Why do Dreamworks animations get such a bad reputation? Sure, they have some clunkers (*cough* Bee Movie), but they have some great stuff! (Shrek, Shark’s Tale, to name a few).
Quite simply, it comes down to the fact that a lot of people have such loyalty to Disney/Disney Pixar. Sure, Disney’s catalogue is more extensive, and you’d be hard pushed to find a bad movie by them. And sometimes, Dreamworks have a bad case of releasing things at the wrong time. (Think releasing Antz at the same time as A Bug’s Life, or releasing Shark’s Tale at the same time as Finding Nemo). They have a history of releasing movies that are too similar to the premises of the current Disney blockbusters, which is undoubtedly a bit stupid, for want of a better word.
With Trolls comes another movie that gets a bad reputation, but to be honest, I found it utterly joyous. If you don’t, you’re probably a Bergen of the highest order.
Can we just appreciate for one minute that this film is obviously for young children? And on that basis, it’s brilliant. I for one have 2 year old twin nieces, and I can imagine that they’d be absolutely amazed by this. It’s almost as if some people went into this film expecting it to be for adults? The animation itself is wonderful – flawless, in fact – and although the covers of the songs are sickly sweet, they’re so much fun and the vibrancy of the movie just shines through your screen like a twirling disco ball of happiness.
Sure, the story is very obvious; there’s no twist or turn that you wouldn’t see coming as an adult viewer. But as a child (again, who this film is aimed at), you’d be mesmerised. Although it is definitely predictable, the plot of Trolls is well structured and it has as good a message as any Pixar film. That message? Using our differences to come together and overcome our challenges. It’s simple, and it’s perfect for a children’s movie that is surprisingly high on morality.
On top of all these factors, this is a film that has an A+ grade for casting. Alongside Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake as the main protagonists, you have smaller roles played by James Corden, Zooey Deschanel, John Cleese, and Queen of the Universe Christine Baranski as the villain. So yeah, you can continue to rate Pixar higher than Dreamworks, but they’re still pulling in some Hollywood hot shots no matter what you say.
Package all of these things together with a killer soundtrack to go along with it, and you have a cheerful, uplifting kids movie. (The soundtrack doesn’t just come in the form of Timberlake’s super-hit, Can’t Stop the Feeling either. There are some inspired covers of songs by Paul Simon, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Diana Ross too, suggesting that there’s an ulterior motive here to introduce young children to some classic music at the same time as entertaining them).
All in all, Trolls is underrated. There’s nothing wrong with joy, is there? And if you went into this movie expecting Withnail & I or Schindler’s List, then you’re looking in the wrong place, my friend.
Trolls is available to rent on Amazon for £2.49 in the UK.
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