Trolls: "OK, People, Hair We Go"

Director: Mike Mitchell
                Walt Dohrn
Writer:    Jonathan Aibel
                Glenn Berger
Starring: Anna Kendrick
                Justin Timberlake
                Zooey Deschanel
                Russell Brand
                James Corden
                Gwen Stefani
                Christopher Mintz-Plasse
                Christine Baranski
                John Cleese
                Jeffrey Tambor
                Kunal Nayyar
                GloZell
Rating:    ****

Release Date: Out Now 

Trolls have been apart of children's lives since the 70's, and while the colourful creatures are adorable, they have taken a back seat in the past decade or so. That is until now. The perfectly timed release of Dreamworks' Trolls (just in time for Christmas) means that the funny little figures are back in our lives, and now they have their own, equally colourful adventure.

It has been 20 years since the Trolls escaped the evil clutches of the Bergens; a larger, more miserable creature that finds their only happiness in eating Trolls. Present day, and Princess Poppy (Kendrick) is planning the biggest party ever to celebrate this landmark, despite the warnings of the grumpiest Troll around, Branch (Timberlake). Unfortunately for the residents of the Troll village, the Bergen Chef (Baranski) sees the party and kidnaps a group of the Trolls and takes them back to the Bergen kingdom, for King Gristle (Mintz-Plasse) to eat. 

Princess Poppy & Branch

This zany and energetic film needed a larger than life cast to bring its characters to life, and luckily the casting has been done perfectly. Kendrick and Timberlake are the perfect pair to drive this film, with Kendrick's chipper Poppy and Timberlake's realistically moody Branch balancing each other out throughout the film and building a beautiful relationship. They bring real heart to the proceedings, and in the films final act, they two actors manage to find a happy medium in the way their character acts, and their voices portray the creatures emotional journeys wonderfully.

The rest of the ensemble including current Late Night darling, James Corden, pop icon Gwen Stefani, British comedian Russell Brand and musical film supremo Christine Baranski, bring excitement, energy and pure quirkiness to each ad every scene. It is a larger than life film, and the cast needed to deliver an excitable performance for each of their alter-egos. Fun was clearly had in the recording booths, and that fun comes across in each performance.

My favourite character from the film though, and the one I most related too (worryingly) was Zooey Deschanel's Bergen, Bridget. She brings warmth and depth to this lonely girl, and keeps her truly engaging the whole way through. Looking for love and just wanting to be happy, their is a real innocence and sadness to her character, and when she finally gets what she deserves in the final scenes, it s an uplifting and joyous moment in the film, in fact her scenes were the ones I found most emotional. 

King Gristle & Bridget

Trolls is a super entertaining film for children, and while it is clearly geared towards a younger audience, with subtle jokes for adults being few and far between, and the plot being pretty thin; it is still enjoyabe for all. It my not have the quality that brings entire families back to watch it again, like say a Pixar film or the Shrek series did, but for one or maybe two views, it is certainly a lot of fun. Youngsters however will be brought back to it constantly thanks to it's colours, slapstick comedy and the OTT Trolls.

The one thing within the film that I don't see getting boring is its insanely infectious soundtrack. Featuring old classics like Cindi Lauper's 'True Colours' and Lionel Richie's 'Hello', to more recent hits like 'Mo' Money Mo' Problems' and Justin Timberlake's big hit this year, Can't Stop the Feeling'. Slotting perfectly into the film's narrative, what makes these songs even more enjoyable is the production from Timberlake himself, and that most of them are lead by JT and Kendrick and sung perfectly. Kendrick's vocals are on top form in this film, and new life is given to these classic hits. In our rather depressing world's current situations, this fun and energetic soundtrack and film is just what we need to brighten up our days.

Trolls - Trailer