Barbie: La principessa e la popstar

I can definitely see why people- especially pre-schoolers, the main target audience- will like The Princess and the Popstar. What I'm saying here though is that it didn't work for me. And I personally like most of the Barbie movies(my top favourites being Nutcracker and Diamond Castle), none of them are among the best movies ever made but due to stereotyping mainly they do get a bad rep. The Princess and the Popstar is at least better than Fashion Fairytale and Fairy Secret, but for me it is one of the weaker ones of the franchise. I thought the backgrounds and colours were beautiful, the songs were catchy and Kelly Sheridan is back as Barbie and does a great job. However, while I liked the colours and backgrounds I wasn't crazy about the character movements which had a tendency to become awkward. This is the same with the dancing as well, some of it was cool but at other times it got repetitive from an animation and moves perspective. The dialogue is stilted this time around, and in regard to the characters Barbie is too spoilt and pampered and the villain is obnoxious. I'm not sure whether I'd go as far to say that the story is a direct rip-off of Barbie in Princess and the Pauper, but it is derivative of it. It is also incredibly predictable with nothing new or fresh and the magical items idea isn't explained and is not interwoven into the story anywhere near as successfully as Barbie as Rapunzel. The message is a good one and means well, the problem is that I've seen and heard it done so many times and much better. Apart from Sheridan, the voice actors don't make much of a distinction. Overall, when it comes to Barbie it is not the worst or the best but it was very disappointing all the same. 3/10 Bethany Cox