Barbie: Dolphin Magic (2017)
On December 2, 2023 by CrescentAfter the last disastrous family vacation to the beach, Barbie and her sisters return in Barbie: Dolphin Magic. This movie improves on everything the movies of the last few years have struggled with, capturing the spirit of Barbie in a fresh, fun story. Also, Barbie is a bit sapphic. That’s great too.
Story
In Dolphin Magic, Barbie and her sisters vacation to an island to meet with Ken where he is interning in marine biology research. There, they hear the legend of the gemstone dolphins and meet a strange girl named Isla. Unbeknownst to them, Isla is secretly a mermaid aiming to protect the dolphins from Ken’s superior who hopes to sell them and make a fortune.
Dolphin Magic is a fun movie from beginning to end. The story is interesting and very well-paced, keeping your attention the whole way through. The movie is incredibly charming, and it knows how to keep your attention. The various subplots of the Roberts sisters all feel relevant, and they come together well in the end. After seeing other movies featuring the full Roberts family struggle with this, I massively enjoyed the way Dolphin Magic balanced it all. I think this comes down to the movie’s run time too; Dolphin Magic is just over an hour, and I’m glad it doesn’t overstay its welcome.
The writing is definitely what makes this movie so great. The interactions between characters like Barbie and Isla help to sell the fun factor. Even when the situation is grim, the movie maintains its enjoyability since the characters seem to be enjoying themselves. Their happiness is infectious, and it makes the movie a great time from beginning to end.
Dolphin Magic has a lovely story with great pacing and sharp writing.
Story: 8/10
Characters
Dolphin Magic brings back Barbie and her sisters from the last few modern movies, and it presents them at their best. The Roberts sisters all have distinct and charming personalities, and they bounce off one another well. It’s nice to see them all getting along and working together after their past appearances have been filled with arguments. Barbie really shines here, and she’s improved massively since Puppy Chase. Her friendliness and kindness bring out the best in everyone.
Isla is easily the best example of this. Barbie and Isla have immediate chemistry, and they’re tons of fun to see interact. Isla is a bit naive about the world, but she’s eager to learn and excitable. Even when she pulls away from Barbie, it feels understandable and justified. Seeing Barbie and Isla agree to work together despite their past conflicts is rewarding as can be, and it’s very heartwarming too. The entire cast is great, but Barbie and Isla really make this movie shine.
The villain here is a marine biologist by the name of Marlo. She’s cruel and out only for herself, gladly using her expertise to manipulate people into doing as she says. Marlo feels like the perfect person to make Ken into an antagonistic force even though he’s not an outright villain. She’s fun to watch and satisfying to defeat, making her everything a villain needs to be. While Marlo is far from the best Barbie antagonist, she’s still a good one who works perfectly for this story.
The cast of Dolphin Magic is bright and fun to watch, accentuating the story effortlessly.
Characters: 8/10
World Building
The world building of Dolphin Magic feels like an improvement on Puppy Chase in every way imaginable. Both movies are set on islands and feature beaches as prominent scenery. This time, the world feels lively and bright instead of shallow and frustrating. The folktales about magical dolphins and mermaids help this a lot. Much like the characters, the world itself seems to be having fun here, and it helps the charm the whole way through.
The one complaint I have here is that I wish we got a bit more information about Marlo’s motivations. She wants to become rich, but aside from that, we don’t know much about her. She works well enough as a villain, but I wish we heard more about her history.
That aside, I loved the world building of Dolphin Magic. The world is sized perfectly for this story and is incredibly charming to boot.
World Building: 8/10
Themes
You’ll never believe this, but we’re back with another movie with the “this is our story, what’s yours?” theme. Sigh. I think it’s fairly easy to pull another theme from this movie though. In the end, Barbie and Isla can only save the day through honesty, a trait the main villain notably lacks. Telling the truth and trusting others are two strong morals to this story, and they both work well. I can’t give them full points because of the other theme, but I think they were executed well overall.
Themes: 6/10
Production
Dolphin Magic has a lovely animation style, and it’s a natural but huge step up from the last few movies starring Barbie’s full family. The colors are bright and engaging, and every character looks great too. The underwater scenery thrives in this art style, bringing the world to life effortlessly.
The voice acting is great too. After a few struggling films, Barbie is finally back on her A game with another movie with amazing voice acting. The poor script is no longer holding the voice cast back, and the actors all make this movie great. The music of Dolphin Magic is great too, and I love the lyrical tracks and the instrumental pieces alike. Everything is a treat for the ears.
Aside from one thing: the dogs. Their barking sound effects haven’t gotten any less irritating… But I’m going to take that over them talking. This movie made the very wise decision to not make any of the animals talk, and I’m beyond glad it did. The dogs and dolphins are silent but still expressive here, and I appreciate that after the dogs’ lackluster voice acting in the past. I’ll take the dogs barking over them talking, but it’s still not a great sound clip.
Ignoring that one nitpick, the production is great in Dolphin Magic, and it feels like Barbie has finally hit her stride again.
Production: 9/10
Overall
Barbie: Dolphin Magic is the perfect blend of modern and magical storytelling. It’s a fun time from beginning to end, and you can feel the love the crew had for the movie the whole way through. I gladly recommend this to anyone interested in Barbie or just any movie watcher in general. This is a great movie, and I love it dearly.
Overall: 7.6/10
Silly Superlative: Barbie movie with the most distressed animal noises
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