Movie review
2021 · · Kids · Fantasy · Animation · Action · Adventure · Family
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans follows Jim Lake Jr., a teenage hero who has protected the town of Arcadia from trolls, aliens, and wizards. Jim and his friends reunite after the Arcane Order captures Nari and wakes three giant Titans made of earth, ice, and fire. The heroes travel from Arcadia to Hong Kong, Brazil, Greenland, and other places while they search for the magic needed to stop the Titans. The film uses fast battles, giant robots, jokes, danger, and sad sacrifices as it closes the Tales of Arcadia story.
The film includes several audience-visible identity choices, but they stay beside the main fight. Claire is a Latina heroine, Aja is a female alien queen and fighter, and Nari is a powerful female nature spirit, while a brief school-bus scene shows Shannon with her girlfriend Connie. Steve also becomes pregnant after kissing Aja because of alien biology, and the movie uses his cravings, mood changes, and birth as a repeated joke. These moments show diverse and different gender roles, but they do not drive the main conflict, and the film has no modern political speeches.
Community feedback
Was our 24% Woke rating accurate?
Loading review details…
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans.
Woke representation / casting
The film gives major action roles to Claire, Aja, and Nari. The hero group also includes humans, aliens, trolls, and wizards. These choices create a visible mix of genders and backgrounds, but the group comes from established fantasy characters and the story does not make their identities a point. The representation signal is noticeable but limited.
16%
Woke political dialogue
Not present. The heroes talk about magic, destiny, sacrifice, and saving people. They do not make current political or activist speeches.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
The film shows Shannon and Connie as a same-sex couple during a brief school-bus scene. Steve’s alien pregnancy turns a male character into the target of repeated pregnancy jokes and keeps him out of the main battles. The movie does not connect either idea to a political claim or a wider identity debate. These themes are visible but remain side material.
22%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Not present. The film presents a fantasy fight against world-ending Titans, not a modern attack on Western culture or institutions. The villains’ plan to erase humanity is treated as evil, and no activist critique of men, families, religion, or capitalism drives the story.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The movie changes the timeline and gives Toby the amulet. The change serves a time-travel ending and is not presented as a race, sex, or identity rewrite.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
A few small X accounts called the male-pregnancy joke Netflix nonsense for children. Other posts used discomfort jokes about male pregnancy, but most were fandom comments rather than political complaints. No large right-leaning account, boycott, review-bomb, or organized campaign appeared in the supplied search. The backlash evidence is fringe and low volume.
14%
Creator track record context
Guillermo del Toro often writes about empathy for outsiders and has supported minority representation. Marc Guggenheim has described himself as progressive and has used current events in earlier shows. Daniel Kraus has a stronger recent public record on reproductive and transgender rights, but that stance is not tied to this film. The other listed writers, directors, and producer have low cached scores and no clear activist record. This mixed record supports a low-to-moderate context score.
31%
Production
Movie · 2017
Six young ninjas are tasked with defending their island home of Ninjago. By night, they’re gifted warriors using their skill and awesome fleet of vehicles to fight villains and…
Movie · 2024
A solitary cat, displaced by a great flood, finds refuge on a boat with various species and must navigate the challenges of adapting to a transformed world together.
Movie · 2022
Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll: He has burned through eight of his nine lives, leaving him with only one life left.
Movie · 2019
It's been ten years since the dragons moved to the Hidden World, and even though Toothless doesn't live in New Berk anymore, Hiccup continues the holiday traditions he once shared…
Movie · 2025
Charles Dickens tells his young son Walter the greatest story ever told, and what begins as a bedtime tale becomes a life-changing journey.
Movie · 2024
A boy with an active imagination faces his fears on an unforgettable journey through the night with his new friend: a giant, smiling creature named Dark.
Movie · 2019
A group of misfits encounter a young Yeti named Everest, and they set off to reunite the magical creature with his family on the mountain of his namesake.
Movie · 2020
When his best friend Gary is suddenly snatched away, SpongeBob takes Patrick on a madcap mission far beyond Bikini Bottom to save their pink-shelled pal.
