Troll 2 is widely recognized today as the movie with immense promise but lackluster results. Going over the bare bones of the script, we can see how the plethora of ideas became practically pointless with small errors and mistakes. Now audiences watch Troll 2 to see tragedy occurring on screen – to see what it’s like for a plane full of Fulbright Scholars to crash in a fiery blaze. Here are the 8 greatest ingredients that help craft the magic of Troll 2 and why they came up short.
1) New Technology.
In one of the most contemplative and technically demanding scenes of the film, Joshua’s family is about to eat the food that turns them into green goo the goblins can eat. Joshua’s grandpa, Seth, appears to Joshua to warn the family (since only Joshua can see Seth), so Seth gives Joshua some time by literally stopping time. Here is the scene:
One of the reasons this scene is so technologically appalling is through the wide use of blue screen long before Phantom Menace perfected the formula. The scene was first shot without Joshua walking around. The family basically ate at normal speed and then the real Hollywood magic started. Later, a second camera is used to shoot Joshua as he moves around the set, completely alone. Then using a complex process known as Advanced Cinematographic Synthesis (ACS), a fusing machine magnetically attaches the reels of film from both cameras, creating a symphonic scene like this. Finally, using computer technology (remember, this is before Windows made filmmaking easy), the props and dining room were digitally added to correlate with the ACS reel.
Perhaps the biggest problem with this scene was the script would have benefited from many other occasions that time-stopping would prove useful. But considering the cost, the team was unable to fully explore the outer realms of what could be accomplished as the script demanded. Unfortunately, audiences were teased with this scene.
2) Critique of the American Diet.
This scene communicates two distinct messages: our destruction of natural order will be humankind’s downfall and that corn has unjustly been excluded from the aphrodisiac food group (hotdogs, oysters, carrots, sausages, roast beef, popsicles). In regards to the first message, we can poetically interpret the intentions of the evil witch as a personification of the unnatural food market. If you think about it, popcorn is incredibly unnatural, which is why it’s so unhealthy. Then, with the character submerged in popcorn, it’s like he is struggling with high cholesterol and heart disease – debilitating, but not yet deadly. Perhaps he makes it out alive, or he simply dies in the refuse of his gluttonous behavior.
As for the sexuality of corn, the director elegantly reminds us that corn can also be sexual. With the witch’s exposed leg in front of the poor character, he’s nearly helpless to resist her pheromones. Then, with a progressive suggestion on the acceptance of homosexuality, they passionately kiss with the corn between their lips, clearly exemplifying a Ménage à trois.
The only problem with this otherwise deep scene is that popcorn pops at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning the stage crew overlooked the obvious need for spray bottles to make the characters perspire. Another sloppy oversight by stage crew that removes the audience from a multifaceted artistic moment.
3) The Prop Tightrope.
In many of the scenes, the script calls for the characters to eat food laced with Derris elliptica Benth, a poison that turns the characters into either a tree or pile of green goo. The challenge to the props team was using enough of the liquid extract to allow the audience to understand the risk of the food contrasted against the needs of the characters to be convinced the food is safe. The crew is careful to walk that tightrope. However, they appear to have applied so much that it’s difficult for the audience to appreciate the subtleness of the beautiful but deadly Derris elliptica Benth:
4) The Role of Sexual Allusions.
When considering the constant role sexuality performs throughout Troll 2, perhaps the most pronounced example comes from the rancid milk the town drinks. Obviously the milk’s rancidity reminds us of an Amazonian society built and maintained by matriarch overlords. This is reinforced by the witch, which orders and oversees the smaller and weaker male goblins. The problem is that this milk is underutilized as a plot device. Other than to torment the parents with the reminder of their disaffected son and promiscuous daughter, the milk would have been much better in any of these more excitable roles: part of an experimental low calorie diet, life-sustaining substance for the witch or goblins, or an excellent fertilizer for the friend that becomes a tree.
5) Life: An Attempt to Understand Masculinity in the late 20th Century.
Joshua’s journey in Troll 2 serves the purpose to succinctly mimic the life of men in contemporary American society. First he is lost and alone, like us when we’re born. In the scene where he sees Grandpa Seth holding a sign warning him, then finding out the grandpa was actually a hitchhiker, young men may remember the pain of graduating college expecting a life full of possibilities. But after struggling to convince their best friends to support a community blog, the man is left to write alone – exactly like Joshua trying to find someone who cares about him and his dreams, goals and ambitions. Then Joshua realizes his role in society: protector. He protects his family like a soldier fighting for freedom. And in the end (Spoiler alert!), when his parents eat the apples that turn them into green ooze, he fearfully enters a world without the guidance of the past generation. Although slightly tragic, Joshua’s journey should have come full circle, just like the amazing ending of Godfather 3. I’m convinced that this oversight is solved in Troll 3, but notwithstanding, I would have liked a better character climax.
6) Weaving of Science and Art.
One of the script’s most demanding costume choices was for the goblins to have eyes that blink. Bless their hearts, the Troll 2 team of engineers rose to the demand to meet this technological feat. But as the team struggled with the Modus ponens challenges of some costumes, they found the robotic mask on one of the robots didn’t work correctly (it was later discovered to be a sensitivity to black light, which was widely used to perfect a few of the challenging chase scenes). Unfortunately, at this point, the studio was demanding a wrap-up. The rush caused the director to stick with using the defective mask. To the credit of artistic directing, the mishap is barely noticeable. Nonetheless, the studio’s rush prevented Troll 2 from joining the ranks of Terminator 2 in the special effects department.
7) Poignant Presentation of Social Issues
Troll 2 can be considered the first post-modern argument for vegetarianism that progressively predicted where Hollywood would go 30 years later. The goblins make an excellent speech on the benefits of vegetarianism and attempting to end humanity’s disgraceful disrespect by cannibalizing animals. Then, by turning humans into vegetables, the film is demonstrating that all energy is shared. In other words, by eating animals, we’re consuming the atoms of our forefathers.
To solidify the argument, remember the early scene when the family meal is ruined by Joshua urinating on the food. In clear defiance for the societal role that his harsh father demands, Joshua rejects social conventions and partakes in non-violent protest. As part of his protest, he manifests his interpretation of the food quality: piss. There really isn’t much in the food his family prepares to consume and is, in fact, “poisonous” with or without the Derris elliptica Benth. There isn’t really anything wrong with the presentation of vegetarianism, but I think at least an acknowledgement of PETA would help change audiences’ hearts and minds.
8) Representative Decisions.
Thankfully, Troll 2 doesn’t take the easy route of demonizing men for existing. Instead, the film offers a fair view of women as well by using Diana to express a common experience for couples: the female forces the male to choose between her or his friends. In the second steamiest scene on the movie, Diana is dancing in front of a mirror. She is practicing a speech where she forces her boyfriend to choose between her and his friends. Cleverly designed as a veiled anti-feminist modern presentation of masculinity, the director stabs at the hypocrisy of women – of course women have their girlfriends, but at the same time scoff when men play poker with their boyfriends. Unfortunately, the argument isn’t addressed later. The best way to finish this exploration would be for Diana'’s boyfriend to eat his plant friends – keeping them close to his heart, but giving his heart to Diana.
There is much more that is great about Troll 2 than I’ve mentioned here. Go watch it if you haven’t. Netflix offers it on streaming queue. Amazon also has it here –> Troll 2.
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