Trolls Band Together: Film Review
Poppy, Branch and the rest of the Trolls gang are back for Trolls Band Together, the third instalment in the popular animated franchise.
Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick) discovers that her boyfriend Branch (Justin Timberlake) has a secret past – he was part of the famous boy band BroZone when he was a baby. Sadly, the siblings disbanded when he was little and they’ve been estranged ever since. One day, he learns that his brother Floyd (Troye Sivan) has been kidnapped by evil fake pop stars Velvet and Veneer (Amy Schumer and Andrew Rannells). Poppy and Branch embark on a journey to reunite the brothers Clay (Kid Cudi), Spruce (Daveed Diggs) and John Dory (Eric Andre) and save Floyd.
Trolls World Tour incorporated many different musical genres but Trolls Band Together is firmly back in the pop zone. While there is still a jukebox musical element, there is also a greater presence of original songs. Timberlake has written some catchy original tracks such as Better Place, Perfect and It Takes Two. The concept works perfectly with Timberlake’s involvement because he can create ’90s-inspired boy band tunes (which are ripped straight out of the NSYNC songbook) and get his bandmates back together for their first new song in over 20 years.
The Trolls films are always rather fluffy plot-wise but this one felt particularly lightweight. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous two and that’s because it wasn’t as funny, there were fewer songs I could sing along to, and because the weird and wonderful side characters were largely missing. It’s Branch and Poppy and the newcomers. There is also a subplot involving the Bergens (the antagonists from the first film) and I’m not a fan of them at all.
I loved the concept and its parallels to Timberlake’s pop star origins, the ’90s boy band jokes and the catchy creations but the story and script needed more work.
In cinemas from Friday 20th October