December 26, 2016 -- Trolls are usually not portrayed as happy, attractive creatures, but they are in this light musical cartoon, brightened by pop songs sung by Anna Kendrick (“Pitch Perfect”) and Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and actor Justin Timberlake (who is also a songwriter and executive music producer of this film).

In this story trolls are cute little creatures who sing, dance, party, and hug every 15 minutes, on the dot. The troll look is based on the doll design created by Thomas Dam. The trolls are captured by Bergens, large, ugly, unhappy creatures who achieve brief happiness only by eating trolls.

The trolls engineer a breakout by tunneling under their prison and escaping into the forest, where they set up an exceedingly happy colony far from the Bergens. A Bergen Chef, blamed for the troll escape, is banished from the Bergen kingdom. She vows to hunt down the trolls.

Twenty years later, Chef finds the troll hideout and captures some trolls, using them to buy her way back into the Bergen kingdom. Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick) and Branch (voiced by Justin Timberlake) set off in pursuit to rescue the captured trolls.

Branch is a pessimistic troll who has been warning the colony for years about an imminent attack by Bergens. Like Chicken Little, his repeated warnings have been laughed off, until now. Branch, a survivalist, has a hidden underground lair with 10 years of supplies. He plans to hide from the Bergens, until Poppy ruins his plans.

The two are an unlikely pair. Branch is an unhappy troll who carries a sad secret from his past, while Poppy is the relentlessly upbeat daughter of the heroic troll leader who led the escape from the Bergens 20 years earlier. Poppy uses some underhanded methods to force Branch, an expert on Bergens, to help her with the daring rescue.

Many adventures ensue, including Poppy making friends with a Bergen scullery maid, Bridget, who has a crush on the Bergen King Gristle. Poppy makes a deal to help Bridget win the heart of the king, if Bridget will help rescue the captured trolls, but many complications and setbacks ensue.

A number of pop songs are featured in the movie, sung by the characters (mostly by Timberlake and Kendrick) including “True Colors,” “Can't Stop the Feeling,” “September,” “I Feel Love,” “Hello” and “The Sound Of Silence,” along with songs written for the film.

The lively singing performances and the colorful artwork are the best things about this movie. There are few surprises in the story, except for one unexpected villain. This film rates a C+. This is mainly for kids, however.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2016 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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