The Barbie Diaries

Unlike other Barbie movies, I didn't watch this one when I was a kid. I was really surprised when I watched this. It was really good: a lot of neat jokes, a pretty good plot.

It's a bit cheesy, and the animation isn't that great, plus the songs aren't the best, but this movie is really enjoyable.

Seriously, this movie looks like it was made in "The Sims".

I have daughters 6 and 8 that love the other Barbie movies, Nutcracker, Princess and Pauper, Swan Lake, etc. These were surprisingly wonderful. Great animation, scripts, production values, camera angles, and most importantly they had stories with character values that you want your daughters to have. You wanted your daughters to grow up Courage, perseverance, loyalty, kindness, sensitivity, intelligence were valued even more than physical beauty in Barbie and her friends. Barbie was a great role model that parents could hold up as an example. She often rescued the boy or saved the day. In Princess and the Pauper, Barbie left the guy to pursue her dreams and only returned much later. Barbie had come far from her days of saying, "Math is hard!" My wife and I bought the Barbie movies with confidence.

Quite frankly, Barbie will have to regain our trust after this movie. A teen-aged Barbie giggles her way trying to get in with a popular crowd. The script was not good and the animation seemed off and difficult to watch. Barbie did redeem herself somewhat in the end, but most of the movie was painful at worst and boring at best.

The only saving grace was that watching this movie with our daughters gave us a chance to show them how NOT to behave.

I hope the producers read this and return to previous form.

Overall a good take on a teenager Barbie movie. In this movie barbie is relatable wants to stay out as a crowd and have a few friends which is relatable. The popular clique is so relatable that popular pole just gossip and it's a clique. It's a shame this movie is underrated

I adore teen movies, and I had a blast with this one.

The animation has not aged well, even for the 2006 standards. It looks awkward and I can't get over Barbie's hair and how it's animated. Now that I've seen this way too many times I can see some awkward textures in the background, but it was never too much to take me out of the movie.

Barbie isn't suddenly a Mary Sue who is adored by everyone and instead has to face the worst place anyone can go to..high school! She faces the world of teenage drama and worries if she is doing too good at schoo. She has her two friends, Tia and Courtney to keep her back and they are in a band together and also Kevin who eventually develops feelings for Barbie. There is also Rachel no wait..Raquelle and her two 'minions' who take everything from Barbie and are portrayed as bullies, and Rachel as the 'popular girl'. I'm surprised they didn't give Raquelle black hair like in the other movies. They are one dimensional at times but also had their moments where they felt like real teens.

I was surprised on how good the dialogue is. I could say it's realistic but the movie is probably too old to apply on modern teenagers. They managed to sneak in a few jokes that I didn't notice until years after. (Eg, Kevin saying he recorded the cheerleading practice and managed to capture drama between Rachel and her boyfriend. He is asked why he recorded the cheerleaders and he just avoids it by saying ''Do you want to see this or not?'') I haven't seen it like this in any other teen movie. Yes my expectations are low, I'm used to these types of movies having lackluster dialogue.

Since Barbie is now in a band, there is music, and I can say that the songs her band made are either okay or good. The background songs in this are just the same three or four but it fit the 'aesthetic' of the movie well enough.

(Also this movie has bloopers in it's extras! Remember back when we had these?? This movie has really good ones!!)

The story itself...if you have seen any teen movie with a romantic plot, you have seen this one. It's a bit overdramatic but hey, teens are overdramatic and it never felt too much. And I enjoyed this despite knowing excatly what would happen just after the first 10 minutes had passed.

I can understand why the preschoolers who watch Barbie movies might want to skip this one but if you are a bit older, give this a shot. It's actually really great.