“Trolls Band Together”: A must-watch third movie for fans of the series

“Trolls Band Together” was a rocking great time in the theater. I enjoyed this installment more than the second film, which I also enjoyed very much. 

The movie was fun, and there were many unexpected twists that I didn’t see coming. 

Minor Spoilers Ahead

The film is about Branch, one of the series’ protagonists, and the boy band he was once in before they split due to their personality differences. The other former members of the boy band are revealed to be his four biological brothers.

In the present, Bridget and Gristle’s wedding is interrupted by one of the former band members, John Dory, who reveals his closest brother, Floyd, has been captured by our two main villains, Velvet and Veneer. The two have imprisoned Floyd in a bottle to harvest his essence so their singing can be better, even at the possible expense of his life. 

This teen couple wishes to be pop stars but have fooled everyone into thinking they are more talented than they actually are using this method. 

Princess Poppy, Branch, and everyone go on a daring quest to reunite the former boy band to free Floyd, but, of course, their clashing egos that made the band break up in the first place are all still intact. 

This film feels like it’s trying to be bigger and more action packed, like other animated threequels such as “Toy Story 3” and “Madagascar 3,” and in my opinion, it succeeds. 

There are quite a few legitimate twists that I like, and I think they serve the story well. We get a whole lot of likable new characters, as well as some great music.

The villains are also a lot of fun, even if they are admittedly a bit generic (it’s safe to say Dreamworks isn’t the place for a Frollo). 

There are clever homages too that I really enjoyed, such as hand-drawn scenes that give nods to The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” 1968 movie and a place where all the inhabitants look like a mix between Dr. Seuss characters and the Whatnots/Anything Muppets of “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show.”

Speaking of that, I like how the film incorporates puppetry into the animation with these characters. They are also some of the film’s highlights comedically.

As a Dreamworks fan since childhood, and a big fan of this series since the first film, this film delivered and is easily one of my favorite animated films of 2023. This was a ton of fun, and I definitely recommend it for kids and adults alike.