I recently took my children to see Trolls Band Together, and I loved it! But honestly, that’s really not much of a surprise. I’ve already discussed how I unabashedly love the Trolls movies, so even if the film turned out to be mid, I still probably would have at least enjoyed it. Thankfully, it wasn’t mid, and I consider this my second favorite Trolls movie, after the original. But, do you want to know who absolutely ADORED this film? My daughter.
Not only did she think it was the best Trolls movie yet, but she also told me she thought it was the best movie she’d ever seen in her entire life! I thought she might have been a bit hyperbolic, so I asked her, “Even better than Moana?” (which I’ve since determined is my favorite Disney movie, since it’s also hers), and she said, “MUCH better!” So I had to know exactly why she felt that way, and these were the reasons she gave me.
My Daughter Thought The Music Was So Good!
Here’s the thing about the Trolls series. Unlike Disney movies, like the recent Wish (which we reviewed favorably), the Trolls films mostly rely on upbeat remixes to already popular songs, rather than brand new ones. We saw this in both the original movie, as well as in Trolls World Tour (which my children both liked, but also disliked).
While my daughter enjoyed most of the rock songs in Trolls World Tour, she had never heard a lot of them, so there was a bit of a disconnect. But, surprisingly, she has heard almost all of the songs in Trolls Band Together, so she often found herself bopping along and even singing along to many of the tracks in the movie.
For example, there’s this one part where the trolls go to an island resort, and there’s a medley of relaxing beach-themed songs. One such tune was Weezer’s “Island in the Sun,” to which my daughter turned to me and said, “That’s that group you like.” (To be honest, I only like early Weezer, but she doesn’t really need to know that).
Another example is the song, “Fame,” by Irene Cara, which is sung by the two antagonists in the film (which I’ll get into soon). My daughter’s heard this track on a number of occasions because, well, I’m not going to lie, I sometimes play it when I’m cleaning the house. (Hey, it’s catchy!)
But, there are actually some new songs in this movie as well, most notably the extremely danceable (And NEW NSYNC song) “Better Place,” which my daughter asked me to play on the drive home from the movie. However, this was much to my son’s annoyance, as he complained “We just HEARD this song!”
But I didn’t care, because I loved it, too. Just like I loved this movie.
She Really Loved The New Villains, As They Were Intriguing This Time Around
One thing both of my children HATED about Trolls World Tour was the rock zombies. Back when my kids initially saw the movie, they were both frightened of the transformation that the trolls went through, so they often looked away. But now that they’re older and have watched the film again, they just find them annoying.
That said, my daughter really loved the villains in Trolls Band Together. Voiced by Amy Schumer and Andrew Rannells as sister and brother wannabe pop stars, Velvet and Veneer, respectively, these new villains add a whole new layer to the world of Trolls.
For one thing, what even are they? They have these noodle arms and legs, and they appear to be humans. However, that also raises a whole series of other questions, such as, are there even more humans in this universe?
Their intentions (at least the sister’s) are actually quite sinister as they are literally sucking the talent dry from trolls in order to reach their stardom. My daughter kept nudging me in the side and whispering that she thought the sister was a real jerk, and that her brother should do more to stop her. I told her I agreed, and she kept nudging me to tell me that she really didn’t like Velvet, which just goes to show that she was a really good villain.
My Daughter Also Really Liked How The Bergens Fit Into This Story
My daughter’s favorite Troll is Poppy (who is honestly a severely underrated animated character), and her second favorite character is Poppy’s best friend, Bridget, who is a Bergen.
In the first movie, the Bergens were the main antagonists, since they would eat trolls under the assumption that it was the only way that they could be happy. But, throughout the film, they learn that happiness doesn’t come from eating trolls, but rather, that it comes from within. So yeah, the theme is right there (and is even elevated through the hit song “Can’t Stop the Feeling!”).
Now, the Bergens are great friends with the trolls, and my daughter always likes seeing Bridget and Poppy hang out together. Unfortunately, we got next to NONE of Bridget or her beau, King Gristle in Trolls World Tour, but we actually get a whole subplot involving them in Trolls Band Together. In fact, some of the best moments in this entire movie come from some of the ribald jokes Bridget says -- which, thankfully, went right over my daughter’s head.
Bridget and King Gristle are actually instrumental to the plot, so again, it’s little wonder why my daughter loved this movie so much. Her two favorite characters –Poppy and Bridget – are featured in a major way.
My Daughter Loved Branch’s Brothers, As They All Have Interesting Personalities
A lot of people are talking about how NSYNC has reunited for this movie, and yeah. That’s pretty great. But, don’t come out to see this movie just for NSYNC, as they aren’t a huge part of the film. They’re more like a nice little addition.
No, the main draw this time around is Branch’s brothers, John Dory, Spruce (Or, Bruce), Clay, and Floyd, voiced by Eric André, Daveed Diggs, Kid Cudi, and Troye Sivan, respectively. When the movie ended, my daughter asked both me and my son who our favorite member of Branch’s family was.
While I had a bit of a hard time remembering their names (“I like the one with the big family,” I said), my daughter could rattle off all of their names (“You mean Bruce, right?”). Then she went on to explain why her favorite was Floyd, noting that she liked how he had a good heart.
Her favorite thing about all of these brothers though was just how they complimented each other, as well as Branch. The fact that Branch has brothers (and how they’re all very different) made my daughter re-evaluate Branch himself, as there are many things we learn about him through his brothers.
So now, my daughter has a better understanding of just why Branch is the way he is, thus expanding the world of Trolls, which she already loved, even more for her! What a story!
And Lastly, My Daughter Thinks Poppy’s Sister Is Absolutely Perfect
In our very own Dirk Libbey’s review of Trolls Band Together, he did a great job of encapsulating what both worked and didn’t work with this movie. But, if my daughter had written the review, she would have probably spent three lengthy paragraphs talking about one of the newest editions to the franchise, Poppy’s long-lost sister, Viva (voiced by Camila Cabello).
Even though my daughter loved seeing the Bergens, and really enjoyed all of Branch’s brothers, she absolutely adored Viva, who she now says is her favorite character in the entire franchise. She even asked me if I thought Viva would get her own movie, to which I had to shrug and say, “Maybe?”
When I asked her what she loved so much about the character, she said, “She braids everybody’s hair,” which apparently makes her better than all of the others. She also elaborated on how she felt bad for Viva, who was obviously going through some stuff as she’s dealing with some deep-rooted trauma, and my daughter really enjoyed her character arc toward the end.
Needless to say, my daughter is a massive fan of Viva, and also a massive fan of this movie. I took my two children because my wife worked that weekend, and my daughter told me not to tell my wife so that she could take her a second time! I’m sure I’ll be watching this movie again multiple times once it comes home, and you know what? I’m not complaining.
But, what did you (or your kids) think about Trolls Band Together? For more news on all things Trolls, be sure to swing around here often!
