Barbie in Princess Power

Have there really been 29 films based on 'Barbie'? Yes there has, and the 29th one is here with 'Barbie in Princess Power', which is sure to delight all of the young kids who love seeing splashes of bright colors, glitter explosions, and bubble gum pop songs set to their favorite doll. As usual with these types of animated films, specifically the 'Barbie' ones, there is only a very small demographic the filmmakers are interested in here, which are mostly kids under the age of eight I imagine. Every story plot is predictable, nor is there any real tension or suspense. The villains of the story never meet a gruesome demise, but rather come around to the "light side" of things, complete with a ton of super poppy music to entertain the small ones, which is exactly what the filmmakers know that works. These writers and directors know their core audience to a tee, and they execute that precise formula to get the kids excited for the next 'Barbie' film, even if it looks the same to us adults. In this particular film, we have Barbie, or shall I say Kara, who is a princess who wants to build a community garden for all the people of the land to enjoy. Although, her parents would rather her learn to be the stereotypical princess by learning the ways of royalty and waving in parades. All Kara wants to do though is make the world a better place with her garden and helping people. Kara gets what she asks for when she is kissed on the cheek by a butterfly, that turns her into a flying superhero named Super Sparkle, where she fights petty crime day in and day out with the help of her friends. Soon enough, her cousin Corinne becomes jealous of her superpowers and forces the butterfly to kiss her cheek too. Corinne then becomes the arch enemy to Super Sparkle, as she is now known as Dark Sparkle and the battle of pink and purple begins. Meanwhile, there is a much more evil force about with Baron Von Ravendale, who believes he's in charge of Barbie's kingdom, and now the Sparkle twins must set aside their differences to fight something bigger than their jealousy. The story here is really only something a young kid would enjoy, and that they certainly will. There's enough loud music and adventures for them to hang onto through its 70 minute runtime without becoming bored, but if you're older than eight, you'll be bored and annoyed out of your mind, thinking that this whole story could have been told and executed in under ten minutes. The kids will certainly learn life lessons here, particularly that of loyalty and friendship by the end. The animation is decent, but isn't great though, so don't expect a Pixar quality looking movie. That being said, the very young demographic that is hyped up on sugar and love bright colors and loud pop music will get a kick out of 'Barbie in Princess Power'.