Another Barbie movie has made its way into our house and my daughter was thrilled. Myself? Not as much. Why? Because these movies are pretty hit and miss with regards to quality of message. The best of the bunch was A Mermaid Tale which showcased a strong personality. The worst (subjectively) was Princess Charm School which dumbed down its message, condescended to the audience and defied its own logic. The Pearl Princess falls somewhere in the middle. It’s not bad enough to be offensive, but not good enough to really stand out. My 8 year old daughter understand this and while all the Barbie movies are good in her eyes, she does agree with the qualitative assessment The Pearl Princess is in the middle of the pack.
Here Barbie doesn’t return to the previous mermaid roles she has, but instead is Princess Lumina, part of a royal lineage that is undergoing a succession. Of course there is some intrigue, but as this is a movie that lasts an hour and 15 minutes there is less of an emphasis on intrigue and more on overtly showing who the bad guy is and just getting past the obstacles. Actually, The Pearl Princess could have been a decent mystery type story had the filmmakers had a little more faith in their audience.
The animation is adequate, the voice acting is standard, and overall there isn’t anything really bad about Barbie: The Pearl Princess. That, as strange as it may sound, is my problem with it. Barbie: The Pearl Princess just sort of sits there, with just enough effort to get by but without really trying to be something special. It’s just another Barbie movie.
Included on the disc is an “episode” of the mock reality series Life In The Dreamhouse which is a satirical look at these types of shows as well as the Barbie characters. This one focuses on a new pool slide. My daughter found this to be much more enjoyable and watched it 3 times in one afternoon. I think I’d like to see a full “season” of these released rather than churning out more movies simply to fill a perceived need.
As it stands Barbie: The Pearl Princess isn’t bad, but it’s not that good simply because it isn’t bad. It is almost as if it didn’t set the bar high and wanted to simply not be mediocre. Well, if you have a Barbie fan in the house, you’ll probably not mind this too much.