Movie #129 2020: Trolls World Tour (2020)

I promised you Trolls World Tour and here it is!

Look, in times of crisis, we all need something to cheer us up and take our minds off the insane level of death and devastation going on in the world. (I probably shouldn’t have started off a review of a kids’ movie like that, yet here we are). My point is, Trolls World Tour is exactly the sort of film that will give you that joy.

I’ll start off by saying that no, this isn’t as good as the first movie. It’s probably not a relevant sequel at all to be honest, and is clearly just a cash cow movie that was produced for the Bank of Dreamworks. But you know what? It’s still fun, if nothing else.

This time, we join our little hairy friends to get a detailed explanation about how the different ‘tribes’ of Trolls were formed. Basically, they claim that each of the tribes have love for specific styles of music; the characters from the first movie obviously coming under the ‘Pop’ Troll category. There are 5 others, which include Classical, Rock, Country, Techno, and Funk, hence where the ‘World Tour’ concept comes from. We are whisked away throughout its 90 minute duration on a whistle stop tour of music genres, and understandably because of this, the soundtrack absolutely slaps.

As with the first Trolls movie, there’s a clear attempt to introduce some older tracks to the youngsters of today. This time we get covers of Black Sabbath‘s ‘Crazy Train’ (with the legend that is Ozzy Osbourne making a hilarious cameo in the movie), and Heart‘s rock classic ‘Barracuda’. Neither of which you’d expect to hear in a movie for young children, but they work so well within the context of the film that they’re super fun to hear.

The message is perhaps louder and clearer in this film than in Trolls too. That message? That our differences make us stronger and that we should accept everybody for themselves. Simple once again, but exactly the sort of message that should come attached to animated movies.

Sorry to compare again to the first movie, but this one wasn’t as funny either. It seems as if they tried to make World Tour more serious somehow so that it would appeal to adults more. I personally still chuckled a fair few times, but it just was not as humorous as the first. The absence of the Bergens was unfortunately felt too strongly in that regard.

This is still a decent film, and one that I would’t bombard with unwarranted hate if a friend asked my opinion on it. But this movie comes with a shade of darkness that just didn’t fit cohesively enough with the premise of Trolls, so it comes with a recommendation, but not an urgent one.

Trolls World Tour is a straight to digital release due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will therefore set you back £15.99 to rent. However, it is well worth it considering what you would have paid were you to go to a cinema.

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