Trolls (2016) [Blu-ray]
Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Taglines: Find your happy place

Bring home happy with DreamWorks Trolls-a musical adventure critics are calling "terrifically funny"*. When their village is invaded by the grumpy Bergens, two mismatched friends must work together in perfect harmony to save the day. Featuring hit songs performed by Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick and more, Trolls is the critically acclaimed, feel-great movie of the year!

Storyline: From the creators of Shrek comes the most smart, funny, irreverent animated comedy of the year, DreamWorks' Trolls. This holiday season, enter a colorful, wondrous world populated by hilariously unforgettable characters and discover the story of the overly optimistic Trolls, with a constant song on their lips, and the comically pessimistic Bergens, who are only happy when they have trolls in their stomach. Featuring original music from Justin Timberlake, and soon-to-be classic mash-ups of songs from other popular artists, the film stars the voice talents of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Russell Brand, James Corden, Kunal Nayyar, Ron Funches, Icona Pop, Gwen Stefani, and many more. DreamWorks' TROLLS is a fresh, broad comedy filled with music, heart and hair-raising adventures. In November of 2016, nothing can prepare you for our new Troll world. Written by 20th Century Fox

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, February 7, 2017 Those little trolls are making a big comeback because of the succinctly titled Trolls, the latest DreamWorks Animation movie based on those tiny, colorful, big-haired creatures that were so popular back in the day as distracting pencil toppers or charming backpack dongles. Of course, now -- thanks market saturation merchandising -- they're everywhere, tied into the new movie and transformed from pop culture phenomenon to the last digitally animated film craze. Their movie doesn't find much of a unique identity, though. Part catchy-Pop Justin Timberlake-produced Musical, part Smurfs, part Barbie films, it's about little beings forced to hide from much larger bad guys that want to eat them to consume their innate happiness. It's ridiculously and diversely colorful, much like the Barbie universe. In other words, it has everything little kids are going to go crazy for. The movie proper just isn't of much value beyond the flash and splashes of color. It's fun but rather generic, bland beyond its colors, but a baseline satisfying little jaunt through the motions as it explores themes of personal identity and finding happiness.

The trolls are a happy bunch of colorful little creatures who love to sing, dance, hug, and be happy. And that's pretty much their entire world. But one day, a Bergen finds them. Bergens are the opposite: large, ungainly, lacking color or humor or cheerful expressiveness. And they definitely don't hug or dance. The only way the Bergens can apparently be happy is by eating trolls. They make the troll's majestic tree the center of their civilization and hold an annual festival in which they consume their diminutive captives. But this year, the trolls manage to escape en masse. Twenty years pass and the trolls have lived at peace. Princess Poppy (voiced Anna Kendrick) is amongst the most carefree and buoyant. Opposite her is the colorless, conspiracy driven Branch (voiced by Justin Timberlake) who has prepared for the day the Bergens will most assuredly return. And that day is today. The trolls party just a little too loudly and colorfully and catch the attention of a Bergen named Chef (voiced by Christine Baranski), a mean-spirited creature who attacks the trolls and takes several of them prisoner. Now, Poppy and Branch have no choice but to team together, infiltrate Bergen territory, and rescue their friends before they become a Bergen Happy Meal.

The movie does a fairly good job of finding a balance between the extremes on both sides, the happy-go-lucky colorful trolls and the dour, sour, blandly colored Bergens. It's never much of a secret how the film will play out and what it will have to say from a thematic perspective, particularly as it focuses on one troll who has lost his color and spark -- literally and figuratively -- and a Bergen who finds her cheer with a little help from the trolls. In fact, one can almost not help but to feel for the Bergens on some level. Sure they're the big bad villainous goofs with crooked teeth, but their actions are at least understandable. They just want to be happy. They're just going about it the wrong way, and they've never been told differently or had the opportunity to learn from their prey, not just consume them. Yet it's all very transparent as the movie maneuvers through the usual animated fare ebbs and flows of high points and low points, a roller coaster of manufactured emotions and plot contrivances that open up new character details while still remaining firmly entrenched in cliché. It wants to be Inside Out but never finds nearly enough dramatic or structural muscle to push out a story of substance, settling instead for simple gags, catchy tunes, and barrages of cuteness and color with just enough offsetting peril to dazzle the young ones.

Even the movie's technical wizardry doesn't offer enough novelty to prove enticing. The film's visuals admittedly feel fresh (the felt-style texturing is very attractive), but beyond the surface there's not much here that catches one's attention. The trolls themselves are a known commodity and the Bergens are just sort of the standard-fare ogre-type creatures that look like a cross between something out Shrek and the Skeksis. Environments aren't imaginative, either, and even the barrage of color, cheer, and character quirks, particularly from tertiary characters who are essentially repeated one-hit gags, don't prove all that enticing. Add that to the straightforward core story and the tried-and-true themes that are explored to satisfaction but without any appreciable novelty, not to mention stagnant character depth that's only interesting enough to prop up the story and propel it forward, and the end result is a film sure to dazzle kids but more than likely to bore adults who will pine for the better movies in this class and wonder which old-is-new property is next on the list.

Trolls is in no way a bad movie, offensive, dull, or anything of the sort. It's just trite. Little imagination, commendable but blandly explored themes, simple caricatures, uninteresting construction...the movie is good enough to hold one's interest and keep the kids happy, singing, and pining for that themed lunch box or backpack, but parents will probably find the movie a fairly empty experience. This 20th Century Fox/DreamWorks Blu-ray release of Trolls does feature the expectedly high-end video, solid lossless audio (but absent the Atmos track from the UHD), and a decent smattering of extras that include a few technical and kid-friendly bonuses. Recommended to families, but grown-ups will probably want to chase it with something more substantial from Pixar.

[CSW] -3.0- As they said: "Find your happy place!" This 33rd animated feature from DreamWorks is another winner. And it's not just a great film for children - the primary target audience; as there is plenty here for adults too. Take it from someone who dislikes most musicals. If you have ideas about what a troll should look like, based on fantasy movies or Norse mythology, you need to adjust your image...these Trolls are cute little beings based on the dolls of the same name as created by Thomas Dam. They will troll their way into your heart and you'll leave the movie loving them. Bergens can't be happy unless they have eaten a Troll! But a Bergen scullery maid with big dreams turns out to be the Troll's best friend as they try to rescue a group of Trolls kidnapped by the most evil of Bergens, the Chef. Watch it to see how this little drama plays out. Look for top drawer voice acting from Justin Timberlake (who also is responsible for the superb musical score) Anna Kendrick, Zooey Deschanel, Christine Baranski and others. The animation is just absolutely stunning...what we've come to expect from DreamWorks.
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box motion codes were available at the time of this rental although they are available now.



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