Review of Barbie: A Perfect Christmas

I have made no secret of having a soft spot for the Barbie movies. Neither of them are perfect movies or among the best movies I've seen, but they're charming and mostly have their heart in the right place. I had mixed feelings on A Perfect Christmas. It is better than A Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale, but not as good as Nutcracker, Diamond Castle, The Prince and the Pauper and Island Princess. What I didn't like very much were the character designs which consist of big heads and eyes and tiny mouths(though thankfully Barbie doesn't look as anorexic as she did in Fashion Fairytale for instance) and the singing which not only sounded forced but completely different to the voice actors. Regarding the voice actors they aren't as stilted as in Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale but lacking the fluency of Rapunzel for example(plus Kelly Sheridan is sorely missed). And there are times where the dialogue is corny, though thankfully less "bad-attitude" driven Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale. However, the character designs aside, the backgrounds are less rough and more colourful though still not as stunning as Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Diamond Castle, and the music is very sweet and catchy. I also admired the story, which had more heart than especially Fairy Secret, and the message is of the importance of Christmas, a step in the right direction compared to the hate and vanity that Fashion Fairytale seemed to promote. The characters are well-meaning and cute in general, not as spirited as in earlier entries(Rapunzel, Three Musketeers and Nutcracker as examples) but not the stereotypical brats from Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale. So overall, passable, not among the best or worst of the Barbie movies. By all means it could've been better, but compared to Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale it could've been worse as well. 6/10 Bethany Cox