‘Trolls World Tour’ will Distract the Kids for a Few Hours: A Review

If you have kids, I’m sure by this point they are driving you straight bananas and you need something to keep them entertained. The original Trolls movie (2016) was a fun enough movie that kept kids’ attention for a bit, if not a pretty shallow experience. Lots of bright colors, spastic comedy, and catchy pop songs made for a fun, if not shallow, movie experience. So how does it’s sequel, Trolls World Tour compare to the original? It’s more of the same with a surprisingly deep message. Unfortunately, the way to implement that message only treads water.

The Rock Trolls, led by Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom), is on a mission to unite the six world strings in order to control the world’s music and change everyone into Rock N’ Roll trolls. You wouldn’t be wrong if this reminds you of the plot for Avengers: Infinity War. Meanwhile, Queen Poppy (Anna Kendrick) discovers Barb’s plan but in her naivety believe Barb just wants to be friends. She sets out with Branch (Justin Timberlake) and Biggie (James Corden) to unite the world and save music for everyone. This movie is more of the same, zany jokes, quick cuts of physical humor and covers of popular songs. It’s a little crazy on how much falls under “pop” but that does actually play into story later on.

Poppy’s innocent nature has her believe that she can unite everyone through her music and that everyone is all the same so we should all be happy. Normally, that’s the message a kids’ movie would push. However, the message they want is …