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Film REVIEW: Trolls Band Together (2023) - ★★★★★

Updated: Nov 23, 2023


As DreamWorks’ hit animation gets a hilarious boy band-themed sequel! From the Justin Timberlake-helmed soundtrack to the music stars joining the voice cast, here’s everything you need to know about this dancefloor-filling new family comedy.


Director: Walt Dohrn


Writer: Elizabeth Tippet

based on Good Luck Trolls by Thomas Dam


Stars: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Camila Cabello, Eric Andre, Troye Sivan, Kid Cudi, Daveed Diggs, RuPaul, Amy Schumer, Andrew Rannells, Zosia Mamet.


Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Themes: CGI Animation


Poppy discovers that Branch was once part of the boy band 'BroZone' with his brothers, Floyd, John Dory, Spruce and Clay. When Floyd is kidnapped, Branch and Poppy embark on a journey to reunite his two other brothers and rescue Floyd.

It serves as the sequel to Trolls World Tour (2020), and the third installment in the Trolls franchise.


In Cinemas Now



MIX UP REVIEWS:


Georgie (Age 8) - ★★★★★

"I really liked it, the music was good I was singing along it was funny and I give it 10 out of 10. It's really nice poppy has a sister as well. There's lots of bright colours in the movie and that made it fun."


Amelia-Rose (Age 8) - ★★★★★

"I loved the movie and thought it was really good fun!

I liked when poppy met her sister and I enjoyed the music which made me want to dance.

I would give the movie 5 stars "


Have you seen it yet?



 


Trolls 3 buzz - Why is everyone talking about the new Trolls movie?


Once, trolls were wart-faced psychopaths that lived under bridges and had beef with billy goats. Next, they were spike-haired figurines you hung off your school bag. Now, Trolls means only one thing: the smash-hit, Oscar-winning, all-singing/dancing DreamWorks animation series that goes off like a glitter bomb.


The franchise set out with 2016’s original Trolls, then threw the horns with 2020’s hard-rocking Trolls World Tour. Now, on October 20th, the beat goes on with Trolls Band Together: a third slice for your lucky family, with jokes to make the greyest day turn garish and a boy band flavour you weren’t expecting.


I definitely have learned a lot about boy bands just by being on this movie,” director Walt Dohrn told The AU Review. “My search engine, and the algorithm of that, has really changed. We hopefully have done a good job of representation regarding that music. And you can’t have a better boy band consultant than Justin Timberlake!

 

Trolls 3 story - What is the plot for Trolls 3?

After two movies of heavy flirting, Poppy and Branch have finally got a room (they also have their own couple name, #Broppy). But Branch has been hiding a secret past from his new girlfriend: he and his older brothers were once members of boy band phenom BroZone (who just happened to be Poppy’s teenage pin-ups).


BroZone split when Branch was still in nappies, and he hasn’t seen his four siblings – Floyd, John Dory, Spruce and Clay – for twenty years. “And there’s a lot of emotion in this for Branch,” explained producer Gina Shay to The Digital Fix. “Because, I mean, his brothers left him when he was about four years old. And he expected them to come back, and they just never did. Branch goes through a lot in this film.


It takes a crisis to put the band back together. When Floyd is captured by dastardly pop divas Velvet and Veneer, who plot to steal his musical talents, it’s down to Branch and Poppy to find the other BroZoners and stage a rescue mission.


We work through our issues with the movie, but in a fun and playful way,” says director Walt Dohrn. “Even the boy band stuff is super fun, but also there’s this history of family bands that we talked about a lot, everything from the Bee Gees, to The Beach Boys, all the way up to Phineas and Billie Eilish. I just think there’s such a rich history of family bands and this idea of blood harmony.

 

Cast of Trolls 3 - Who are the characters in Trolls 3?


The cast of Trolls 3 is once again fronted by the legendary Justin Timberlake (The Social Network, In Time) and Pitch Perfect’s Anna Kendrick (Twilight, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as Branch and Poppy. “We improvise a lot with Justin and Anna,Walt Dohrn told Novastream. “They come up with a lot of the lines because I’m actually in the booth with them, doing the characters back and forth. We throw things around and they know the characters inside and out. They’ll tell us if they don’t think their character would act that way, or don’t think they’d say that line.


Listen out for returning voice cast stars Zooey Deschanel (New Girl, 500 Days of Summer, Yes Man) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (How to Train Your Dragon series) as Queen and King of the Bergens.


Branch’s bros are voiced by anarchic US comedian Eric André (The Lion King, The Internship) and real-life music stars Troye Sivan (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Three Months), Kid Cudi (Need for Speed, Bill & Ted Face the Music) and Daveed Diggs (Soul, Wonder) – while pop supernova Camila Cabello (Cinderella, Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour) smashes it during a pivotal scene halfway through the movie. As for the villains, they’re played by comedian Amy Schumer (I Feel Pretty, Inside Amy Schumer) and Tony-nominated Broadway actor Andrew Rannells (Home Again, The Prom).

 

Trolls 3 trailer - What are the best bits of footage we've seen so far?

This is DreamWorks, so of course it’s hilarious – but a big revelation of the Trolls 3 trailer is how it flits between modern-day animation and retro 2D visual styles that nod to everything from Disney’s Fantasia to The BeatlesYellow Submarine.


I think the movie allows itself to have that canvas,” director Walt Dohrn told The Digital Fix.


We can almost do anything in the Trolls universe, it really is just designed that way. Plus, you know, having my origins from 2D animation and being a big fan of psychedelic animation, we’ve definitely tried to weave that in there. There are other animation styles too. I mean, the whole of Trolls was really inspired by stop motion and puppetry, and it’s just a blend of things, but it celebrates what only animation can bring to cinema.

 

Trolls 3 soundtrack - What music will we hear in the new Trolls movie?


As executive music producer, Justin Timberlake is practically a one-man band, not only choosing the Trolls 3 cover songs but singing on many of them. We don’t want to blow the whole tracklisting, suffice to say it’s seriously banging, taking in boy band classics like One Direction’s Best Song Ever and Backstreet BoysEverybody, then going old-skool with the Bee Gees Stayin’ Alive and Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics.

 

Trolls 3 age rating - What makes the new Trolls movie such a great new family film?

The creatives behind Trolls 3 have worked on everything including Shrek, so they’re experts at blending all-ages comedy with adult jokes about puberty and hangovers that whizz under the radar and near the knuckle.


There’s definitely a balance,” director Walt Dohrn told Novastream. “We always keep the kids in mind because a lot of families go see these movies, and we always want to make sure we’re not offending anyone. But we’re also just trying to make each other laugh with our jokes. It might go over some people’s heads, or it might land, or will it work on both levels? You know, a character vomiting rainbows – everyone who has been to a bachelor party will know what that’s like!

 

We designed the movie for the theatre experience,” director Walt Dohrn told The AU Review. “Everything from the concert sound of the music, which we mixed very carefully to feel like you’re at a show, to the immersive world we’ve created. That communal experience of everyone laughing and crying all in one place – it was made for the theatre. It obviously works and plays on all platforms, but nothing compares to that theatre experience.



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