Trolls
One for the kiddies – although with that caveat, it is one of the more tolerable films aimed squarely at the under-10s.
Premise: Based on the toy range (words to strike fear into most cinema-goers), a cute, pink, upbeat Troll princess, Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick), has to team up with a grey Troll pessimist, Branch (Justin Timberlake), to save their people from being eaten by the monstrous “Bergens”.
Verdict:
Sometimes a spade is just a spade, and a kids’ film is just a kids’ film – and that’s fine. Just don’t go into this expecting any of the wit, subtext or intelligence that adults can find in some family films, like the recent Pixar and Disney offerings or the two Lego movies.
Instead, this film works on one level only with no layers, and is squarely aimed at the under-10s market. And in that respect, it’s a success – both my 3 year old and my 7 year old loved it. It’s got lots of song and dance routines, plenty of bright colours and eye-catching visuals, and comedy aimed at children who find glitter-farts hilarious.
“…reasonably entertaining, with an undeniably catchy soundtrack…”
And as I say, on that level, it is a success – but the film as a whole is a hotchpotch of recycled concepts (including a Cinderella sub-plot involving Zooey Deschanel as a Bergen maid and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the Bergen prince), and the underlying message (happiness is found inside of you) is delivered with the subtly of a sledgehammer. Which is fine, if you’re an under-10.
That said, I do think Justin Timberlake deserves special mention for being able to deliver the line “I don’t sing anymore … not since my singing got my grandmother killed” with a straight face…
Maybe I’ve just been spoilt in the last year, with films like Zootropolis, Moana and The Lego Batman Movie proving that you can appeal to children and adults alike – whereas this is more of an “old school” kids’ movie. And if I have to sit through a film aimed squarely at under-10s, this is at least reasonably entertaining, with an undeniably catchy soundtrack.
