Directed by Walt Dohrn (Trolls World Tour), Trolls Band Together begins with a flashback in which the audience learns that Branch (voiced by Justin Timberlake – The Social Network) was once in a boy band called BroZone along with his brothers John Dory (Eric Andre – Sing 2), Spruce (Daveed Diggs – The Little Mermaid), Clay (Kid Cudi – Need For Speed) and Floyd (Troye Sivan – Boy Erased).
Their rise to fame came crashing down when they failed to achieve the ‘Perfect Family Harmony’ and they had a spectacular fail in front of their adoring fans. The group all go their own ways and Branch has never spoken about his BroZone days since.
Flash forward to today and Branch and Poppy (Anna Kendrick – Pitch Perfect) find their friend’s wedding interrupted when John Dory suddenly returns not only spilling Branch’s BroZone news to everybody, but also telling them that wannabe pop stars Velvet (Amy Schumer – Trainwreck) and Veneer (Andrew Rannells – The Prom) have kidnapped Floyd and are sucking his talent from him to fuel their own – something that will lead to him dying if they are not stopped soon.
Once John Dory and Branch see that Floyd is being kept in a diamond bottle they realise the only thing that can break him out is BroZone getting back together and performing their ‘Perfect Family Harmony’. But in order for that to happen they have to try and find all the remaining brothers, work out their differences and then try to hunt down where Velvet and Veneer are now holding Floyd.
As a film, Trolls Band Together is a strange watch. At times it becomes very low on story and huge on graphics and music. So bright and colourful are the animation throughout the film that it feels like a 1970s psychedelic, acid trip that moves from video clip to video clip. That said, this is still a movie that is a hell of a lot of fun from start to finish.
This is also a film that may leave newcomers to the franchise a little lost. There are characters in this film from the first film that didn’t appear in the second film, which seemed to confuse some of the audience at the premiere. There are also characters that you would expect to see from the second film that don’t appear at all this time around.
Still there are more than enough familiar characters to keep the story and laughs going. For long-time fans of the series it is nice to be able to learn more about the lives of Poppy and Branch while regular characters like Tiny Diamond (Kenan Thompson – Snakes on a Plane) keep the laughs going from start to finish.
Screenwriter Elizabeth Tippet (Trolls World Tour) takes the audience on a real journey, and despite the floaty nature of the film it does at times get into some deep territory. The rift between Branch and his brothers explores the topic of broken families while the film also looks at the results of a child being forced into stardom at an early age… and the impact of that happening to Branch is obvious in the past two films.
The film also explores the modern world’s obsession with being an online star and film shows, sometimes graphically, just how far Velvet and Veneer are willing to go in order to become stars. The fact that they are willing to end poor Floyd’s life in order to be celebrities really makes the audience stop and think about the TikTok generation of today.
Perhaps the best part of Trolls Band Together, though, is how the film jokes about the boy band phenomenon. From jokes around NSYNC’s rivals over the years – Backstreet Boys etc – through to the actual NSYNC reforming in order to record a track for the film’s soundtrack this is a film that takes its theme and runs with it brilliantly well. Keepi in mind that Justin Timberlake himself was among the original NSYNC lineup.
Older audiences will love being able to sing along to the songs on the soundtrack (and be thankful there is now a new playlist for their kids to listen to) while kids will find themselves drawn into the latest adventures of Poppy and Branch. This is a film that the whole family can enjoy and sing along to.
Trolls Band Together is yet to be rated and will be released in Phuket on Dec 5.
3/5 Stars
David Griffiths has been working as a film and music reviewer for over 20 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. He is also an accredited reviewer for Rotten Tomatoes. You can follow him at www.facebook.com/subcultureentertainmentaus