Review of Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

Jim Lake Jr. is an exceptionally good kid. He's a great son to his single mom Barbara, and a great friend to his best pal Toby. He has a crush on his classmate Claire, with whom he has never spoken. His life is fairly ordinary until the day a magical amulet calls to him, and he becomes The Trollhunter, magical protector of the worlds of troll and humans alike.

Images are promotional materials, owned by Netflix and DreamWorks
Wait, let's back up.

So, under our world, and specifically under the US city Arcadia, is a world of trolls, and many other beings. Trolls are big and scary looking, but mostly friendly. And sunlight turns them into stone. There are also bad trolls, which have been banished for the most part, and are trying to find their way back.

Jim is the first human Trollhunter ever. Before him, only trolls had the mantle, which is yours until you die. Which works way better for trolls, because they don't really age.

Wait, let's back up a bit more. Trollhunters is a Netflix original animated series. The third and last part of the show dropped recently, at which point I binged the entire series.

Trollhunter was created by Guillermo del Toro, famed creator of mostly super creepy movies but also Pacific Rim. It is his first work for kids, and is a delight. As someone who likes del Toro's work, but can't watch much of it - because he likes to put bugs and buglike creatures in his films, and I am very phobic - it was a delight to find a show he created that I can actually watch and enjoy.

This is a show for kids and teens, yes. But it is a complex story, clearly thought out in advance, with humor and action and a bit of romance.

The show tackles a bunch of tropes with varying degrees of success. Jim is literally a white savior to the troll community. Toby is a fat best friend (that one gets subverted, to an extent). Claire has nods to the action girlfriend. In general, the show seems aware of the tropes, and will sometimes try to subvert them, which is good.

Finally, the cast deserves a big mention. The late Anton Yelchin is great as Jim in the first two seasons, and Emile Hirsch does a fine job picking up the role later. Lexi Medrano is terrific as Claire. Of the series regulars, Kelsey Grammer is, of course, awesome as Blinky. And some of the best voice actors on earth show up for multiple episodes. I'm talking Mark Hamill, Anjelica Huston, Lena Headey, and David Bradley. Not to mention Ron Perlman and Clancy Brown lending their gravelly voices to troll baddies Bular and Gunmar, respectively.

If you have kids, this is definitely a show to watch with them, especially around 10 years old. But, you know, I don't have kids, and I binged all three seasons.

Finally, a spinoff series is coming soonish, starring Tatiana Maslany and Diego Luna, is coming soon. It's called 3 Below, and is about alien royals hiding in Arcadia. The two leads guested on an episode of Trollhunters, as a sort of a backdoor pilot. It looks cool.