Keeper's Book Reviews: Movie Review: Barbie: The Pearl Princess (2014)

Barbie plays Lumina, a mermaid girl with the power to change the color of pearls. Cheerful and creative, Lumina finds herself working in a mermaid salon customizing fabulous hairstyles. And when Lumina has the chance to attend the royal ball, her friends adorn her with a gown fit for a princess. At the ball, villains try to seize power over the kingdom, and Lumina finds within herself an unexpected power that proves she is much more than a hair stylist.

Anyone who has kept up with the Barbie movies has probably noticed that the last few years of movies have been terrible. And by terrible, I mean that even I wouldn't have watched them if I'd known just how bad they were. And that's serious O_O Things started looking up a bit when the last movie, Barbie Mariposa & The Fairy Princess, came out, and from then (so far) it's been going in a positive direction. Of course, the last 2 good movies had Barbie playing a fairy and then a mermaid; I really hope that the next one will have Barbie as a human, and that the plot gets even better! But enough fangirling...or Barbie-girling.

For any of you who know me personally, you know that I love all things royal. So a movie with a prince and princess...is it even possible that that won't win me over? The prince didn't really have a relevant part in the movie, though it's obvious who the princess is. Even knowing the facts from the beginning, it didn't take away from the movie's appeal.

The thing that separates kids' movies from "regular" movies are the morals. It's nice to watch a movie where good always triumphs over evil, without any complications. Lumina was such an adorable character; she was so innocent. The film starts off with Lumina playing what's basically "house" with her seahorse. It was also cool to see some of the sea animals from other movies.

This movie had a vast variation of characters, and not one of them was normal. The weirdest of the weird was probably Fergis, the boy, well, merman, pressured into becoming King when all he wants is to be a botanist. He has the most ridiculous voice, but he is a great character who made the movie very interesting. Now Fergis's dad on the other hand...cr-ee-p-y!

Though The Pearl Princess was enjoyable and kept me up until after midnight, even I'll admit that it wasn't that great of a film. Especially when compared to the old ones like The Nutcracker and Rapunzel. I suppose the reason I liked it as much as I did is because it's the best of Barbie I've seen in a while. It doesn't help that the upcoming Fall Barbie movie looks plain idiotic. Maybe it's time I stopped keeping up with these movies *scrunches nose*.

This movie felt really short, and I feel like nothing much important happened until the end. Everything up until the climax was basically pointless. I was really disappointed when there wasn't a clear-cut romance between Lumina and Prince Delphin (not dolphin). I love how the Barbie films I watched during my childhood had a slow building romance, similar to what's read in novels. This, on the other hand, was definitely aimed at a 2 year old. Also, I'm not sure if this is just me, but I feel like Barbie got younger. Maybe the terrible movies are for a new generation of children?

I wish I could say something better about the movie but I honestly can't. I have no idea what is going on in the minds of the Barbie creators, but if it keeps up like this, I might as well say bye now. At least I'll have the pretty dolls XD