Barbie of Swan Lake (2003)

Sorry, this movie sucks

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Blistering performances.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

I watched this film for the first time years ago. As a child, the movie was so fascinating with beautiful ballet routines. Now as an adult, after watching it again, everything just the same. Barbie as Odette, a bakery's daughter, she is beautiful and has a sweet personality. One day, she sees a unicorn running around her shop. She tries to save the unicorn, and everything starts changing. This film is inspired by one of the most popular ballet, Swan Lake. Although the ending and main plot is totally different. This movie is clearly aimed for children and young viewers. The antagonist, Odile, is really interesting. Her voice is so unique, I still could remember her signature laugh since I was kid. Odette in this Barbie movie is quite strong and brave, I am not very fond of the prince characteristic as he is just too cliché and not that distinctive from other male partner of Barbie films. Overall, I enjoyed this movie as for young viewers. The story is light and quite enjoyable.

I will admit at 17, I do like a vast majority of the Barbie movies, Nutcracker being my personal favourite. Swan Lake, while not perfect, is still very enchanting. There are some slow parts in the film, and I was annoyed by Maggie Wheeler's Odile. However, the computer animation in general is stunning, especially the dance sequences and any scene in the forest. Plus the opening credits were beautifully done. The music, adapted from Tchaikovsky's timeless ballet is just wonderful, a real gem of a score. And although the story is not always faithful to the original story, it still has some elements of it embedded, while putting its own enchanting take on it. The voice acting is highly commendable, a standout being Kelsey Grammar, who was terrific as the villainous Rothbart. The unicorn Lila is one of my favourite Barbie sidekicks along with Major Mint and Penelope. Oh, and Odette both in human form and swan form, is so beautiful. All in all, not perfect but very sweet and charming, and a delight for preschoolers. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is a sweet film, only for children really of course. It is basically a CGI film featuring the famous Barbie doll as Odette in Swan Lake, along with a few other characters (the only other one who was a doll originally is the prince). This film is not too mediocre and is exceedingly entertaining for most children, especially girls who love Barbie. Boys may like it as well.For the quality of the film, there are a few things to add to it. There is quite a structured plot and well-thought characters and setting. It is not very similar to the original Swan Lake story, but luckily it is not too noticeable.I like it because it is sweet, quite funny and has quite good dancing and music from the original ballet.While Barbie talks to the little doll Shelley, who is going to race the next day, she shows her the constellation Cygnus, the swan. Then, Barbie tells Shelley the story of Odette, who turned into a swan...This is not only for children, I also recommend this to adults who want to keep their kids quiet and not mucking around. ;-)

The story and characterizations are packed with instant-recognition cliches for the kids, but that way the kids will appreciate the dancing because it's done in character. Though the dancing takes only a small fraction of the screen time, it's well animated (computerized from the dancers of the New York City Ballet) and the medium is used well as a way of eliminating distractions and directing attention. Thanks to animation, the film shows us little children who dance like trained professionals. There seems to be a problem with the way they come down from jumps-- they seem to take as long as if they were bigger and had jumped higher-- but it's no big deal. I think the film could give a kid a helpful push toward appreciating ballet in particular and serious music in general. Sure the story is awful, but one movie can't have everything...