TROLLS BAND TOGETHER (2023, animated)

November 16, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. For the third film in the ‘Trolls’ franchise, much of the creative team is back at it. This includes co-directors Walt Dohrn and Tim Heitz, as well as screenwriter Elizabeth Tippet, who penned this story based on the original characters of Thomas Dam. It seems obvious that this has been developed for kids, yet it’s always interesting to see how much effort the animation films put into entertaining the adults as well. And being the third film, expectations are naturally somewhat muted.

We first see BroZone and their disastrous stage performance that leads to backstage arguing and a breakup. The band consists of Troll brothers, including Baby Branch, who inexplicably gets deserted when the older brothers insist on going their own way. Time passes and we catch up with (no longer Baby) Branch (Justin Timberlake). He’s attending the wedding of friends when it’s interrupted by his older brother John Dory (Eric Andre), who explains that brother Floyd (Troye Sivan) has been kidnapped. Through a twist of screenwriting, the only way Floyd can be rescued is by the brothers achieving “perfect harmony” … their previous failed attempt caused the band’s breakup.

Joining the brothers on the trip is the eternally perky Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick), who has long desired a sister of her own (in one of the most obvious foreshadowing moments ever). We follow along on the journey as they reunite with BroZone brothers Spruce (Daveed Diggs) and Clay (Kid Cudi), and Poppy’s big surprise of Viva (Camila Cabello). Things get crazy when the group tracks down Floyd and finds his ‘essence’ is being stolen by the talentless, entitled, obnoxious siblings, Velvet (Amy Schumer) and Veneer (Anthony Rannells). This prefab brother-sister duo only wants to be famous and see no issue with stealing Floyd’s talent.

Some of the film’s funniest moments are provided by Velvet and Veneer’s assistant Crimp (Zosia Mamet) and Tiny Diamond (Kenan Thompson), the latter of whom absorbs quite a bit of energy from a mysterious pacifier that he offers to share. The film is so colorful, it at times looks like a package of Skittles exploded on the screen. Cute characters, love for brothers and sisters, lots of color, and funny characters are a great way to win over kids. As for parents, there is quite a bit of nostalgic music from the 90’s and 00’s, and enough Boy Band puns to keep everyone on their toes … “we’re out of sync”.

In theaters beginning November 17, 2023

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Posted by David Ferguson

SING 2 (2021, animation)

December 21, 2021

Greetings again from the darkness. When an animated movie for kids banks over $600 million at the box office, we wouldn’t expect 5 years to pass before the sequel appears. But that’s exactly what has occurred with writer-director Garth Jennings’ follow-up to his hugely popular 2016 original featuring a troupe of anthropomorphic animals singing and dancing. This franchise doesn’t belong to Pixar or Disney, but rather Illumination, the studio behind the DESPICABLE ME films.

As one would expect, the sequel includes a return of the favorite characters (and voices), including koala Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), mama pig Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), rockin’ porcupine Ash (Scarlett Johansson), shy elephant Meena (Tori Kelly), and sensitive gorilla Johnny (Taron Egerton). The stakes are higher for our warbling friends this time. The film opens with our furry friends performing an “Alice in Wonderland” production that features the Prince song, “Let’s Go Crazy”. Additionally, our retinas are scorched with every color known to mankind, reminding us of the land Oz … fitting because song #2 is Elton John’s “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road”. The latter works because Buster has just been informed by talent scout Suki (Chelsea Peretti) that his team is ‘cute’, but “not good enough”. See, Buster’s dream is to introduce the act on a global scale.

Most of the rest of the movie involves: Buster dodging threats from evil tycoon Mr. Crystal (Bobby Cannavale). Crystal is a wolf (of course) and is a powerful presence in a Las Vegas-style city built for entertainment. The other key element here is Buster’s promise to Crystal to deliver Clay Callaway (U2’s Bono) to the new production. Callaway, a lion, has been a reclusive rock star ever since a personal tragedy robbed him of his desire to participate in society. The bonding between Ash and Callaway is probably the best part of the story, and this occurs after Ash (Ms. Johansson) makes her point about equal pay (imitating real life) just after jamming to a Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs’ song.

In a move that makes little sense, Mr. Jennings has crafted a more complex story than what we saw in the first movie. This one will be difficult for many kids to follow, and involves the power and ego of Crystal, as well as nepotism with his entitled daughter (voiced beautifully by Halsey). But why complicate something that doesn’t need to be more complicated?  Most kids just want to watch the animals on stage, singing and dancing and doing goofy things. The sci-fi stage production “Out of this World” finds Meena teamed with a preening partner voiced by Eric Andre, while she dreams of connecting with the ice cream elephant voiced by Pharell Williams. Ash and Callaway are at the climax of the show with a version of Bono’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. Also included are many familiar tunes by such artists as Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, Billie Eilish, and The Weeknd. Many life lessons are served up here, including the importance of following your dream, but at one hour and fifty-two minutes, it’s easily 20 to 25 minutes longer than most kids will likely sit. While we can admire Mr. Jennings’ desire to deliver a sequel with value, we do question the wisdom in revising the template.

Opens in theaters on December 22, 2021

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Posted by David Ferguson

THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES (2021, animated)

December 11, 2021

Greetings again from the darkness. What would happen if human survival depended on the Griswolds (from the VACATION movies) battling the rogue robots programmed to take over the planet? Filmmakers Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe answer to that scenario is hyper-active, frenetic, overly-busy visual chaos that attempts to blend apocalyptic science fiction, extreme action sequences, and dysfunctional family comedy-drama. It’s a lot to tackle, and for the most part, it works.

Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) is preparing to head to film school. Her nature-loving dad, Rick (Danny McBride) is concerned about how he and Katie have drifted apart over the years, and he’s also worried that her educational choice could lead to disappointment. Katie’s mom, Linda (Maya Rudolph) is mostly supportive and upbeat, and yet a bit saddened that the once close father-daughter duo no longer speak the same language. Youngest son Aaron (voiced by co-director Rianda) and family dog Monchi have their moments, and mostly this is a fairly typical dysfunctional family. In fact, dysfunctional family seems to be a misnomer since it describes most families, even the highly organized one that seemingly have their act together … represented here by the Poseys (Chrissy Teigen and John Legend).

Katie’s generation’s adoption and dependency on technology has widened the gap in connection with the previous generation … specifically the bond between father and daughter that was so strong when she was young, and now barely hangs on by thread. Dad is the generation of the supreme screwdriver, while Katie is all about creating memes and videos. He fixes things, while she creates things. Dad decides a family road trip to drop Katie at college is the solution to fixing the frayed relationship. This happens on the same day that mega-Tech guru Mark Bowman (Eric Andre) is introducing his next-gen PAL robot, which is smart technology on steroids. However, it turns out, software has feelings too, and the original PAL (Olivia Colman) seeks revenge for being replaced. An army of robots is sent to capture the entire human race.

A couple of quirky things leave the Mitchell family as our final hope against the robots, and as you might expect, saving the world can lead to reparations in the father-daughter relationship. Dad gains an appreciation for the creative skills of Katie, while she learns of his great personal sacrifice for family. It’s an unusual blend of two distinct stories, but mostly we are left exhausted after a nearly two hour run time. The screen is often cluttered and overloaded with distractions (including old school Furbys with a twist), and although there is a cool throwback look to some of the animation, it’s simply too much of a good thing. Younger kids may be mesmerized by the frantic action, but the story lines are not likely to be followed by most under 10 or so. This one has garnered a great deal of Oscar buzz, which makes sense as adults decide such things.

Streaming on Netflix

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Posted by David Ferguson