Customer Reviews

Bratz: The Movie

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

There is a pressure on filmmakers when it comes to turning an extremely lucrative toy franchise into a feature film. Sometimes filmmakers have it easy, especially when the topic is giant fighting robots that already have a mythos attached. Other times the demands are too much, case in point Batman and Robin, a film in which Joel Schumacher admits that the merchandising seemingly drove the entire narrative. One has to give director Sean McNamara credit for finding the story in Bratz, the new feature film based off a line of sexually suggestive, ghetto Barbie dolls.

While most adults will likely approach Bratz as nothing more than mind rotting fluff, McNamara manages to tackle some deeply entrenched high school quandaries, namely cliques and their destructive nature on friendships. Moving from their computer animated, straight to video releases to a live action, big screen adventure, The Bratz are tackling their biggest challenge yet: the angst ridden days of high school.

Controlled by the long arm of the Principal's spoiled daughter, Meredith, the queen bee is determined to maintain her powerful status by keeping the school populace segregated into cliques. At first the "Best Friends Forever" fights Meredith's stronghold, but as each member of the Bratz posse discovers their own unique talents, they are quickly pulled into separate factions. Before it's too late though, a fateful mistake by Meredith reunites the girls, joining them together to take down the student body president's tyrannical rule.

Reminiscent of many late eighties' films aimed at children, Bratz is epic in scale, spanning three years of the girls' high school careers, but underneath all the shopping, singing and dancing there are actually powerful messages. While materialism is obviously enforced by the overt product placement and fashion featured in the film, the fact that McNamara is able to clearly portray cliques in a negative light might be a hugely positive theme to expose ten-year-old girls to.

Not any more mind numbing or offensive than an overlong episode of Saved By the Bell set in the modern MTV generation, the influence of Bratz will not truly be understood for another decade, when the target audience grows up and reflects on the product with a sense of nostalgia. For adult audiences to write off the film as aggravatingly awful is not truly fair. Can you imagine being denied your favorite childhood movies, simply because the critics thought they were mindless entertainment?

While Bratz may be a torturous two hours for adults, the positive message and frantic pace and style of McNamara's film will certainly entertain, and hopefully influence its target audience.

Special Features:

With box-office prices at such a high level, Lionsgate should find that Bratz will perform much better at home, where the purchase or rental of the DVD will ease the strain on parents' wallets. Filled with features that promise to entertain audiences of all ages, the Bratz DVD will undoubtedly be a hot seller thanks to its strategically planned release right before the holidays.

While the deleted scenes and music videos should give young girls the extra Bratz fix they need, the biggest surprises on the disc are the 12 featurettes! While most films targeted at children rarely offer any substantial material, behind the scenes looks at casting, wardrobe and some of the picture's huge set pieces are a refreshing addition. McNamara's commentary is also engaging, offering great insight and personal reflection on how he approached turning Bratz into a live-action production.

Overall:

Regardless of how the doll's attitude and fashion statements have influenced children up to this point, McNamara has created a piece of cinematic fluff that will inevitably do more good than harm.

-Joe Russo

I purchased not one but two copies of this DVD for young cousins who adore everything Bratz and Barbie. I'm not a big fan of the "tough" look of the Bratz dolls, but I gave in. I am very glad that I did. We all enjoyed the movie, which is light family fare with somewhat predictable characters competing for big success in the oh-so-fashionable world of high school. The villain is the daughter of the school principal, and is delightfully hilarious in her eventual defeat. The music is actually pretty good, and everyone enjoyed watching. If you are looking for a good flick with some good values presented, you won't go worng with Bratz!

I really liked this movie. I'm not saying that they (the screenwriters, etc) did not stereotype a lot, and that they concentrated too much on fashion and beauty, but instead of looking at those things look at the two things it does teach: we can all learn new things, and we can work as a team.
I don't like how they made fashion and beauty such a big thing, but let's face it: the world treats beautiful people nicer. It always has.

I ordered this movie for my 7 year old daughter. She loves the animated Bratz movie, so I thought this would be right up her alley. This is her xmas gift, so she hasnt seen it yet. The movie came quick and in perfect condition!

When I first heard of this movie I mentally checked it off as a piece of ridiculous fluff. How could the smexy, sultry, trashy, obsessed-with-bling plastic dolls who have long been rivals of Barbie produce anything worth watching? But after reading a review on Plugged In Online, I decided to give the Bratz a shot. And now I'm so glad I did!
While much of the movie is cotton candy, there's some meat to it as well. Wonderful lessons are taught--such as standing up for yourself without trashing your opressor, forgivness, friendship, selflessness, willing to do what's hard for a good cause, respect for your elders...I could go on. Unlike in so many teen movies and tween sitcoms you find on Disney or Nickelodeon, the girls all have great respect for their parents and have loving relationships with them. Cloe tells a room full of people that her mom, who selflessly and tirelessly works to provide for her daughter, is her hero. The teachers at school are not shown as clueless--apart from the principal, who is Meredith's father...but he also cares for his children and tries to encourage them. Cherish, Meredith's sister, says to him "You're a good Dad." A boy defends Jade's honor when another makes a rude comment. The main characters make mistakes and admit them, then apologize. The things that usually embarrass teenagers and tweens (being driven in Mom's car, being a 'nerd', making your own clothes, working and going against the flow) are embraced and glorified. A particularly memorable moment is when, amid the backlight and fog and dramatic music, the girls pull up to an event and step out in slow motion--from Cloe's mom's minivan. Absolutely pricless.
The language amounts to about 5-6 usages of God's name, but no more. A few times characters expose a little belly, and there's a few short skirts, (Meredith wears the most revealing out of all the characters) but the clothing is mostly very layered and modest--vastly different from the doll counterparts. Fashion and shopping and beauty are emphasized a little too heavily, but it's all fun, not trying to look sexy. Jade lies to her parents, but she later apologizes. Aggresive shopping is shown in a good light (do we really want to be jerking belts from other people's hands and playing tug-of-war until one person goes flying?). There is a lot of stereotyping, but even that is shown in a bad light. The mantra of the film encourages people to be themselves, hang out with who they want, and do what they are interested in, even if it contradicts the cliques and expectations. The Bratz girls are over-exuberant and a little too ditzy at times, but they act exactly the way most teenage girls act.
The disc itself is a good buy--with so much extra material, you'd think you were getting a bonus disc. There are several featurettes, behind-the-scenes, commentaries, meet-the-actresses and music videos to add a little more spice to the sugar.

Overall, this was an extremely enjoyable movie that I want to watch again and again despite myself. While there are a few mild concerns and eyeroll-inducing moments, it's a wonderful movie with bright, bubbly colors and good lessons to be learned.

The message is clear: You don't have to stop being yourself to do what you love and you don't have to give up your friends just because you have different interests. It's okay to be different. It's okay to "not" do everything together. And it's okay to stand up for what you believe in--in fact, survival depends on it.

The movie can be a bit corny at times, but for pre-teens it's perfect! My daughter absolutely loves Bratz, the movie and hopes they will make a sequel.

The movie itself is fine. The DVD on the other hand, seems to be a pirated copy. The picture quality is poor and the colors are off. Very poor quality!

my niece loves the bratz so got this for her for christmas and she was so happy. Me and my husband watched it with her and even though I'm not into the bratz at age 28, this is a great movie and has alot of good qualities for young girls about friendships and all.

3 of 5 stars for the teen comedy movie Bratz. Hollywood loves to remake a theme when it is successful, this movie is a remake of Mean Girls with more comedy and less "social study". Same basic themes. Take four high school girls each is skilled in a differnt subject. The school has its clicks of people (Nerds, Goths, Jocks, etc.). Our girls find it easy to fit into their clicks based on their skills (the smart girl fits with the nerds in the science club, etc). The problem is these clicks cause our BFF (Best Friend Forever) girls to drift apart. So our girls work to tear down the clicks and bring harmony. All is good until the spoiled-rich-girl decides she prefers the clicks to remain.

A funny and cute movie which is pretty well made. The story is more geared towards comedy than looking at the social fabric of high school students. Yes, I recommend this movie, however, if you only have time for one movie, Mean Girls is a bit better.

I didn't get this movie from amazon but it is awesome! This movie is great and Janel Parrish is so pretty. All the girls are playing the perfect parts! This movie has comedy, freindship and fashion! Buy it!