Despite loving or really liking a good deal of DreamWorks' previous work, especially 'The Prince of Egypt' (for me their best to date and one of my favourite films, animated and ever) and 'How to Train Your Dragon' (also a favourite), expectations were low for 'Trolls'.
That is partly because although there are some very good to outstanding DreamWorks films, there have been underwhelming efforts too like 'Shark Tale', 'Bee Movie' and 'Home', even thought the last two 'Shrek' films and 'Penguins of Madagascar' could have been better than they turned out. A larger part however was that the teaser looked dreadful and the first trailer only marginally better, so was expecting a bad film and very much a lesser effort.
What a surprise. 'Trolls' is yet another classic victim of bad and misleading advertising/marketing, and it is a shame as for me it is one of DreamWorks' past decade or so efforts along with 'How to Train Your Dragon 2' and 'Kung Fu Panda 2'. That said, it is understandable as to why some will still not like it or find it entirely appealing to them. It is somewhat younger-crowd oriented, so older children and adults may find, and have found, it too cute, too hyper-active and too cloying for their tastebuds.
As a young adult myself with there was a lot to like, with the colours, the music, the characters, energy and overall atmosphere more than compensating and almost masking a story that narratively and structurally is not really all that special. There isn't really anything new as such conceptually and not a lot done in bringing freshness to it, while the magical hair subplot did feel shoe-horned in and as a result of not being elaborated upon quite enough it doesn't make as much sense as it ought to have done.
On the other hand, the animation is brilliant. There is so much imaginative detail, the characters are well modelled, the backgrounds meticulous and best of all the colours are gorgeously vibrant and leap out at you from the screen. The soundtrack is like a musical extravaganza, and an upbeat and infectious one that has a huge presence in the film without being overkill. The script is enough fun and wit to counter-balance the cuteness and sugar, and neither of these elements felt over-balanced personally but that is not going to be an opinion shared by everybody.
Story-wise, that is where 'Trolls' is least successful. However the energy is exuberant, and personally just couldn't fail to be captivated by the energy, feel-good nature and charm that the film had, even if narratively it's not that strong the atmosphere certainly was. The characters were pretty adorable, none of them were annoying and none on the wrong side of sickly sweet. The voice acting all round is adept, and the singing showing the vocalists attacking the music with gusto and love of music.
On the whole, colourful and upbeat confection that may be too cute and sugary for older audiences, though there will definitely be exceptions (being one), but will especially delight the younger crowd. 8/10 Bethany Cox
