Recently, Universal Pictures released the third movie of the children’s movie franchise “Trolls,” with “Trolls Band Together.” From the plot to the humor, everything in the movie is perfect. Even the title is clever! The trolls in the movie have to band together, despite their differences, by forming a band. The title already puts the movie off to a great start, but what else does this film have to offer?
Synopsis
“Trolls Band Together” starts by showing a flashback performance of the boy band “BroZone.” This band is made up of Branch, the main character of the trilogy, and his 4 brothers, John Dory, Floyd, Spruce, and Clay. They are attempting to perform a perfect family harmony, but the performance goes wrong and the brothers go their separate ways after an argument.
The movie flashes forward to the present time, where the trolls that have been previously introduced earlier in the trilogy attend the wedding of two of their Bergen friends. The Bergens are a community that, in the past, ate members of the troll community. However, the two communities have since learned to coexist. Soon, the wedding is crashed by John Dory, Branch’s long lost brother s. John Dory informs Branch that their other brother, Floyd, has been kidnapped by superstar singers, Velvet and Veneer, who are sucking up Floyd’s talent so they can perform concerts.
Floyd is being held captive in a cage made of diamond, and the only thing that can break diamond is the perfect family harmony. Branch and John Dory set out to reunite all of the brothers to perform the perfect family harmony and save Floyd from the clutches of Velvet and Veneer . Naturally, they lack their talent, so they are stealing Floyd’s talent for fame and fortune, slowly killing Floyd in the process. To prevent Floyd’s death, a team is assembled to go on this adventure, including John Dory, Branch, and Poppy, Branch’s girlfriend and the main protagonist of the Trolls Trilogy.
On the journey to find Branch’s brothers, they stumble upon another community of Trolls, where they find Poppy’s long-lost sister, Viva! Soon enough, Branch and co. realize that this civilization of trolls is unaware of the changes that the Bergens have made. They are still deathly afraid of being eaten by the Bergens. Poppy tries to reason with Viva, but they eventually separate again because Viva is too scared of the possibility of interacting with a Bergen
As they go on the journey, all of Branch’s brothers seem to have moved on individually but still hold backward views of each other. This leads to many arguments as they continue on their journey. Eventually, they communicate about the grudges that they still hold from the argument they had about 20 years ago, and the tension is resolved. They reach Velvet and Veneer and save Floyd by performing the perfect family harmony, along with the help of Viva, who has since befriended two Bergens, overcoming her fear.
Humor, Hues, and Heart
No matter your age, the humor, color, and plot of “Trolls Band Together” are captivating. First, the entire movie is so colorful and bright, akin to those dancing fruit sensory videos that entrance babies, just for slightly older audiences. The humor of the movie is top-notch.
This can be seen most in a line by Floyd, in which he says “Branch, we’re not in sync. We’ve gone from boys to men and now there’s only one direction to go. The backstreets.” This joke may fly over the heads of younger audiences, but it sure hit older generations right in the face with many older references at once. In the same line, Floyd references the boy bands NSYNC, Boyz II Men, One Direction, and the Backstreet Boys.
This movie is able to combine different levels of jokes so that the older audiences that may have attended the movie begrudgingly are not bored out of their minds. Finally, the plot is genius because it ties humor into it so well that older audiences are captivated, and at the same time it is simple enough to understand that younger audiences can easily grasp what is happening.
Lessons Learned
“Trolls Band Together” implicitly teaches audiences of all ages important life lessons. The main lesson of the movie is that one does not have to conform to other’s ideas of perfection to be perfect in their own way. This is seen at the very beginning and very end of the movie.
In the beginning, John Dory, the eldest brother in BroZone, pressures his younger brothers to pretend to be people that they are not on stage so that they can achieve perfect family harmony. This backfires and ultimately causes the downfall of BroZone. In the 20 years that the brothers are estranged, they each find who they truly are. At the end of the movie, BroZone is reunited after accepting that their differences are what makes them perfect. This allows the brothers to achieve the perfect family harmony and attain a happy ending.
Another lesson learned is overcoming one’s fears. Viva, Poppy’s sister, has lived her life in her troll community, never stepping foot outside of the barricaded walls due to her fear of the Bergens. But, through her trust in Poppy’s claim that her best friend is a Bergen, she overcomes her fear when it matters most, teaming up with two Bergens to assist Poppy, Branch, and Branch’s brothers.
Overcoming fear can also be seen in Branch. His fear is the same as Viva’s, but it was introduced in the first movie of the trilogy. He locked himself away in a bunker for a long time due to his fear and guilt. Throughout the trilogy, he overcomes his fear of the Bergens, and especially his fear of change.
In the end, they were both clinging to the past, but because of their love and loyalty to their family and friends, they were able to overcome their fear. Even one of the antagonists, Veneer, overcomes a fear of his: standing up to his sister. For his entire life, he has stood second to his sister. He even goes as far as following her evil plan to suck the talent and life out of an innocent troll to achieve her dreams. At the end of the movie, he stands up to his sister and tells the world about their fraudulent actions.
Name Meanings
One of the antagonists in “Trolls Band Together” is named Veneer. The word veneer refers to the dentistry term in which teeth are deemed unlikeable or unattractive and are covered up by “more attractive” replacements. This name perfectly applies to Veneer because he participates in the stealing of Floyd’s talent, using him to cover up his lack of talent and ugly singing. Branch’s name also provides another level of meaning to his character because, throughout the trilogy of movies, he has learned to branch out, despite his fear of doing so. Finally, Poppy’s sister’s name is Viva. When translated to English from Spanish, her name means “live.” This meaning is pertinent to her because Viva is the character who is most clearly seen in this movie to learn to live her life without fear.
Overall, there is nothing that can be complained about in the movie “Trolls Band Together.” The character development of both the protagonists and the antagonists is explored, humor is seamlessly intertwined with serious plot points and lessons, and the movie is visually enjoyable. If you haven’t already, go see “Trolls Band Together,” no matter your age.
