What was it I said about the first "Trolls"..
- astonishingly luminescent colors
- inviting mix of state-of-the-art CGI sophistication and an adorable style that's like being in a 1st grade class doing arts and crafts with construction paper and felt. Everything looks so fuzzy and soft, you just wanna reach out and feel the textures on screen.
- turning catchy, uplifting pop song renditions into both a key narrative device and a fairly touching ethos
- great voice work (for starters, was Anna Kendrick's chipmunk voice made to be a manic saccharine sweet little pink kewpie doll or what)
- it's got that hyperactive sugar high velocity that tends to make most modern animated films rather exhausting, but it actually deploys humor with razor sharp timing and pitch, making it consistently laugh-out-loud amusing
- overall better than expected

Because all of that is true of the sequel as well. I was prepared for a real downgrade based on what most people have written since it came out, but this shines with all the same gleeful strengths as before. The worst I can say is that not all the gags are as fresh as they could be, but plenty are and there's a million of them so let's not be petty.

This sequel finds new inspiration in attacking its music directly, expanding the Trolls world into a series of fractured kingdoms representing the primary music genres (pop, rock, classical, funk, techno, and country) and then exploring how self-righteous and close-minded fans of any specific genre can be (i.e. rock feuds with techno, etc.), and then using that to comment on racism, segregation, intolerance..in the end it teaches about accepting differences and aspiring to world harmony on multiple levels. From your choice of music to the color of your skin to even your taste in movies, even if this is an elementary lesson, it's one we should all rally around whenever someone brings it up. You can like techno and still respect those who like country. Rap and yodeling can co-exist in this world. Belonging to one group instead of another doesn't have to be a measure of your value. A movie like "Trolls World Tour" may seem like annoying kiddie glitter to viewers who prefer, say, Disney animation, or David Fincher, or foreign films, more adult fare, what-have-you, but that shouldn't invalidate its virtues or potential to make other people happy for whatever reasons. If only we could unite all types of movies into one ultra movie that everyone could love together, all types of music into one ultimate song, all races into one essence of a human being that we all recognize as a mirror image of ourselves, maybe we'd stop all the divisive hate and start to treat the world around us - culturally, socially, politically - like our neighbors and friends rather than our enemies and competitors.

Anyway, good movie: funny, visually dazzling like getting hypnotized by a kaleidoscope, jubilant music party, resonant core of positivity. Would be better if they gave equal consideration to each genre (for plot purposes, rock is treated like a bunch of douche posers, classical barely has a presence, and pop remains the unspoken ruler of them all), but that's just the music nerd in me talking.