Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans movie review 2021

MOVIE TITLE: Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans

This colorful action animation airs exclusively on Netflix on July 21, 2021.

RATING: TV-Y7 (PG-13)

LENGTH: 1 hour 46 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

I had the opportunity to watch a press screener of this new Dreamworks movie and, even though I’ve never seen any of the other films in this series, I was intrigued and wanted to check it out. Plus, I was curious to see what Academy Award winner Guillermo del Toro would do with an animation based on his imaginative book.

This is what the franchise creator had to say: “This film marks the end of a franchising journey lasting over a decade. For more than ten years, Team Trollhunters has worked to push the boundaries of 3D CGI animation for television across three distinct yet
interwoven (and award-winning) series, an endeavor that knows no precedent in animation.

With Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, we’ve sought to break new ground yet again by combining the casts of
all three series to give the Tales of Arcadia trilogy an epic and fitting end as a feature film, but in a way
that can also serve as an introduction of this expansive mythology to a brand new audience. Hundreds
of artists and technicians worked for years all around the globe to deliver a finale that we are immensely
proud of and eager for you to experience.”

In DreamWorks’ Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, Arcadia may look like an ordinary town but it lies at the
center of magical and mystical lines that makes it a nexus for many battles among otherworldly
creatures including trolls, aliens, and wizards. Now, the heroes from the hit series Trollhunters, 3Below
and Wizards, team-up in their most epic adventure yet where they must fight the Arcane Order for
control over the magic that binds them all.

THINGS I LIKED:

The voice cast is really great and includes Emile Hirsch, Lexi Medrano, Charlie Saxton, Kelsey Grammer, Alfred
Molina, Steven Yeun, Nick Frost, Colin O’Donoghue, Diego Luna, Tatiana Maslany, Cole Sand, Nick
Offerman, Fred Tatasciore, Brian Blessed, Kay Bess, Piotr Michael, James Hong, Tom Kenny, Angel
Lin, Amy Landecker, Jonathan Hyde, Bebe Wood, Laraine Newman, Grey Griffin, and Cheryl Hines.
Gorgeous animation. The movie is simply beautiful to look at with rich details. One of my sons is a 3D animation artist at Blizzard, working on the World of Warcraft video games. This movie looked a little like a toned-down version of the games for children.
It’s an extremely stylish and smart movie that feels fresh and will make you want to watch it over again to catch what you missed the first time around.
Lots of visual and spoken humor.
Lots of action sequences.
Fun fact: My husband actually grew up in Arcadia, California!
The design of the titans is really great. They’re super creative and terrifying in their own ways.
The dialogue is very sophisticated.
Adults and children will be completely entertained for different reasons. I know my sons would have loved watching this when they were younger.
Each of the characters seems to be fleshed out, offering lessons to be learned from them all.
Some plotlines occur that you don’t expect.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

I definitely felt like I was missing a lot of backstories. I’m going to have to watch the Trollhunters – Tales Of Arcadia: Series One [DVD] to catch up. It appears to be a series that a lot of families are really enjoying together. Because I hadn’t seen any of them, I knew I wasn’t fully appreciating this finale.
Some cliches.
Guillermo del Toro is extremely inventive; however, he also has a reputation for “borrowing” ideas from other films. You can absolutely see other work that has influenced this movie.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

A lot of the vocabulary is very advanced for young kids.
There is quite a bit of science and technology in the story. Despite many explanations by characters, some kids still won’t quite understand what’s going on.
A lot of the humor will go over the heads of young children.
There are elements of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword that kids won’t recognize.