Trolls World Tour (2020)
It is rare for animated sequels to not even top the original film but even match it for quality and enjoyment value. For this reason, it is safe to say that Trolls World Tour failed to get much hype behind it. The original 2016 Trolls film felt empty and annoying and there was very little in the film to even suggest that a sequel would have anywhere interesting to go. Taking advantage of a slow media cycle due to most of the film industry being shut down and delayed, Trolls World Tour skipped the theatrical release choosing to come out on digital becoming the first film to fully trade in its wide theatrical release. Where this will be enough to keep the film memorable in the history of film specifically for the historical period the world is in now, the movie itself is also memorable not because of the quality but rather the bizarreness within.
The most striking thing regarding Trolls World Tour that is also decently respectful about the film is its desire to be more than just an average animated sequel. Instead of building a contrived bland plot, the film builds one with deeper meaning and purpose around every corner. Building the world of the Trolls much more than the first film, Trolls World Tour introduces the concept of 6 tribes of trolls each defined by their unique musical string and the conquest by Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom) of the Rock Trolls to try and wipe out all other kinds of music. Where this plot does require plenty of exposition dumps and questionable logic, it also strives high trying to have multiple larger socially relevant messages within itself. From more basic messages of friendship and communication to large scale messages of cultural appropriation and discrimination, no one can fault Trolls World Tour for being lazy or just going through the motions as an animated sequel. Unfortunately, it really feels like the film reaches too high failing to land how it wanted to. With an extremely messy screenplay and unforeseen problematic messages that come from it, Trolls World Tour lacks the craft needed to handle bigger story elements like cultural appropriation, for example, causing the film to feel insensitive and as mentioned even problematic at times even if the heart was in the right place. For the film to find the impact is as looking for, it clearly needed to not only cut the number of messages it was trying to have as plenty don't even get proper conclusions but also really analyze what it is saying in how it is presenting its story and characters.
The film's chaotic structure not only affects the impact of its larger messages but the overall flow of the film as a whole. How the film jumps around from story to story throwing insane ideas and random moments of utter chaos (literal visions of god for example) makes the film feel like a rollercoaster in the worst of ways. No character gets real development and the world itself clearly has interesting ideas but never really is able to explore them. Trolls World Tour is a constant flow of glitter, songs, chaos, and deeper messages that all flow by without ever really creating anything memorable. The comedy is very lackluster with the concept of using the ever-evolving medium of music as the main selling point, unfortunately causing multiple jokes to feel dated already. The one thing to stand out in the film is the animation. With only a few small exceptions, this is a beautifully animated film with so many small touches that help make it stand out. From the attention to various textures to some really standout uses of color, this film visually stood out proving that at the very least a decently sized budget can give you nice animation.
For multiple reasons, Trolls World Tour has to be one of the weirdest films of the year. Where it strives for great heights, it never quite reaches them falling in a chaotic mess unlike anything else. The film has so much to say but by the end feels like it says very little. It is easily one of the messiest and disorganized films of the year that both goes above and below what would be expected from an average animated sequel. With so many great films streaming, it is hard to recommend dropping the money to stream this. Where ultimately it is a thumbs down for Trolls World Tour, it is worth repeating that at least the film can be respected for trying to say something important.
For multiple reasons, Trolls World Tour has to be one of the weirdest films of the year. Where it strives for great heights, it never quite reaches them falling in a chaotic mess unlike anything else. The film has so much to say but by the end feels like it says very little. It is easily one of the messiest and disorganized films of the year that both goes above and below what would be expected from an average animated sequel. With so many great films streaming, it is hard to recommend dropping the money to stream this. Where ultimately it is a thumbs down for Trolls World Tour, it is worth repeating that at least the film can be respected for trying to say something important.