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fangirlingweirdo · 4 years

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TWT analysis - spoiler alert!

First of all, I just wanna start off by saying that this is heavily based on my opinions and just my personal review about the movie. I’ll try categorize them into different parts and make it brief as possible.

Story

I’m just go out and say I freakin LOVE Trolls World Tour. The concept of the movie where each tribes of trolls is a combination of different genres of music was very uniquely established and it feels so clever. The amount of energy in this film is more fun and exciting than the first film as it kinda introduces different types of trolls and their types of music and culture, showing that there’s more than just pop trolls in the troll kingdom. The underlying themes where dreamworks introduces the ideas about cultural appropriation, colonialism and musical criticism has never been more relevant and more applicable in society’s issues. The message behind the movie is very clear and they executed that perfectly to the viewers, especially to the younger audiences teaching about diversity and that it’s okay to be different and that differences matters. Although I do noticed some inconsistencies in the movie like they have been given a very little time to introduce the different types of trolls and the rushed subplots of the film, Like Cooper having his own story arc where he found out he’s actually a funk troll, (a pop and funk troll) Though I hope they left all those details on Trollstopia.

Animation

I could just let the movie speak for the animation itself and not give a review about it, but I just have to. The animation is a 10/10! periodt. from the visuals to the color to the character designs, you will never be disappointed. Dreamworks animation has a reputation for its good animation, and Trolls is definitely a game changer and the team outdid themselves with this one. Not only with the vibrant colors that stayed since the first film, but also the follow up included new visuals to overall enhance the look of the story, like with pop trolls and their combination of vibrant hues of colors and glitters, and with rock and their angsty mood and redish hues, and the other tribes of trolls that correlates with their type of genre.

Characters

I feel like this is gonna be longer than my other reviews for I do have a lotta bone to pick with this one. So WARNING, this ought to be long. You can skip and scroll it down if you want.

let’s start off with Poppy. Little Queen Poppy. She now became the Queen of the pop trolls and it’s up to her how she’s gonna rule the trolls. (obviously) Then she found out that there’s this whole other world of trolls and she now.. suddenly wants to reunite all trolls and their music. She also got a side plot where she tries to be this epitome of a “good queen” that is kinda her motivation throughout film. At first you’ll think, what’s wrong with Poppy? Like she IS the main protagonist in the movie, so creators must’ve made her like the ‘hero’ in the film. Well... 👀 hmm I— I dunno bout that. let’s see.

I get that the film wants to give her an arc where she has to understand the differences between them (pop trolls) and these other kinds of trolls. And then in addition to her optimistic, bubbly personality, she wants to unite all trolls against the viewed villain in film Queen Barb who wants to destroy all music and make em under rock. Everything could’ve ended greatly if Poppy will just listen. (i get it. whole point of the film is poppy not listening) Her tunnel vision kinda made her annoying at this time around. Her overall ideology about pop being the superior music has made it hard for her to accept all the other types of trolls and their genres of music. In a scene in Lonesome Flats, she kinda just.. disregarded the whole idea of “music can be also sad cause life is sad sometimes” she thinks that music is suppose to make you happy, which is true in a sense but not disparaging the fact that music can also be about sadness and other things in life.

Throughout the whole film, she’s only too focused on one thing and refuses to listen to any advice, especially given by Branch, Biggie, even from her own father. It just felt a bit out of character for me. I guess she might’ve thought her positive, optimistic ways that led the bergens to be their friends kinda checked out and saved the trolls so might as well do the same on this one, when clearly that’s NOT the case.

There was also that one scene where she kinda gets down on Branch for being a bad friend when he gave her constructive criticism and advice (in the raft), completely taking his words out of context assuming he doesn’t think of her as a good queen. (At this point, I wish he could’ve just said yes cuz honestly, it’s getting annoying lmao.) Which is.. why exactly? He’s with her throughout, supporting her despite all the warnings.. but anyways.

I guess the only thing I like about her is she did get the arc that she needed. I mean I thought her not listening has been her whole thing in the franchise like in the first film and Trolls Holiday. I kinda wanted her to realize the stubbornness she acted upon throughout the whole film and somehow it was executed quite nicely..? I sure wish this is the last time she won’t listen and that she learned from all these things. Overall, her character.. didn’t really work out for me this time unlike in the first film though her growth and development is enough. Hopefully they’ll work out on her character more in the future.

Now, Let’s go to Branch. Personally, I love him. He’s my favorite throughout the whole franchise. I’m just gonna say it now, but i’ll try not to look biased here. lol

I love how branch is the sensible one this time. I get that he became like the voice of reason for Poppy and her consort. And let me just say the character development of Branch, from being reclusive, withdrawn type of troll now becoming more open and congenial, the personality growth has made his character so much fitting and I’m so glad to see that. His vulnerability made it easier for him to connect with other trolls, especially to Poppy. There was that one scene where he opened himself to Hickory about his feelings towards Poppy. Just minutes before that scene, he didn’t trust him. But then moments later, he became honest to him, showing a huge amount of growth in his character.

All those aspects really built Branch’s character more stronger. However, I couldn’t help but wish there’s more like an arc to him as well. I mean there has been a lot of injustices for his character. Like basically since the first film, no one’s ever listened to him, even with his warnings about the bergens returning to get them, which turns out he’s actually right by the way and yet no one acknowledges it and still same thing happened in the second film. It’s like a running gag now at this point, where no one listens to Branch and Poppy and the other trolls downplays Branch’s excessive preparedness for danger, then at the end he was actually right about his assumptions. I’m not saying that Branch is always right and that Poppy is wrong. I’m saying they could’ve at least find a balance between that, where Poppy would listen more to Branch and Branch would at least dial down the paranoia and acknowledge the positivity Poppy tries to show. (but then I realized if that happens, the show wouldn’t be as interesting anymore lol)

His range of emotions and awareness is definitely not like other pop trolls. I saw this observation in where he claimed he liked the music of country trolls, sad and a bit gloomy not like the kind of music they are used to sing. And then I realized, he was actually the first troll to ever like a different genre of music. His flexibility and openness to different ideas and genres of other trolls has made him more unique from Poppy or any other pop troll, even blending in with the kpop and reggaton trolls. I just wished they didn’t just reduced his character as being the typical “love interest” of the main character, but making like an arc storyline for him as well (hopefully in future) in my opinion.

Now I bleed Broppy. I definitely love the subplot of the movie where Branch tries to confess his love for Poppy, which at first I thought “didn’t we already do this in the first film though?” but then I guess it wasn’t really official. Basically the story kinda revolves around them and how they teamed up to discover all these new types of music and trolls. It’s almost like a nostalgic feeling for the older viewers when they first headed out to an adventure in the first film. Only difference is Branch is harboring strong romantic feelings for Poppy, whom may also feel the same but totally oblivious to it. The subtle interactions between the two of them brings different energies in the movie, and those interactions are just what we need. Like with affirmations they give each other, and the cheeky smile exchanges. You can really feel the romantic tension between the two, which really vibes with the atmosphere of the show, especially given the chemistry between them in the first film.

The third act breakup of Branch and Poppy was definitely relevant to the story and their different personalities having to give them space for a re-evaluation of their friendship. Honestly that was totally necessary for their relationship, considering how different they are together, especially with Branch who wants to take their relationship in the next level (and that applies for Poppy as well whom I’m sure also feels the same way) So it’s reasonable they had to split for a while, not to ultimately close the chance of them being friends again because of being different but the fact that despite their differences, their love and care for each other will always be stronger, and that will help them find a way to make up again, which is what the message of the main plot tries to exhibit. I do wished they put like a moment for them where they just apologize for their actions (talking to you poppy. ahem)

Overall Branch’s character has left me half satisfied and somehow craving for more development and revelations about his background. The overall growth of his character since the first film is definitely something worth treasuring.

Now with Queen Barb. Well, She’s something else huh? 😆 With the movie running low on time to introduce these whole new characters, they definitely put enough time for us to get to know Barb. Her character as villain was introduced quite nicely. Although rock genre being shown as the villain, isn’t that a little overdone now at this point? But anyways..

Her plan was to unite all strings and make all trolls from different genres become a rock troll or rock zombie. Basically she just despises other genres of music so she forcefully took all different strings to destroy all music except rock. Kinda like what Poppy wants..? Now here me out. It’s like when Barb said she and Poppy are the same. Both of them wants to unite all trolls. Only difference is their mindsets about music. Barb thinks all other genres music are awful except for rock, and Poppy thinks pop music is the right music. There is one who thinks that other music are distasteful and one who thinks their music is the superior. If anything, Barb has a more reasonable point in trying to dominate the troll kingdom. Barb acknowledges the differences between them and the other trolls, and it may not be the right way to do it, she just wants to unite all trolls because she thinks music is what divides them. While Poppy wants to unite all trolls despite their differences, it’s almost like forcing them to give up their own music to follow what Poppy thinks is the right music. Either way, their interpretation of music isn’t really helping with what they want to achieve.

The only hole in her story I guess is that as she tries to dominate the troll kingdom, she didn’t seem to realize that her motives to destroy all music is almost the same as what the ancestors of pop trolls did, making her look like a hypocrite even though totally despising the pop trolls after what their ancestors did in the past.

Overall her character is very well executed as the villain of the film. Although you can easily sympathize with her. Unlike with the Chef in the first film, I can’t show any sympathizing emotions towards her. All throughout you’ll only be feeling mad toward the Chef. While with Barb, I honestly even had a hard time picturing her as an antagonist. For me she’s just a queen, who wants to unite all trolls. I guess her twisted ideologies made her look like the bad guy, but despite that, she’s doesn’t really look like the villain in the film. Now she had a change of heart, I am very excited to see more of her in the future.

Others

Like I said, with a short amount of time given in the film, there’s really not enough space for the creators to introduce these other trolls and their background like the Classical, Techno, Funk, and Country trolls. Though I had a little problem with TWT. I am such a fan of classical music, and I think they had the most brief screen time throughout the film. I was excited to see them in the trailer tho, and they had shortest amount of time in the film. lol but that ain’t important. I’m just saying, there’s a lot more to see and learn about these new introduced trolls. Now i’m not gonna lie though, as adorable as it looks, there are those characters that are only made for merchandise. (*ahem* tiny diamond *ahem*)

The musical numbers are definitely a feast in the eyes. Although very much consuming all the time in the movie and didn’t leave enough space for character development, I still love the music. I feel like the TWT soundtrack is so underrated though. For the whole week since I’ve first watched the film, I cannot stop bopping along with Don’t Slack. 😆

The new casts are adorable! Anderson Paak was there, Sam Rockwell was there, Heck Ozzy Osbourne was even there! I cannot stop watching the behind the scenes of the movie. They are all great!

Conclusion

Overall, the whole theme of the movie and all the underlying messages behind it was definitely well executed in the movie. The line that pretty much sums up the whole movie would be “denying our differences is denying who we are” has a powerful impact, and the message behind it is very relevant till this day. It also teaches the viewers about having to respect one’s preferences of their taste in music. From the storyline to animation to character developments, although there’s still a lot of inconsistencies in the film, they still managed to make the movie worth watching and worth recommending.

I’ve been thinking about these things now and I just feel like I need to let it out here lol. If you guys have any thoughts, feel free to tell me! 😄

#trolls #trolls world tour #trolls world tour review #branch #poppy #broppy #ttbgo #dreamworks #dreamworks review

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thesportsplanet · 5 years

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The Marathon

This stream of thoughts started from a conversation I watched on YouTube about Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” song being removed from the Country genre by Billboard. The ‘show’ Dead End Hip Hop features a collective of people that typically discuss matters related to, well, hip hop. Chiming in on the topic was another YouTube personality to essentially provide the country perspective. Making it about halfway through the video everyone involved made some great points on both sides of the discussion as to whether the song was country or not, if the song should’ve been removed and if there were other examples of this type of situation either in country or hip hop.

The conversation turned to Post Malone and the idea that here is someone ‘putting on a costume’ and imitating/mocking this genre of music that the artist has no real intention of being part of while making money off the songs that have been deemed as being belonging to this genre (basically White Iverson being a hip hop song and Old Town Road being country).

I paused the show to think about something. To me I wasn’t ready to fully ‘cancel’ or bash Lil Nas X or Post Malone. I questioned if these artist were simply inspired. Maybe Lil Nas X was a gamer and after spending a weekend binging Red Dead Redemption, found cowboys cool and decided to intertwine elements of that in his artistry. Maybe Post Malone was a guitarist or drummer or whatever but really liked Juvenile too. Of course both artists were being charged with mocking these genres and a case could be made for sure but I didn’t kn...

Then the light bulb went off. Or rather the issue with all of this hit me.

We live in this era of trolling. We don’t know if anyone is serious or not. The more I got to thinking about this the more I asked myself if that was the fault of the people doing the trolling, especially musically artists “just trying to make it”.

Nowadays everything is on our phones and there’s so much to see. This leads ‘some types’ to do whatever they can to draw your eyes to them. To try to pull a reaction out of you. Good or bad, they got your attention for 15 seconds and that’s another view, stream, like, retweet or comment. As someone very partial to Twitter, I see everyday someone have a funny tweet or GIF that gets thousands of likes and retweets and when you go to the comments the first thing is that person trying to direct you to their SoundCloud link now that they have your attention. And you can’t blame them because the currency these days is attention. You could be listening to a podcast, a song, a YouTube video, shopping online, watching Netflix, texting, reading the news, playing a game, FaceTiming, surfing Instagram...but they were able to get your attention for a few seconds and now that you’re here how do I continue to keep you here.

People who can’t name three Jay-Z album titles know who Lil Nas X is. People that’ve never listened to The Cranberries know who Post Malone is. If Lil Nas X was just another rapper, if Post Malone was just another guy in a rock band would they have reached the notoriety they currently have? And do these artists have the right to utilize these genres to their advantage. Does Post Malone have to pay respect to hip-hop and prove himself as a student of the culture? Does Lil Nas X have to have listened to country and genuinely been a fan to make his song? Or are these music styles up for grabs, open to interpretation and able to be molded into any and everything to make, well, art?

I don’t know what my answer is. What I do know is there’s a respectability to authenticity though. Outside of the music itself, growing with this person and understanding them through their art and how their art has grown. Go through Jay-Z’s catalog and hear how he grew and matured from someone talking about drug dealing escapades to instructing about financial literacy. Look at someone like Nipsey Hussle that utilized his platform to build up his community.

Compare that to someone like Kanye West. Mal from the Joe Budden Podcast--not to put words in his mouth--made a “suggestion” that Kanye’s entire career has been a troll. Maybe performance art is the better terminology. Mal spoke of the alleged theory that Kanye’s car crash didn’t truly happen--or at least didn’t leave him in the condition we had come to believe it did. That he had his jaw wired shut from another incident and used that narrative to provide authenticity to his Through The Wire single. While I don’t wish to speak to something that may not be true, when you look at a lot of how Kanye has moved throughout his career it does make one think. The George Bush doesn’t care about black people line on TV during the Hurricane Katrina telethon, the MAGA support and slavery line uttered on TMZ, the tour rants and walkouts.

Do we actually know who Kanye West is? His music infamously changes frequently going from The College Dropout to 808s and Heartbreak to Yeezus. But if his antics have all been shams, publicity stunts and trolls then what can we gleam from his art that tells us who he is?

I guess for some that doesn’t matter. It’s all about getting to the bag and hey I can’t fault you for that, do you! At the same time, I actually care about the art. Do the art for the love, be one with it. Trolls feel like such the opposite. Someone just here for the sale, someone here selfishly. Maybe that adjective is too harsh. But it just feels like if you’re going to go out of your way to get our (collective our) attention, at least do something of quality with it.

I dunno, maybe I’m just 27 going on 63. But I can’t also help but think of Nipsey and his passing and how so many more people truly mourned the man way more than the musical artist. So many people resonated with the truth he spoke, the genuine nature of his essence, the intentional strategy behind his music and how that blended into everything he did. And here is a person 90 some odd percent of people know from his persona as a musician and not the man, Ermias, personally.

For whatever my opinion counts: the troll job may pay off in the short term. And take advantage of any and all loopholes you can find to ‘blow up’ and make it big. But Nipsey was right on the money, it’s a marathon. Better to be yourself and be authentic than to chase the instant gratification.

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