Thanks, Walt Dohrn. Again.
Your third “Trolls” movie – “Trolls Band Together” – made me happily leave the theater with the likes of “I Want It That Way” ringing through my head.
‘Trolls Band Together’ (IMDb)
For the kids, this is another high-energy, eye-popping adventure with their beloved troll characters. For grownups, it’s a great reason for *NSYNC to get back together and release their first song, “Better Place,” in more than 20 years.
The whole movie takes a poke at the boy-band phenomenon and what goes on behind the scenes, all in a very light-hearted, trolls-ish manner.
Justin Timberlake once again provides the voice of Branch, whose past is revealed in the flashback of BroZone, the band he and his brothers were in 20 years before. Of course, the group doesn’t last, and now the brothers have split up, too.
One of them has been kidnapped by brother/sister megastars Velvet and Veneer (Amy Schumer and Andrew Rannells.) They are phonies, with no talent of their own, so they continue to drain the talent, and the very life, out of the helpless troll.
Now his brothers decide to get the band back together and go in search of their sibling, who is trapped inside a diamond (I know it sounds weird, but it works in the movie.)
Poppy, Branch’s buddy, is back too, and once again Anna Kendrick provides her voice.
The colors are dazzling and the musical numbers, including songs by Sister Sledge, New Kids on the Block, the Bee Gees and Boyz II Men, are infectious.
The designs of the characters are interesting: Some look like Dr. Seuss creations, others look like Muppets, and some look like creatures from a 1930s cartoon.
The plot is pretty skinny, but it has appealing themes like getting past differences and what makes family. The main reason to go is to hear the music and see the trolls dance around.
Regardless of your age, you’ll come out feeling better than when you walked into the theater.
I swear.
3 stars
Running time: One hour and 32 minutes.
Rated: PG for coarse humor.
In theaters.
Watch the trailer here.
