Trolls, the new animated movie about the little dolls with the long, neon-hued hair, is the kind of movie that invites the mind to wander.This is to say it’s not a good movie, but it’s also not a bad movie. It’s reasonably entertaining, with some good musical numbers and at least one goofily endearing performance.But it’s also just a little bit all over the place, with a story that often seems like a fairy-tale greatest hits album — with all the hits covered by trolls. It’s a story assembled by committee.In other words, it lulls you. The crowd I saw it with laughed at the right places and got emotional at the right places, but it all felt rather muted — like the drowsy emotions you might feel while falling asleep in the back seat of a car while someone else drives home.Naturally, the more my mind wandered, the more I started pondering
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The Bergens eat Trolls, during an annual festival named Trollstice (thus justifying the film’s "holiday season" release date), because the Trolls give them bursts of pure happiness or something.
Anyway, there are hints here and there that the Bergens can find happiness without eating tiny living things who enjoy singing and dancing, that true happiness comes from within. It’s meant to be vaguely anti-consumerist, which is kind of rich for a movie based on literal toy dolls.
But is this true? Can you ever truly attain happiness? The characters in Trolls find a way to move toward a kind of inner serenity, but we only see their first steps. Who will they be 10 years from now, when singing and dancing are no longer enough? On that day, the Bergens might turn, again, to the simple joys of munching on Trolls.
I’m saying I wouldn’t be too comfortable if I were a
The Bergens eat Trolls, during an annual festival named Trollstice (thus justifying the film’s "holiday season" release date), because the Trolls give them bursts of pure happiness or something.
Anyway, there are hints here and there that the Bergens can find happiness without eating tiny living things who enjoy singing and dancing, that true happiness comes from within. It’s meant to be vaguely anti-consumerist, which is kind of rich for a movie based on literal toy dolls.
But is this true? Can you ever truly attain happiness? The characters in Trolls find a way to move toward a kind of inner serenity, but we only see their first steps. Who will they be 10 years from now, when singing and dancing are no longer enough? On that day, the Bergens might turn, again, to the simple joys of munching on Trolls.
I’m saying I wouldn’t be too comfortable if I were a