Both characters desire something that their situation denies them, but they acknowledge there are people depending on them sacrificing this thing they want. At the beginning both protagonists have already learned the lesson from the classic tale, the song “Free” sets this up beautifully. The writers strongly deviated from the source material, if anything this feels like a sequel to the original story. The Plot: Finally an actual plot! What I love about this plot is that I’ve never really seen anything like it before. The shade they chose isn’t great and its almost distracting at times. The only complaint I have is that in some scenes Annalise and Ericka’s eyes look abnormally blue.
The movements are also much, much smoother. Her expressions are much more natural here.
I didn’t really mention this in my pervious reviews, but in the past Barbie spends a solid 75% of each movie with this off-putting smile on her face, even when it isn’t really appropriate for her to be smiling. Everyone is way more expressive in this film than in the previous three. The two leads are stunning as always, really just beautiful to look at. Mattel really pours everything into the character animations, but really that’s all this film needs. The Animation: I admit it was still early Barbie animation. This movie is just a wonderful example of what humans can create despite limited resources and a small niche to fill. What we make is a reflection of the lives we live and I wan’t to understand as much of that as I can. In order to encompass the broadest variety of those experiences, I consume media religiously, whether that be art, music, literature, film, or any other medium. The philosophy I’ve been trying to live is that I am here for no other reason than to experience the experiences that are unique to being human. This doesn’t mean I can’t recognize good art. I’m a sad sixteen-year-old trying to work through some repressed childhood memories. My initial thoughts: I am by no means a proper film critic. Not just one of the best animated Barbie films, one of the best animated films period. This is one of the best animated films ever made.