TROLLS (U, 92 mins) Animation/Musical/Comedy/Drama/Romance. Featuring the voices of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, James Corden, Russell Brand, Gwen Stefani, Kunal Nayyar, Christine Baranski, John Cleese, Jeffrey Tambor. Directors: Walt Dohrn, Mike Mitchell.

Released: October 21 (UK & Ireland)

Crammed to bursting with toe-tapping pop ditties courtesy of Simon & Garfunkel, Lionel Richie, Donna Summer and Justin Timberlake, Trolls is 92 minutes of glitter-dusted, computer-animated joy that is virtually impossible to resist.

Based on the fluffy-haired good luck trolls designed by Thomas Dam, which have inspired numerous fads since the early 1960s, Walt Dohrn and Mike Mitchell's musical misadventure unleashes a colour-saturated assault on the senses from the opening frames.

By the time Anna Kendrick's irrepressibly perky heroine launches into her opening song and dance number - a mash-up of Move Your Feet, D.A.N.C.E. and It's A Sunshine Day replete with elaborate hairography - only the most stony-hearted curmudgeon will remain motionless in their seat.

In the brief moments the film does sit still, the script gently tugs heartstrings by promoting its messages of self-acceptance and inner fortitude, including an obvious yet poignant use of a Cyndi Lauper ballad to hammer home the idea that happiness comes from within, not from wealth or material possessions.

Once a year on the Trollstice, a race of disgruntled ogres called Bergens unlock their inner joy by feasting on shiny trolls.

King Gristle Sr (voiced by John Cleese) and his drooling head Chef (Christine Baranski) lead the festivities but the Bergens' reverie is cut short when the trolls, led by benevolent King Peppy (Jeffrey Tambor), escape to a new home.

"I never got to eat a troll. What's going to make me happy now?" snivels young Prince Gristle Jr (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

"Nothing," replies the king tersely.

Twenty years after the great escape, Princess Poppy (Kendrick) has succeeded as ruler of the trolls, who sing, dance, enjoy group hugs and feverishly glue felt and paper into their scrapbooks.

Everyone except for eternal pessimist Branch (Justin Timberlake), who lives in a Bergen-proof subterranean bunker crammed with 10 years of rations.

When the Bergen Chef discovers the new troll village and captures several of Poppy's friends, including zen master Creek (Russell Brand) and Biggie (James Corden), the princess pleads with Branch for assistance.

"Why don't you try scrapbooking them to freedom?" he responds meanly.

Overcoming their initial differences, Poppy and Branch embark on a daredevil rescue mission to the Bergen castle where they play matchmakers to Prince Gristle Jr and scullery maid Bridget (Zooey Deschanel).

Trolls shimmies and sways like an animated version of Pitch Perfect, relentlessly plundering contemporary songbooks to verbalise characters' emotions.

Kendrick's vocal performance fizzes and she gels wonderfully with Timberlake as the downbeat voice of reason.

Admittedly, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger's screenplay is simplistic and the trolls' and Bergens' journeys of self-discovery are largely linear.

While Trolls might be lacking sophistication and cute in-jokes, it bursts with whizz-popping energy.

It's the cinematic equivalent of a mouth crammed to bursting with popping candy.

:: NO SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 7/10

I, DANIEL BLAKE (15, 100 mins) Drama. Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Dylan McKiernan, Briana Shann, Mick Laffey, Harriet Ghost. Director: Ken Loach.

Released: October 21 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)

Warwickshire-born director Ken Loach scales the cold, hard face of Britain's over-burdened welfare system in a grimly compelling portrait of the bureaucratic red tape that separates hard-working and desperate folk from the benefits they need to survive.

I, Daniel Blake is a quiet yet impassioned call to arms, centred on two people from different worlds, who have fallen through the cracks and are largely ignored by society.

Scripted by Loach's long-time collaborator Paul Laverty, it's a character study of mordant humour and harsh, unflinching reality that stokes our anger and frustration alongside the characters as they meet endless resistance to their efforts.

Thus the eponymous 59-year-old joiner has to spend 35 hours a week applying for jobs that he can't take because of his medical condition, and this search for employment propels him into an online world that is completely alien to a man who has worked with his hands his entire life.

"I hear this all the time, 'We're digital by default'," he rages. "Well, I'm pencil by default!"

Daniel (Dave Johns) has recently suffered a heart attack and his doctor has signed him off work until he recovers.

Following an assessment by telephone, a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions arrives in the post, which reveals he is not entitled to sickness benefit.

In order to qualify for jobseeker's allowance, he has to agree to spend his week pointlessly looking for employment or attending a CV workshop, while clashing with officious staff, who adhere rigidly to the rules.

When Daniel attempts to fill in the jobseeker's form online at his local library with the assistance of people sitting on the other computers, he fails to complete the screens within his allocated slot.

"Sorry mate, your time's up!" a young men tells him, those words laced with hidden meaning given Daniel's recent scare.

During one foray in search of compassion, Daniel meets feisty single mother Katie (Hayley Squires) and her two young children, Dylan (Dylan McKiernan) and Daisy (Briana Shann), who have been moved hundreds of miles from London into rundown council accommodation in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Despite his woes, Daniel becomes a fatherly figure to Katie, completing simple DIY tasks to ensure her accommodation is tolerable.

Cruel fate sinks its talons into both Daniel and Katie, and they are forced to make terrible choices to keep their heads above water.

I, Daniel Blake might be glaringly obvious in its intentions, including at least one scene that is unnecessarily manipulative, but there is fire in the film's belly.

Johns and Squires deliver riveting performances including a harrowing scene at a food bank, which lands with the force of a sledgehammer to the sternum.

There but for the grace of God stumble all of us.

:: SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 7.5/10