Bratz – The Movie (2007/Live Action DVD/Lionsgate)
Picture: C+ Sound: B- Extras: D Film: D
Since the
arrival of Barbie, few female dolls have been able to challenge her sales
supremacy among young ladies and now, serious collectors and investors. The few exceptions have been Honey West in
1962, Mego’s Dynamite in the early 1970s, The Bionic Woman in the middle of the
1970s and now, Bratz. This time, the competition has been fiercer
as there are several characters and this is the longest since the original
Jamie Sommers/Bionic Woman reigned supreme in that period. So after several different animated
straight-to-video releases, a live action feature film?
Yes, that
is the unfortunate and silly premise of the Lionsgate release that hit theaters
for a week earlier in 2007. Instead of
the franchise retaining its uniqueness, it made the characters look like every
pop tart review around and though this did not hurt sales of the toys, it was a
major miscalculation. They even had
enough money to hire Lainie Kazan and Jon Voight, but nothing could save this
mess. Except as a sad curio, it is
better to stick with the toys. You can
see why Mattel never made a live action Barbie film.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is obviously shot in digital High Definition and motion
blur is all over the place. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix is punchy and tired, trying to cover up the countless script
flaws. Extras include a behind the
scenes featurette, director’s commentary (ha,) seven deleted scenes, 11 other
featurettes and 2 Music Videos.
- Nicholas Sheffo
