Eric D. Snider

Bratz

Movie Review

"Bratz"

Review by Eric D. Snider

Grade: F

Rating: PG

Released: Friday, August 3, 2007

Directed by:

Cast:

The Bratz are a line of big-headed, fashion-conscious dolls aimed at tween girls, who are past the age where they want to play with Barbies but just getting to the age where they want to live out their slutty, materialistic fantasies vicariously through playthings. The Bratz dress provocatively and have been the source of controversy among parents who feel they encourage a too-early sexualization of young girls. One of the Bratz toy sets has the Bratz sneaking out of the house to go on blind dates with boys. Hooray for teaching skankiness at an early age!

The Bratz' first live-action movie, cleverly titled "Bratz" and evidently inspired by the animated TV series of the same name, is appalling and horrific, but for entirely different reasons. The producers have wisely toned down the trampiness of the girls' outfits, perhaps realizing that what garners a few raised eyebrows when it's worn by a piece of plastic would garner torch-wielding mobs if it were worn by actual young girls (or even 20-year-old actresses playing young girls). And the Bratz' fondness for buying clothes is not played up as heavily as you might expect, either, though that's not to say there's not still plenty of materialism to be found. MTV and MySpace are name-checked several times each.

No, the Bratz movie is bad in other ways -- not for its message or values, but for simply being a flat-out awful abortive trainwreck of a disastrous pile of worthless stupid garbage of an utter mess of a movie, even by the low, low standards of Movies Based on Toys. Every turn of the wandering, aimless story is ill-conceived, the jokes fall flat, and the characters are as plastic and fake as their Toys R Us counterparts.

This last point is particularly delicious, since the movie's message is that you should be yourself, be unique, and not worry about fitting in with the crowd. Yet the heroines -- a quartet of lifelong friends who find themselves drifting into separate cliques when they reach high school -- are adorned with personality traits as randomly and as inauthentically as you might put clothes on a doll. You can almost hear the little girls playing with the characters in their Let's Make a Bratz Movie Playset: "Let's make this one really good at singing ... and journalism!" "I want this one to be an expert scientist -- and a brilliant fashion designer!" And how do we convey that those characters really ARE those things? Mostly by having them say so. For example, one girl in the movie keeps mentioning that she's in the journalism department, yet we never actually see her do anything journalism-y, nor does she hang out with the journalism crowd. If she never said it, we'd never know.

The friends are identified as follows: Yasmin (Nathalia Ramos) is Mexican, a good singer (but plagued with stage fright), and keen on journalism (allegedly). Jade (Janel Parrish) is Asian, good at math and science, has overachieving parents, and secretly wants to be a fashion designer. Sasha (Logan Browning), the black one, loves cheerleading and has divorced parents. Cloe (Skyler Shaye), the blond white girl, is klutzy but is also great at soccer. She's also really good at having a single mom and being poor; however, those skills don't emerge until very late in the film, at which point they're mentioned as if we should have known them all along.

The film starts with their first day at Carry Nation High School, named for the famous hatchet-wielding anti-alcohol activist of the early 20th century. The principal, Mr. Dimly (Jon Voight, wearing fake nose and ears so as not to be recognized), reads a book called "How to Run a Prison." His perky princess daughter, Meredith (Chelsea Staub), is student body president and his chief supporter. They both want the school to be neatly organized into distinct cliques, as that makes everyone easier to control. There is oppressive signage everywhere about not littering and not running and not speaking out of turn.

Clearly some attempt was being made here to inject satire into the story. It is rather funny to see grumpy-faced Carry Nation, ax in hand, on all the school's logos, I'll give them that. Unfortunately, not enough is done with the satirical elements to make them effective. The target audience won't catch them, and the grown-ups ... well, I guess they'll point out that they're not very effective. I'm a grown-up, and that's what I just did.

Never mind that stuff. The point is, the girls have always been a foursome, and now that they've entered high school, they're splitting up into cliques. Then two years pass. (Yes, two years!) Suddenly they're juniors, and they haven't really spoken since freshman year, their extracurricular activities keeping them apart despite their best efforts. Then one day there's a huge food fight during lunch, and for some reason that results in the four Bratz vowing to get back together and never let their cliques separate them again!

This enrages Meredith, who doesn't like the idea of people not being in cliques. So she throws a huge Sweet Sixteen party for herself (her second one, since she's been 16 for several months already) and invites people in a way that indicates they have to be part of a group to attend. It has something to do with popping a balloon, and in the balloon is a slip of paper that says "Cheerleading" or "Journalism (alleged)" or whatever. I didn't really understand it. Anyway, the Bratz (who aren't called "Bratz" yet, by the way, I forgot to tell you that part) see through Meredith's transparent attempt to keep them in line, and they decide to just not go to the party.

But then it turns out that Cloe's mom, who you'll recall is poor and runs a catering business -- oh, did I not mention her catering business? Must be because the movie never mentioned it until now, either -- well, she was hired to cater Meredith's party, and all her employees have bailed out, which means the Bratz have to pitch in and help out by being waitresses at the party. How embarrassing! Even more embarrassing, they're supposed to wear clown costumes! But don't worry! One of of the girls -- I don't know, Jade? Cloe? Kitanna? Dikoda? -- is a great seamstress, and she alters their clown costumes into eye-catching, fashion-forward ensembles that make them the hit of the party. Crisis averted!

Then for some reason there's a talent show at school. "The only way to get everyone back together is to win the talent show!" one of the girls declares, as if stating the obvious, when in fact the connection between winning the talent show and getting everyone back together is tenuous at best. This contest is held every year, and Meredith (who fancies herself a singer) always wins. That's because as student body president, she and she alone gets to decide who competes in the show, and she rejects any act that might give her a run for her money. Having failed in her efforts to separate the not-called-Bratz-yet, she tries to blackmail them into dropping out of the show ... which is superfluous, since, as I mentioned, she has the power to just kick them out for no reason.

Her blackmail material is a video-phone recording of Yasmin (the Mexican girl) dancing around her bedroom with her mother (Lainie Kazan) singing -- I kid you not -- "La Cucaracha." Now, it seems to me that if you don't want people to think that you're an embarrassing ethnic stereotype, then maybe you, as a Mexican girl, shouldn't dance around singing "La Cucaracha."

I should also mention that in the first scene set at this house, Yasmin comes downstairs for breakfast and sitting at the kitchen table is ... a mariachi band, complete with instruments. Surely this is a remnant from a deleted scene, as it is never explained why a fricking mariachi band is sitting at the kitchen table, and why no one says anything about them.

Then there's the talent show, and finally Meredith calls them brats, which they interpret as "Bratz," goodness knows why. They sing a song about having a positive attitude. It involves legions of back-up dancers and live musicians, all of whom appear more or less out of nowhere. Maybe the mariachis were among them.

Oh yeah, earlier Yasmin meets a cute boy named Dylan (Ian Nelson) who is in the jock clique, but he used to be in the band clique, back before he went deaf. He's newly deaf. But he's super-good at reading lips -- so good that you don't even have to be facing him when you talk and he'll still know what you're saying. Also, he can put his hands on a speaker and feel the vibrations of your singing voice and be able to tell that it's beautiful. He is a magical deaf boy indeed. I don't know why he's in the movie, but since he contributes to its overall idiocy, I thought I'd mention him.

Surprisingly, this movie has a director. His name is Sean McNamara. He made a Hilary Duff movie a few years ago called "Raise Your Voice," which was also a) about teenage girls and music, and b) lousy. Stick to your strengths, I guess.

(The film allegedly had a writer, too, but I'm going to refrain from identifying him or her until I can get corroboration that it's not a hoax and that there was, in fact, a script.)

I could go on all day about this film's implausible scenes, subplots that don't go anywhere, and misguided attempts at teaching valuable lessons. But I'll close by just saying this: Even though you assume a "Bratz" movie is going to be bad, you have NO IDEA just how bad this one is. It's bad in ways I hadn't expected, ways that surprised me and gave me a headache. It's definitely one of the worst moviez of the year.

Grade: F

Rated PG, for being a stupid piece of garbage

1 hr., 42 min.

This item has 57 comments

  1. AggieGirl says:

    "Rated PG, for being a stupid piece of garbage"

    That just made my whole week.

  2. Lisa says:

    Wow, the last time I saw any movie receive an F grade was Freddy Got Fingered. That's pretty impressive in and of itself.

  3. a says:

    cool review

  4. AggieGirl says:

    Eric gave License to Wed an F, and that came out just last month. And it totally deserved an F.

  5. MSuskie says:

    I saw one trailer for this, and until I saw the title, I literally thought it was a joke. Like, one of those fake trailers they create for those "turn off your cell phone" messages. I expect to hear a ringtone, but it didn't happen.

    Sigh.

  6. Ezra says:

    Was this a completely bad movie with no redeeming value whatsoever, or so bad and idiotic it was funny? 'Cause the review was a little silly and made me laugh, so I thought maybe the movie was as well?

    I'm not seeing it either way, just wondering.

  7. Rachel Nicole says:

    Was it a bad movie? I wouldnt know because I havent seen it. But I was disappointed when I first saw the trailer because the whole "clique" thing didnt sound too exciting. Its almost like Mean Girls, except toned down and aimed at tweens. And I dont think its the Bratz dolls that make girls want to be whore-ish, I think it's just the media and being exposed to so much. Myspace, the internet, weird shows and weird movies, and all that stuff. My friend's little sister plays with Bratz dolls and she doesnt mention a word about her boobs or anything. The only reason she knows all sorts of stuff like about sex, periods and stuff (she's only 4 years old) is because her older sister is always talking about it and making jokes about it, not because of Bratz. Bratz wouldnt make a 4 year old want to dress in slutty clothes. Bratz isnt the reason why she knows what pads and tampons are. She only plays with the dolls because they are dolls, and kids like playing with toys, including dolls. She only thinks the Bratz have pretty hair, and some cute girls. She thinks of them as pretty, not sexy.

  8. Savvy Veteran says:

    Take it easy, Champ. Why don't you stop talking for a while?

    Yeah, maybe sit the next couple of plays out.

  9. Kaydria says:

    If a four year old thinks Bratz dolls are pretty, not sexy, why wouldn't she want to dress "pretty" just like them?

  10. Karmacoma says:

    a magical deaf boy... I don't know why that is so funny, but it is.

  11. Lotus says:

    I laughed so hard after reading this! I feel so bad for all the movie critics that are always like, "Oh, Bratz is full of attitude!";"Fun!"; HA.

  12. Sam B says:

    Are you sure it's aimed at young girls? Because, FWIW, the trailers and ads I've seen for it have Lionsgate's stock symbol at the bottom, so clearly somebody thinks Wall Street's going to eat this movie up.

  13. cole says:

    the reason the deaf boy is magical is cuz everyone knows that disabled poeple all have special insights n are spiritual and see more that we do--all movies show them that way

  14. Shawn says:

    I am so glad I have sons. I'm just sayin.

  15. Dave the Slave says:

    "fricking mariachi band"- I think thats the first time I've ever seen "fricking" in print! awesome :-)

  16. Diane says:

    Do tweenage girls write angry letters? Oh, I hope so. I just can’t wait.

  17. Maxo says:

    I would believe even tweenage girls wouldn't get pissed about it, even they can recognize a crappy movie when they see it. I remember when I was a boy and got punched in the stomach by the horrible excuse for a movie that was "Masters Of The Universe". I still enjoyed my He-Man toys but I never wanted to see that movie again - until I matured and understood the powerful performance that Dolph Lundgren brings to all his movies.

  18. Heli says:

    Caiti asked me to post this:

    ------------------------------

    I have an idea, how about you go outside take a large tree and shove it up your a**!!

    The Bratz bring a whole school together and you make fun of it???

    ONE OF THE STUDENTS WAS MY GRANDPA YOU A******!!!!

    MY GRANDMA AND MY UNCLE (my mom wasn’t born yet) HAD TO SAIL AWAY FROM CARRIE NATION HIGH SCHOOL AND WATCH HIM DIE!

    my grandma tells me stories of that day so it’s like i was there, and i feel personaly attaked by this article. my granpa has a message for you: rot in h***!!!

    love,

    caiti

  19. Lotus says:

    Um, Heli? Tell Caiti that this is a REVIEW. The movie never really happened in history, and I bet Eric does not care. At all. Your angry outburst is being taken in by deaf ears.

    Because no one cares. Calm down.

  20. keerstah says:

    Umm, Lotus? Check out the blog about the angry Titanic letters. It might help you make sense of all this.

  21. Eric D. Snider says:

    #2: The F grade has been used 48 times since "Freddie Got Fingered" got it in April 2001.

    #6: If my review has caused you to think that there is anything entertaining, or even tolerable, about the movie, then I have failed. If I had managed to enjoy any aspect of it, it wouldn't have gotten the almost-never-used F grade.

    #18: You made me laugh.

    #19: Someone please explain the joke to her.

  22. BeeDub says:

    I await the inevitable (real) angry letters/emails/posts from tweenage girls re: this movie with baited breath. I know they're coming. How could they NOT?

  23. CamsyD says:

    Ha ha, awesome review man, what a horrible sounding movie, i'm sad for you that you had to endure it, cause I would've turned off about 30 seconds into the movie!

  24. Becky H. says:

    Holy crap, this movie sounds even WORSE than I thought it would be! I mean, geez, a mariachi band and backup singers popping out of nowhere? Converted clown costumes as a major plot point? A magic deaf guy?

    Someone mind explaining how Sean McNamara still finds work?

  25. Green-light says:

    The writers of this movie, according to imdb, are:

    Susan Estelle Jansen --- (screenplay)
    Adam De La Peña --- story
    David Eilenberg ---- story

    I trust you know what to do with this information.

  26. BeeDub says:

    This movie debuted at #10 in the box office with about $4 million. Fans of good taste can breathe a bit easier.

  27. Orpheus says:

    I thought I heard from some TV interview with the cast of 'Bratz', that they're planning to make a sequel.

    Ouch.. that's not good.

  28. Ashley says:

    Please tell me the sequel thing is an outright lie. I was horrified enough when I saw the preview for this one. "They're making a movie about the whore dolls?" I said. The review almost makes me think it would be hilarious to watch. Only not if I have to pay $7.50 at the theater. Or even $3.00 at blockbuster. Or even $1.00 at the dollar movies. Maybe if someone gave me $7.50.

  29. PCachu says:

    In the (poor excuse for a) film's defense, at least it doesn't star the hideously malformed freaks of plastic that spawned it. Of course, to make a real girl look like a Bratz doll, you'd have to give her a triple-Jolie dose of lip collagen. And then punch her in the face for, like, a week.

    And #24: Hollyweird is one of those mysterious entities which rewards failure. There is no other explanation for the careers of so many of its notables. It's like, once you get your name into the hat, nobody bothers to take it out, no matter the incompetence you demonstrate.

  30. Dustin Fife says:

    Often when I first view a trailer for an upcoming, clearly awful, movie I vow to my friend that I will pay full price to see that movie. When I say the trailer for Bratz, I not only vowed to pay full price for myself but also for my friend. It is kind of like a manhood test to see if I can sit through really awful movies. When all was said and done I simply sat in the empty theater screaming "damn you," repeatedly and as loud as I could at the now blank screen. I'm ashamed of whoever made this film. I had to go home and watch tankgirl just to fall asleep.

  31. Tyler! says:

    #17 said, "I remember when I was a boy...". I laughed so hard when I read that. I was sure he was about to demasculate himself. And then I read on and discovered he had.

    #30 - Dude, Dustin, please tell me you took Trevor. He's always accusing me of being THE reason bad movies are still being made. It's good to know I'm not alone.

  32. Aaron says:

    "Surprisingly, this movie has a director." Almost spewed my Diet Code Red Mountain Dew all over my computer. Classic.

  33. Dustin Fife says:

    #31 aka Tyler: Twas Trevor I took to see Bratz. I can proudly declare that I am one of the reasons that horrible movies continue to get made in this beautiful world. I hate you Bratz, but I respect your right to be horrible and am willing to pay full price in order to protect that liberty.

  34. Stephen says:

    Hilarious review. The disjointed nature of the details is pretty convincing towards just how hackneyed this movie is. Bravoooo.

  35. Casey Pee says:

    My friends and I went to this movie just because of this review.

    And...it was the most fun I've ever had in a movie theater. Not because the movie was any good, mind you, but because, aside from the group of 3 I was with, there were only three other people in the whole theater. And they came to make fun of it, too. It was pretty much like a live session of Mystey Science Theater 3000.

    This weird 40-year-old couple showed up about five minutes into the movie, too, and they weren't there to mock. It was kinda creepy.

  36. Turkey says:

    "a flat-out awful abortive trainwreck of a disastrous pile of worthless stupid garbage of an utter mess of a movie...." Fabulous description.

    "They sucked. They sucked big time. They were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked." That's what that reminded me of.

  37. jess says:

    oh my god, that review and the comments following made my day. i think a worthless pile of garbage is the best way to describe this awful attempt at a movie. i haven't seen it (and i'd sooner throw myself in the path of a train before doing so), but all i needed to hear was that bratz was a movie to know it was going to suck. this movie was made for the singular reason that people thought it was going to make as much money as the dolls. they just threw in the cliche "be unique and individual" message so they could attempt to put some kind of depth to it. this was the funniest review i've ever read, and i'm surprised you haven't torn out your eyes after viewing such a "film".

  38. madison smith says:

    wot are the song words to you know its all about me by madrith me and my friend would like to know so could yopu email it to me. thankyou yours sincerly

    madison and charlte

  39. Reagan says:

    what are the song lyrics for fabulous by Chelsea Staub?

  40. Turkey says:

    The rest of us would probably know just as well as you as if you just Googled the lyrics. None of us here know them by heart, I can guarantee you that much.

  41. Tomanesha Sawyer says:

    I love the bratz you sooooooo cool

  42. Robyn says:

    ok, first your review is CRAP! how dare you say the film was rubbish, just because your head is too far up ur backside dont go making everyone else dilike it too. and it means your cant see a good film when it comes out. i think your review is horrible. you should not make a movie sound bad just because you dont like it dont you think thats a bit selfish??????????? and i have seen the movie i think it is brillent, exactly like school (seeing as at the moment i am at school and i know exactly what school is like) its a childrens film for crist sake. have you doubted lion king for being able to talk or sleeping beauty for 'unrealistic magic' er i think NOT!!!!! and your pathetic comment about not learning everything about the characters straight awat then let me tell you that if you did get all the details straight away then there would be no story. what do u wana do, egt them to make a speech about who they are anmd where they come from. next time if your gona say something then be nice.

    love (an extreamally angry) Robyn xxx

  43. Thoughtful Observer says:

    Finally, an angry comment. I was worried that it would never come. And a classic at that: bad spelling, grammer and the insistance that it couldn't be a bad movie, it's an amazing movie and Eric just didn't understand. A text-book example, if ever I have seen one.

  44. Amp says:

    I think this angry letter takes bad logic one step farther for suggesting that Eric's giving a negative review because he didn't like the movie is selfish. Eric, how could you only think of your own opinions when you wrote a review that is (ahem) a summary of your opinions? For shame.

    I would like to hear from Robyn xxx when she is just angry. Do you think she can spell then?

    I am extreamally disappointed that the link to her website didn't work.

  45. kristen says:

    i want to wach the bratz real movie

  46. SparkleShine says:

    Oh my goodness!! That review was HILLARIOUS! ---Nice vocabulary, by the way, Author! Tenuous, superfluous? Wowee! =D

    Anyway, because I'm a dork, and I'm still addicted to little kid shows, I found this movie endearing.

    But DON'T get me wrong---I noticed all that crappy stuff too. The magical deaf boy, the mariachi band that came out of nowhere, the fact that the Bratz somehow made it past Meredith and INTO the talent show when no one else could, the random plot-thickenings that come out of nowhere (Cloe being poor, Yasmin allegedly doing journalism, etc. Random? yep).

    And although this movie's ratio of flaws to stuff they did right is about 6:1, I still found it kinda cute. Wow, I'm embarassed for saying it, but I did.

    AND (just throwing this out there)---the girl who played Meredith IS very talented...good for her---I think we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the future. =]

  47. SparkleShine says:

    Oh, by the way, I really loathe the concepts of the Bratz dolls. They're teeny tweeny plastic whores who teach not-so-plastic children to want to dress like them and look like them and become like them.

    Is there seriously a doll set where the girl's sneaking out to go on a date? Sick...I'm rather surprised the Bratz have lasted this long on the market without a billion angry mothers somehow magically taking the company down, as they so often do...

  48. jess says:

    your gay i thought his movie was good

    you idiot

  49. The phantom critic says:

    Surely, any prostitot that sends an angry review, is merely blinded, blinded by the fact that there is so much better movie choices out there for the little whores to revel in. Any kid that sends an angry review in, should be banned!

  50. Jessie says:

    Heelo there, i've watched the Bratz movie and i loved every single minute of it, i even got it for xmas as well and i also think you are a very rude, an idiot, heartless, thoughtless evil evil person. Someone took there time to write and make that movie . How old are you???? like 99??? cause you sure sound it, infact not 999 as that's an insult to 99 year olds. This movie wasn't aimed at your age and me, being 14 can really relate so, i know everyones is entitled to their own oppiouion but your just rude. RUDE!!!! an from the bottom of my heart i pray that you get your just desserts. No one deserves this type of review as, in my oppioion this is bullying. So, next time you decide to write a review think very very very hard as you probaly have no idea the type of damage you may have dcaused. PS. You must be a very very sad man. You should see a shrienk.

  51. James says:

    I join with #43 in my delight at the classic nature of the angry comment (two comments, now); I wonder however, if they aren't, perhaps, a little TOO classic? Might they be carefully crafted imitation angry comments? Note the sense of similarity between the two allegedly different angry commentors. Granted, genuine angry comments have much the same flavor, but I can't help being suspicious that someone is taking advantage of our enormous collective appetite for such things.

  52. Kathleen says:

    This movie was not a supid peice of garbage. Did you even notice the message here you idiot?!?!?! Hello it's about teaching young girls they can just be themselves. They don't have to change anything and that they can be accepted for who they really are. Grow up!!!!!

  53. bobtheenchantedone says:

    My friend and I rented this movie simply because we had seen the ads before it came out and wanted to check the sheer awfulness of it. We were not disappointed. I wish I was better at pulling snarky comments out of thin air, 'cause I could have had a field day with this.

    As for the supposed 'message,' I really don't think that girls are going to learn things like that from such a trumped-up, exaggerated movie. And I know for a fact that my sisters wouldn't. Marianne refused to watch it at all, Shanna would have gotten bored partway through, and Siri only liked it for the music. (If it has music, good or bad, Siri likes it.) I really think my sisters would be more likely to learn from... I don't know... the examples of real people acting in real situations.

  54. Grace says:

    WOW! okay many points here...

    1. FANTASTIC review, i watched the film day before yesterday and i woz 2 busy falling asleep (from tirdeness of the party the night b4 hand) 2 notice if i liked it or not, although i did notice it wasn't particularly thrilling

    2. i too enjoy the angry comments though i think they were unjust

    3. to all the people posting angry comments (and 2 the angry comments to come) this is a REVIEW!!! Dictionary explanation - To examine with an eye to criticism or correction, A report or essay giving a critical estimate of a work or performance.

    which is exactly what he did. A review is someones opinion of a movie/book etc publicised for people to read and see if they agree or not. and even (like in this case) be ammused by...

    If you dissagree so much then write your OWN REVIEW! portraying your opinions. So please keep posting your angry comments purly to ammuse us readers...

    ...but i want you to know in yourselves that you are being annoyingly single minded and that you should think before you write...

    (i would shun bad spelling and grammer but i am sure i have made similar mistakes since spelling has never been my strong point)

    and to the reviewer KEEP WRITING!!!

    love Grace xxx

  55. Faja says:

    great review! I'm going to go wait four or five years until the tween-girls who are bratz-fans turn 18 and then see what they've really learned from such trashy entertainment. If this movie is really an influence on the young girls of america they'll be dressed like hookers with the self-respect to match.

  56. Abe says:

    I never saw this movie because I saw the trailer once and stopped watching it after 30 seconds. I assumed that if the trailer was so bad that I couldn't stand to watch it, then the movie would be worse. I'm glad the movie was as bad as I imagined it must be

  57. Bratz Movie Lover says:

    This movie is so bad its Good!!

    I have made hippies and Burning man people watch it!!

    I recomend watching this movie:

    A. Stoned
    B. On whip-its, aka Hippie Crack
    C. Drunk and all of the above

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