Mike Mitchell
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Poppy and Branch sally forth on a rescue mission, heading into the Bergen homeland (Bergen County?) with several breaks to sing, sometimes with freaky hallucinogenic backdrops that would not have been out of place in “Yellow Submarine.”
As you'd expect under these circumstances, there are good things mixed in with the syrup, including a psychedelic underworld of monsters out of Yellow Submarine; Zooey Deschanel making a lovelorn scullery maid sound like a meek, ditzy Californian teenager; and John Cleese as the Bergen king informing his son (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) that "you will never, ever be happy".
** If 1968’s “Yellow Submarine” introduced Pop Art and psychedelic rock-poster surrealism into the cartoon feature film, then this latest DreamWorks Animation release — with its Glow Stick chemiluminescence, its anime mutant cuteness and its “cupcakes and rainbows” color scheme — finds visual inspiration in the upper echelons of Katy Perryesque high-gloss pop and in the rave scene associated with electronic dance music.
Imaginen unos protagonistas que remiten a Los Pitufos y unos malvados que se parecen bastante a los ogros de Shrek, un uso de la música en la línea de Happy Feet, un ritmo trepidante como en Kung Fu Panda y referencias varias a los cuentos de hadas como La Cenicienta o a Willy Wonka y tendrán una idea bastante clara de Trolls, un film vistoso (por momentos deslumbrante en términos de animación), pero no demasiado creativo ni mucho menos sorprendente.
Yet if you add Poppy's similarity to Inside Out 's Joy and echoes of 2006's penguin rave-up Happy Feet , Trolls risks resembling a box-ticking exercise rather than a show of fresh flavour.
La película está estructurada con canciones a lo Shrek, Happy Feet y siguen los nuevos clásicos musicales, con personajes que remiten a tantas otras películas infantiles, desde que los personajes se parecen y viven en una comunidad como Los Pitufos, Ramón es un ogro -sin serlo- como Shrek, hay quien se atraganta comiendo como el gordito de Charlie y la fábrica de chocolates, etc, etc, etc.
If you could take the Shrek, Happy Feet and Smurfs movies, toss them in a blender and hit the pulse button a few times, the result would be a pretty reasonable approximation of Trolls, an admittedly vibrant-looking but awfully recognizable animated musical comedy concoction (premiering at the London Film Festival this weekend ahead of its Nov. 4 domestic opening).
Trolls marks Dreamworks’ first full-on musical since The Prince of Egypt in 1998, and if this is any indication of the studio’s approach to the genre, it may be best they stay away in the future.
3) Is this movie going to be a Cyrano de Bergerac riff or a Cinderella riff?
Upon arriving at the pungent, miserable locale, the film flips into something of a weird riff on “Cyrano de Bergerac,” as Poppy and Depressive are enlisted as love gurus for a self-pitying scullery maid named Bridget (Zooey Deschanel, who has a lot of fun throwing her voice in every direction).
While “Trolls” won’t go down as an animated classic on the order of “Frozen,” “Toy Story,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “WALL-E,” or “Inside Out,” it must be said this new offering from DreamWorks Animation is a total delight from start to finish.
The upbeat Troll princess Poppy ( Anna Kendrick , evoking “ Inside Out ” Amy Poehler), with Branch ( Justin Timberlake ), a glum Troll ever wary of the Bergens, embarks on a rescue mission to the Bergens’ kingdom, where she befriends and gives a beauty makeover to a scullery maid (Zooey Deschanel) smitten with King Gristle Jr. (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).
The insistence that everyone must be happy right now is the very opposite of Inside Out, with potentially beneficial Sadness once again ordered out of the room.
There are certain animated films — like, say, “Inside Out” — that achieve rarefied levels of feeling, imagination, and head-boggling audacity.
Yet if you add Poppy's similarity to Inside Out 's Joy and echoes of 2006's penguin rave-up Happy Feet , Trolls risks resembling a box-ticking exercise rather than a show of fresh flavour.
Poppy (Anna Kendrick), the princess who comes across as a slightly cheerier take on Joy from “Inside Out,” is perturbed by the warnings of a fellow Troll, Branch (Justin Timberlake), who believes that the Trolls’ enemies — the giant Bergens, who haven’t been seen in 20 years — are ready to pounce.
The musical numbers are a mix of re-worked pop hits dating from the sixties to the nineties (parents will catch tunes originally done by Kool and the Gang, Simon and Garfunkel, Earth, Wind and Fire and Gorillaz) and new songs written by Timberlake (who previously contributed songs to Happy Feet 2 and Shark Tale) and others.
You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)
Directed by Dennis Dugan
influenced by Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999)
A Palestinian cab driver named Salim (Rob Schneider of “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo”) with an old grudge against Zohan vows revenge.
It’s probably sheer coincidence that Poppy sports the same name and sunny temperament as the heroine of Mike Leigh’s 2008 film, “Happy-Go-Lucky,” a live-action comedy that also works as a subtle dramatic inquiry into the elusive nature of happiness: Why do some people have it and others don’t?
Josh Zuckerman (2004's " Surviving Christmas ") is an inviting, adorable presence as Ian, a young man who isn't keen on his virginal status but comes to realize he would rather share the experience with someone he genuinely cares for.
That sets the super-happy Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick), the atypically curmudgeonly Branch (voiced by Timberlake, who previously voiced Boo Boo in 2010’s Yogi Bear) and a band of other Trolls (voiced by Russell Brand, James Corden and others) off on a rescue mission.
The musical numbers are a mix of re-worked pop hits dating from the sixties to the nineties (parents will catch tunes originally done by Kool and the Gang, Simon and Garfunkel, Earth, Wind and Fire and Gorillaz) and new songs written by Timberlake (who previously contributed songs to Happy Feet 2 and Shark Tale) and others.
But, after branching out into animated musicals with the Trolls duo and not appearing in a live-action movie since starring opposite Kate Winslet in 2017’s Wonder Wheel , the SexyBack singer has returned to deliver what might just be his finest screen performance.
But, co-directed by Shrek and SpongeBob franchise hand Mike Mitchell and written by the Kung Fu Panda team of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, Trolls proves an immensely entertaining, highly savvy piece that always has a sardonic wink to remind us that we’re not in Smurfland any more.
Screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger previously teamed on all three of DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda movies and they give the film some of that franchise’s mildly snappy humour.
Here, Kung Fu Panda screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger craft a simple story with a creepy twist about the perpetually optimistic Trolls vs. the monstrously sad sack ogre residents of Bergen Town, who are only able to crack a smile after chowing down on them.
Imaginen unos protagonistas que remiten a Los Pitufos y unos malvados que se parecen bastante a los ogros de Shrek, un uso de la música en la línea de Happy Feet, un ritmo trepidante como en Kung Fu Panda y referencias varias a los cuentos de hadas como La Cenicienta o a Willy Wonka y tendrán una idea bastante clara de Trolls, un film vistoso (por momentos deslumbrante en términos de animación), pero no demasiado creativo ni mucho menos sorprendente.
At least writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger ( Kung Fu Panda ) and directors Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn have fun with the candy-hued, scare-haired Dam Trolls – felt cuties who love EDM, enjoy warm hugs and poop cupcakes when scared.
Trolls was written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, who cut their animation teeth on the Kung Fu Panda film series, another effort that is often funnier than most cartoons.
The movie features self-consciously cute protagonists who already have a presence on toy shelves (just like the Smurfs), trying to escape an ogre-like presence who wants to eat them (also the Smurfs), while trying to help a seemingly hopeless humanoid figure show her true greatness (“Ratatouille,” “Shrek,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks” etc).
Screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger may have been writing for the kiddie circuit a little too long with multiple Kung Fu Pandas and Alvin and the Chipmunks movies under their belt, because this one feels a little too stale and formulaic.
Yet even though there’s oodles of glitter, singing, hugging and scrapbooking, don’t dismiss this as saccharin kiddie fare; directors Walt Dohrn and Mike Mitchell – whose resumes include SpongeBob SquarePants – have admitted to drawing from the humour of Monty Python And The Holy Grail and The Mighty Boosh, so there’s enough wit and surrealism to keep older folk entertained too.
Only one Troll refuses to attend the party: the reclusive Branch (voiced by Justin Timberlake, of “Runner Runner” ), a sort of doomsday preparer who is convinced that the Bergens will find them again and who thinks the Trolls have lulled themselves into false security and weakness.
But no, we get disco tunes, disco balls, troll-eating villains, and a Mission Impossible rescue.
Yeah, I know, “A Bug’s Life,” lots of other fairytales and cartoons kind of went there first.
And, as the scheming Chef, Christine Baranski (2014's " Into the Woods ") has a field day digging into her villainous part, a sort of female counterpart to Ben Kingsley's Archibald Snatcher from 2014's " The Boxtrolls ."
Justin Timberlake (2013's " Inside Llewyn Davis ") is terrific as Branch, his glum disposition standing at amusing opposition to Poppy's cheery demeanor until the reasons for his behavior give him touching unforeseen layers.