DVD Review: Bratz: Super Babyz
R.J. Carter
The Trades
October 7, 2007
The toddler friends all stay with Gran, a nearsighted lady who babysits (and spoils) the girls while their parents are away for the weekend. When they go down for their naps, their stuffed animals all come to life and join them for a snooze.
But this night is different, because a flying saucer carrying living alien potatoes lands in the middle of an amusement park. These aliens -- escapees -- have come to Earth because they believe that babies are the dominant life form, treated like royalty and given anything they desire. With their Matter Exchanger (patent pending, I'm sure) they can change themselves into whatever they desire to be.
But when Gran takes the girls to the park so they can meet their favorite television super heroes, the Super Buds, the Matter Exchanger gets mixed in with similar-looking souvenir toys, and ends up making its way back to Grans house. While she tries to use it as a remote control, the girls are upstairs in bed wishing they had super powers like their idols. Zip, zap, and crackle, and the next morning they awaken with their wishes granted. Jade, who's always candy sticky, finds out that she's now super sticky. Yasmin, who's the first and fastest to wander away, now has super speed. Smart and bossy Sasha is now a genius who can read. And Cloe the crybaby now has a voice that can break glass. On top of all that, all four of them can fly.
The girls' super exploits bring them to the attention of the alien spuds, who lure them in with the plan to get their Matter Exchanger back from them. But the plan backfires, and the super tots capture the talking tubers, who then give a sob story about how hard life is back where they came from. The Bratz babies can commisserate, realizing that super-heroics is hard work, and they just want to go back to being babies.
In a
tribute to coincidental timing, Gran chooses that moment
across town to once again mix up the remote controls and
press the Matter Exchanger. Suddenly the tubers are the
babies they want to be (ugly potato babies, but still
babies) and the Bratz are back to their normal but
adorable selves. But in this state, they're no match for
the aliens, who rush to Gran's house to be served like
royalty -- and Gran's too nearsighted to tell that these
babies aren't the Bratz! Now Sasha, Cloe, Yasmin and
Jade have to come up with a pint-sized plan to put
things back to rights.
Storyline aside (no one was expecting an epic, I'm
sure), the animation on this DVD looks too much like it
was done up for a specialized Sims game. It's not so
much that it is CGI, just that -- in some places
-- it's lazy CGI, most noticably when you see
liquid that doesn't splash, and food that's eaten with
no bites appearing. Apparently all the animation budget
went into making the girls' fabulous tresses blow and
flow like real hair.
This disc has a handful of bonus features, the first
being a surprisingly cute two and a half minutes of
bloopers, with the animated characters flubbing their
lines and talking to the audience. After that, there's
the "Super Who? Super You!" game, in which the viewer
responds to multiple choice questions about their
favorite colors, seasons, foods, etc. The game then
responds with which super hero you are. I'm apparently
"Climate Commander," given that I picked Spring, and
told it my least favorite vegetable of the three
presented was spinach. The girls go into detail about
your character's abilities and personality, and a replay
of the game shows that the same set of questions do not
automatically appear, so there's some randomization
going on.
The "Bratz Babyz Costume Creationz Fashion Game" is less
than a game. It's not really even much of an activity.
You can pick either Cloe or Jade, and then select one of
three styles of bodysuits, capes, and glove/boot/mask
sets. Your selected character then appears wearing the
outfit in a still picture, while the girls tell you what
a great design you made. Apparently they're all great
designs, because I tried to get as garish as possible
with the limited selections.
There are two songs selectable from the "Super Sing-Alongs":
"Look at Us Now" and "Feel the Power" both are played
throughout the movie, and the sing-along version shows
clips while the karaoke style lyrics play along the
bottom.
Audio for the feature presentation is in English, with
optional Spanish subtitles.
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