Barbie in Princess Power Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Barbie in Princess Power Blu-ray Movie Review

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a box of crayons!

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 27, 2015

Pink! Purple! Pink! Purple! Pink! Purple! Barbie in Princess Power is the cinematic equivalent of a swirl lollipop. It's abundantly colorful -- colors seem almost more important than the story -- and unabashedly so, banking on multiple rainbows, not some nuanced story, to sell audiences on its cheery wares. And when the audience is grade school children, if not an even younger demographic than that, one cannot fault the filmmakers for pushing what works. About the only thing that's black-and-white about the movie is the clear-cut moral subtexts that shape the battle between good and evil in a typical animated fashion where nothing's too scary, nefarious means don't result in nefarious ends, and playful overtones fill in the gaps of what is otherwise a story that could be told in about a quarter of the film's measly 70-some-minute runtime. This is accessible, simple storytelling boosted by its abundance of color and sharp Pop tunes, an assault on the senses more than a challenge for the mind. And the young ones will surely devour it as if it was a bagful of gummy worms.

Barbie camo.

Kara (played by Barbie, voiced by Kelly Sheridan) and her friends have invented a nifty little jetpack that sends her flying all over her family's royal, palatial estate. From the air, she spots just the right place to build her community garden project, something she hopes will bring the kingdom together and help people get to know one another. Her parents, however, have other plans. Rather than participate in community service, they want Kara to instead perform her royal duties and serve as the Grand Marshall in the annual parade. Though she's satisfied with her life, she wants more. She'd rather be making a difference in the world, not coddled and paraded around in royal engagements. She gets her wish when a magical butterfly kisses her cheek. She falls into a deep sleep and awakens to learn that she has been gifted with superpowers. She and her friends mold her into "Super Sparkle," a hero who saves the day time and again and becomes an overnight sensation. But she will have her work cut out for her when the evil Baron Von Ravendale (voiced by Michael Kopsa), a scientist who believes he holds a claim to the kingdom, makes trouble in the name of getting what he believes to be rightfully his.

Barbie in Princess Power trudges through all of the standard midlevel animated permutations, blending makeshift adventure with recycled heart and simplified ethical clarity that brings friends and families closer together by the end in the classic "I've learned something today" structure. For adults and older kids, it'll all fall flat. The young ones, however, will devour the movie, cherishing its oversimplification of life, its sense of sweeping adventure, it's candy-colored layers, and its teeny-bop tunes. The filmmakers certainly know what sells. Most of these Barbie films are all variations on the same basic few themes, but it's in the getting there -- and getting there in glittery, saccharine style -- that's all the fun.

The picture does, at least, enjoy some fair quality animation, superior to bargain bin trash like the latest Swan Princess debacle (that film made all the worse by a putrid story and structure) yet still a far, far cry from the über-budgeted big boys like Big Hero 6. Barbie in Princess Power seems comfortable in its shoes, confidently soaring to new heights (literally!) as Barbie, er, Kara and friends get to know their sweet new powers. The film also allows for a few of the tricks up its sleeve to stay largely hidden until all is revealed. It maintains a basic freshness in approach even as, noted earlier, the film is essentially the same as most of the others, simply re-skinned, as it were, for a new release.

Barbie in Princess Power Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Color, color, color. Barbie in Princess Power bursts onto Blu-ray with an endlessly cheerful barrage of pinks, purples, and blues with an assortment of other primaries chiming in from time to time, but it's those first three that really stand apart. There's not a lot of color nuance -- these are all pretty basic representations, lacking subtlety and detail -- but the point is to see the screen explode, and explode it does. As far as detailing is concerned, Universal's transfer brings out the best of the natively flat, plastic-like picture. It finds most of its nuance in close-ups of brick and stone work in the castle and little science-y details in Von Ravendale's lab, but otherwise the image is all about rather flat, one-dimensional skin, clothes, and other bits. Still, lines are well defined and image clarity is such that every last bit of glitter and sparkle is visible. Black levels satisfy. The image suffers from minuscule banding and more than a hint but less than an abundance of aliasing (check out the left side of the screen at about the 43:20 mark for one of the more egregious examples in the movie). Yet despite a few reservations, Barbie in Princess Power looks pretty good for what it is, particularly considering its plastic, flat details. Kids will enjoy, and videophiles won't be left cringing for more than a few moments.

Barbie in Princess Power Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Barbie in Princess Power is as loud as it is colorful. Universal's big and aggressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack isn't shy about making use of every speaker and hitting them hard. The track produces a consistently wide, involved soundstage. Music is potent and sharp, with the candy-coated Pop tunes particularly thumping and screeching through the speakers with a noticeable edge but not at the cost of clarity. Big sound effects dominate, producing good, heavy bass and, again, a wide, full stage disbursement of sound. Bits and pieces crash, move, and jump from one speaker to the next, front-to-back and side-to-side alike. Dialogue can be a bit of challenge in the most aggressive scenes, though it's generally well prioritized and articulate, enjoying natural center placement with only a hint of a sharper edge at times. One could argue the track is a little too energetic, that a bit more nuance would help it out. Even if the raw power gets in the way of raw, pinpoint clarity, it sure is a fun listen.

Barbie in Princess Power Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Barbie in Princess Power contains a trio of music videos, outtakes, and an episode of Life in the Dreamhouse. Inside the Blu-ray case, buyers will find a DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy.

• Music Video (1080p, 3:24): "Soaring" from Barbie in Princess Power.
• Music Video (1080p, 2:57): "Superhero Beat" from Barbie in Princess Power.
• Music Video (1080p, 2:43): "Anything is Possible" by Fifth Harmony.
• Outtakes (1080p, 2:28).
• Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse Episode (1080p, 3:33): "Mission Impawsible."
• Previews (1080p): Barbie Rock 'N Royals, Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse, Barbie and the Secret Door, Barbie The Pearl Princess, and The Barbie Collection.

Barbie in Princess Power Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Barbie in Princess Power feels completely comfortable with its lot in animated life, content to entertain and bombard the senses with endless little kid eye candy and sugary Pop music goodness. If Barbie in Princess Power were junk food, the kids' teeth would be all over the carpet and the parents' lives signed away to the local dentist by the time the end credits roll across the screen. It's all in good fun. This is a simple but well meaning little adventure with standard lessons on doing right, getting along, and so on and so forth. It's mild ethical reinforcement disguised by endless color and feverish music that the target audience will love. Universal's Blu-ray release of Barbie in Princess Power features good video, aggressive audio, and a few supplements aimed at the kids. Recommended for the right audience.