Bratz (film)

Bratz (also known as Bratz: The Movie) is a 2007 American musical comedy film based on the Bratz line of dolls. The film is directed by Sean McNamara.
Starring Nathalia Ramos, Skyler Shaye, Logan Browning, and Janel Parrish, the story revolves around the four teenage girls, the origin of their friendship and the social pyramid that tries to make the Bratz conform to archetypal high school cliques.
It was released by Lionsgate on August 3, 2007. The film was panned by critics and fans alike and was a box office bomb, only earning half of its $20 million budget in North America, and was runner-up at the 28th Golden Raspberry Awards for worst picture.
Plot.
Four teenage friends, Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha, and Jade, are about to start high school. Meredith, the extremely controlling student body president, wants everyone to belong to a clique, and goes about organizing students. She hates the independent spirit of the four girls and plots to destroy their friendship and make them conform to her pre-fabricated cliques.
Cloe is a soccer player. She meets Cameron and is instantly enamored, distancing herself from her friends. Sasha is recruited as a cheerleader. Jade joins the science club, then meets Dexter and discovers a passion for fashion design. Yasmin joins the journalism club, but later decides to focus on another passion: singing. She also feels lonely as her friends are busy with their own cliques. She meets Dylan who is deaf but can lip read. The friends begin to drift apart as they are compelled to stay within their cliques due to Meredith's plans.
Two years later, when an accidental food fight causes them to get detention for breaking the Principal statue, they explain that they miss being BFF's and decide to be friends again. They also try to get the other schoolmates to socialize outside their cliques, but their attempts fail when Meredith's second "Super Sweet 16" party ends disastrously where she accidentally smothering by her own cake and falling into her own pool with her friends. Meredith tries blackmail the girls by using an embarrassing photo to have them quit the talent show, which backfires as everyone shares their secrets.
The upcoming talent show and its scholarship prize gives them the idea to bring all the cliques together again with a musical number, but the chances are slim with Meredith's constant attempts to steal the spotlight. In the end, there is a tie. Meredith gets the trophy, but the girls also get the scholarship, which they give to Cloe instead. They are offered an appearance at a red carpet gala by an MTV vice president.
Production.
Paula Abdul was dropped from the production before completion while working on "American Idol". She was originally enlisted to provide wardrobe designs, choreograph the film, executive-produce, as well as hold a role in the film. This was revealed on "Hey Paula", her reality show on her personal life.
Susie Singer Carter also wrote and produced the film for Lionsgate but lost her credit in a Writers Guild arbitration, then her name appears as screenwriter on the final movie poster.
The film was shot from February to March 2007 at Santee Education Complex in South Los Angeles, California, while in session.
Reception.
Critical response.
"Bratz" was universally panned by critics and fans alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, gives the film a rating of 10%, based on 79 reviews, with an average rating 3/10. The site's critical consensus, "Full of mixed messages and dubious role-models, "Bratz" is too shallow even for its intended audience." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 21 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
Awards and nominations.
It was nominated for 5 Golden Raspberry Awards in 2007, but received none.
Box office.
"Bratz" grossed $10 million in North America and $16 million in other territories for a total gross of $26 million.
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $4.2 million, finishing in 10th at the box office, making it a box office bomb.
Home media.
The film was released to DVD on November 27, 2007 and was released for free April 1, 2020 on YouTube Movies.
Soundtrack.
A film soundtrack entitled "Bratz: Motion Picture Soundtrack" was released on July 31, 2007 through Geffen Records. The soundtrack featured music from artists such as Ashlee Simpson, Dropping Daylight, and The Black Eyed Peas. Three singles were released prior to the album's release, "Rainy Day" by Janel Parrish, "Rockstar" by Prima J, and "Fearless" by Daechelle. The soundtrack was released in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as Australia, where it featured an additional musical track by the Australian singer and actress Stephanie McIntosh.
Sales for the soundtrack were good and the album remained on the "Billboard" 200 charts for three weeks, peaking during its second week at position 83. Common Sense Media gave the soundtrack three stars, writing that "With heavy-hitting help from the Black Eyed Peas, The Slumber Party Girls, Ashlee Simpson, Dropping Daylight, and Lifehouse, these young performers gamely negotiate some very ordinary-sounding, preachy material and make the songs sparkle anyway." The 9th track on the album “Out from Under” was later covered by Britney Spears on her Circus album.
Video game.
A video game adaptation of the film entitled "Bratz 4 Real" was released to the Nintendo DS and Microsoft Windows on November 5, 2007. The game was developed by Barking Lizard Technologies and was published by THQ.
The game's plot mirrored that of the film and players are tasked with completing goals and errands in order to progress the story along. The DS version of the game also allowed users to design their own clothes patterns, care for a digital pet, and play various mini-games. The PC edition also utilized mini-games, but excluded the option for players to design clothing or raise a digital pet. In both games users could play as one of the four main characters and view clips from the film.
"Pocket Gamer" heavily criticized the game and stated that it felt that it was released too early and that "There are some nice ideas at play, in particular where it attempts to break down the social barriers that beset children in secondary education, but as a game it's far too vacuous to recommend." IGN shared similar sentiments, writing that ""Bratz 4 Real" does some work to recast the shallow, self-absorbed "Bratz" girls in a more redeeming light, using them and their friendship to tell a tale of unity and breaking down social barriers. But whereas that premise and the game's compelling customization options prove to be solid positive points for this package, "Bratz 4 Real" is still a game brought down by a variety of other oddities."