more accomplished franchises like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings or the Avengers films. Though kids today might not notice such a thing, it’s a poor excuse for unoriginal writing.
Overall, Walt Dohrn does a good job of directing this Dreamworks Animation sequel, as good sequels are typically hard to come by. The animation is colorful and well done, and while its message of inclusivity and celebrating each other’s differences is hardly revolutionary, the way that the message is said still makes it a worthy lesson to learn. Trolls: World Tour takes on more of an adventurous tone while also becoming more of a jukebox musical that serves its purpose instead of a mish-mash of songs put together with no purpose behind them.
3/5 STARS