Fluffy cuteness of the retro toys
AFTER this year’s Oscars diversity row, it seems David Oyelowo is on a mission to redress the balance.
The Oxford-born actor, who really should have been nominated for his turn as Martin Luther King, has two award-worthy films out in 2016. Next month, he’ll play an African prince in true-life romantic drama A United Kingdom.
But first up is this rousing Disney film on Ugandan chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi.
Oyelowo puts in another brilliant turn as the dignified Robert Katende, a local minister trying to teach chess to slum kids.
Thanks to his inspirational talks, his class is soon more popular than football.
This is, as he points out, a game for fighters, where the poor and illiterate can outmanoeuvre the privileged.
And it’s a game where a pawn can cross the game and become a queen.
That especially appeals to 10-year-old Phiona (Madina Nalwanga) and the roofless shack she lives in with feisty mother (Lupita Nyong’o) and her three siblings is soon filling up with trophies.
If you’ve seen any other sports movie, you’ll recognise the formula. But director Mira Nair takes us down some unexpected byways en route to the emotional finale. EARLY Christmas shoppers beware – all letters to Santa will be torn to shreds once your kids have seen this riotous family comedy.
DreamWorks have found a very underhand way to flog them those candy-haired collectable dolls – they’ve made them the stars of their most enjoyable film since Shrek.
The brilliant idea behind this witty, cleverly cast and beautifully animated adventure is to take the fluffy cuteness of the retro toys and run with it.
Here the Trolls are the happiest creatures in the universe. They love dancing, bursting into song and group hugs which, thanks to a flashing reminder strapped to their wrists, they perform every waking hour.
They’re so cute, when they are scared they poo cupcakes. And one is such a party animal he appears to have one of those auto-tune thingies embedded in his voicebox.
Another is so full of drippy positivity he is voiced by Russell Brand.
As you can imagine, the Trolls can be a bit annoying. Thankfully, Troll Village has a resident Victor Meldrew, Branch (Justin Timberlake), who is so tired of everyone’s relentless chirpiness he has holed himself up in a bunker.
To the Trolls’ perky leader Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) Branch is a stick-in-the-mud who is obsessed with the Trolls’ sworn enemies – the Bergens.
An opening sequence has already filled us in on the Trolls’ horrible history with these murderous giants.
Bergens are the most miserable creatures that have ever lived. They believe they can only taste happiness while scoffing a Troll.
For years, the Trolls lived in a tree encased in a metal cage in Bergen Town. And every year, a batch was plucked from its branches and served to young giants as a rite of passage.
But 20 years ago, on the day Bergen heir-to-the-throne Prince Gristle (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) was to come of age, the Trolls burrowed their way to freedom.
But one relentless Bergen never gave up. Chef (Christine Baranski) lost her coveted spot in court on the day of the Trolls’ Great Escape.
So when she hears disco music thudding in the forest, she knows her fortunes are about to change.
After storming the Trolls’ anniversary bash, she makes off with a clutch of little ravers and heads back