Barbie: Princess Charm School (2011)
On October 31, 2023 by CrescentBarbie: Princess Charm School is yet another fusion of modern life with the princess stories of the 2000s. The ending result is a bright, exciting story that unravels a mystery every little girl dreams of living out… And there’s murder too. That’s always fun.
Story
Princess Charm School follows the adventures of Blair Willows, an ordinary girl who wins a lottery and is given the chance to attend classes at the titular academy for royalty. She sees it as a chance to better her family’s lot in life, but it soon becomes much more. Blair and her friends uncover a conspiracy nearly two decades in the making and vow to put the rightful heir of Gardania–Blair herself–on the throne.
Princess Charm School presents itself as a fish out of water story. With time, it develops into more than that, showing off the politics and sometimes deadly intrigue behind the throne of Gardania. The plot is a lot of fun, and it captures the audience’s attention right away and never lets it go.
The sole problem with Princess Charm School is its poor pacing. The pacing is extremely lopsided, and much of the school year is relegated to a montage. The only scene in the middle of the school year doesn’t need to be there at all. Since the story splits itself so cleanly between the beginning and end of the school year, the middle feels underbaked. These are the two most interesting parts of the story, yes, but they leave the interim desiring more.
Princess Charm School has an interesting, captivating story dragged down by poor pacing.
Story: 9/10
Characters
The cast of Princess Charm School is very strong, and its lead is no exception. Blair starts out as bumbling and awkward, but she really comes into her own throughout the movie. As she develops confidence, so too do the others around her. Hadley and Isla are perfect supporting characters on Blair’s adventures too. They’re nowhere near as fleshed out as her, but they still develop in their own ways, mirroring Blair’s rise in self-esteem for themselves. You really want to see the three of them succeed by the end of the movie.
And you want to see Dame Devin defeated just as much. She’s a terrifying villain with a lot of stage presence, and this is more than earned. She is stated to have killed at least two people in her pursuit of the throne, and for a Barbie villain… That’s intense. Dame Devin is dramatic and intriguing even before you know she’s a villain too, and she bounces off the strict but honest Privet perfectly.
Delancy is where we start to see problems though. Her turning on Dame Devin is very interesting, but because of the lopsided pacing of the movie, it feels forced. I love Delancy’s redemption arc just as much as I love her mean girl persona, and she has the perfect chemistry with Portia for the latter. However, Delancy is the biggest villain of this movie’s struggles with pacing, and it shows. She’s fun, but she could have been done better.
Since Princess Charm School excels in so many places with its cast, the shortcomings become clear if you look closely. Nicholas really didn’t need to be here, and neither did any of the other boys from the dancing scene. The movie would still be great even with that scene cut, and Nicholas does nothing for the story. He’s fine, but he does nothing and has nothing to do with the story.
The cast of Princess Charm School is mostly great, but it struggles in some places due to the story’s pacing problems.
Characters: 8/10
World Building
The world building of Princess Charm School is a lot of fun. It feels like every little girl’s dream: a school to become a princess and hang out with your best friends. The world is interesting even beyond that ideal though, and the mystery built up with the royal family really brings it all home. It’s so easy to get lost in this universe, and you love every second of it.
But when you start to think about it a bit closer, Princess Charm School begins to struggle with its world building. Where do the little fairies come from at the school? How are there so many princesses in the world? How are there so many princes for them to dance with? Also, how is Prince still alive after eighteen years when he’s a dog? Under scrutiny, the world building really starts to show its flaws.
That isn’t to say it’s all bad though. In fact, you can lose your attention so easily in this world that you don’t really care much for the deeper questions it makes you ask. Sure, there are a few problems, but the world is so lively and interesting that you don’t really care. The story is still fun, and the world it takes place in is enjoyable too, but closer attention makes the setting start to unravel.
The world building is fun, but it lacks a few answers to questions that can border on being distracting.
World Building: 8/10
Themes
The theme of Princess Charm School declares that every girl has princess potential. In some ways, this is true. Blair, a commoner, is given the chance to earn her place in the world… Except she’s actually already a princess. She has the potential, but not for the reasons you’d think. The entire idea of a Princess Charm School in the first place kind of goes against this theme. The idea works decently for the story being presented, but it’s nothing great, especially with the way the finale goes against that initial concept.
Themes: 6/10
Production
Princess Charm School continues the upward momentum with great animation on the heels of the previous movies. This is one of the best looking Barbie movies in my opinion, and the facial animations in particular feel polished in every way they need to be. Nothing in this movie looks wonky or odd. It’s all just great.
The music and voice acting are both great too. The music of Princess Charm School is generally understated, but it fits the scenes it is given to. The music isn’t the focus, and it does a good job of accentuating the scenes without taking away from what’s happening on the screen. The songs are catchy without feeling intrusive. The voice acting helps a lot with bringing the characters to life too, and it’s very high in quality.
Princess Charm School has some of the best production in any Barbie movie, and it more than deserves praise for it.
Production: 10/10
Overall
Barbie: Princess Charm School is a fun time from start to finish with a great story and interesting characters to back it up. The film sports some of the best production out there too. I cannot recommend Princess Charm School enough. Even with its flaws, you’ll walk away with a smile on your face and a spring in your royal step.
Overall: 8.2/10
Silly Superlative: Barbie movie whose villain kills the most people
1 comment
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
Archives
Calendar
M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ||||||
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
30 |
So…. About the production aspect. You said there wasn’t anything wonky or odd, and I’m pretty sure most people didn’t notice this. But during the dance scene with the princes, there’s a shot where a prince is randomly dancing by himself and a girl a few seconds later dancing with a couple like the guy is also her partner. I don’t know if you noticed this but I thought I’d share that.