Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans Parent Guide

Picking up where the TV series left off, Rise of the Titans finds Jim Lake (Emile Hirsch) without the magic amulet that gave him his powers. Without those powers, Jim faces his greatest foe yet: the Titans brought forth by the Arcane Order. With the help of his many friends, including wizards, aliens, trolls, and other humans, Jim must work fast to save not only the world, but existence as we know it.

Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans is the culmination of three different television series, totaling 88 episodes between them. I have not seen a single one of those episodes, so I went into this viewing blindly. I imagine that my experience of this film is similar to what it would have been like for someone who had never seen a Marvel movie to watch Avengers: Endgame. There were approximately 500,000 characters, countless allusions to past events, and years’ worth of lore to shift through. There is a short introduction at the beginning that tries to get the viewer up to speed with what’s happening, which I found immensely helpful, but it’s not able to explain everything or else it would be, well, 88 episodes long. If you are new to the series, I don’t recommend starting here.

My own ignorance of the property aside, I can make some guesses on how fans might react to Rise of the Titans. The plot is expansive, and the stakes are high, which culminates in a lot of satisfying moments for various characters and story lines. I think that fans will be excited for the colossal scale of story, as well as the character growth and interactions. Unfortunately, the ending is a complete let down. The whole movie focuses on sacrifice, destiny, and teamwork, and then the last 10 minutes tears the entire franchise down. I won’t spoil it, but somehow the writers thought that undoing five years’ worth of storytelling was a good idea. The messages the film had been building to become worthless, and the emotional arcs lose all meaning. I’m mad about it, and I’m not even a fan! I can’t imagine that long time viewers of the franchise are going to be satisfied. Luckily, everything leading up to that terrible decision is pretty good.

If your child is already familiar with the franchise, I imagine the level of violence is going to be similar. There’s a lot of fantasy violence, including various magic powers, swords, and hand to hand combat. One important thing to mention is that there are multiple major character deaths, which could be upsetting to more sensitive audiences. Other than fantasy violence, however, the film is about as clean as it gets. There is a side plot where a human man becomes pregnant by kissing his alien girlfriend. There’s nothing sexual about it, and it’s played for laughs, but it could lead to some questions from young viewers who are not yet familiar with how pregnancy happens.

If you’re already invested in the franchise, give Rise of the Titans a try. Even if the last ten minutes is unsatisfying, at least the journey to get there is a good time. If anything, Guillermo del Toro’s amazing creature design is worth a look.