Bratz (2007 film)

Bratz (also known as Bratz: The Movie) is a 2007 American musical comedy film based on the Bratz line of cartoon characters and dolls. The film is directed by Sean McNamara.

Starring Nathalia Ramos, Skyler Shaye, Logan Browning, and Janel Parrish, the story revolves around the four adolescent protagonists, 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.

Plot
Four teenaged friends (Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha, and Jade) are about to start high school. Extremely controlling Meredith, the student body president wants everyone to belong to a clique, and goes about organizing students. She does not like the independent spirit of the four girls and plots to destroy their friendship and make them conform to her pre-fabricated cliques.

Cloe is an amazing soccer player. She then meets Cameron and is instantly smitten, further 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 in the movie decides to focus on another passion: singing. She also feels lonely as her friends are busy with their own cliques. She also meets Dylan who is deaf but can lip read. The friends begin to drift apart as they are compelled to stay within their cliques.

Two years later, when an accidental food fight causes them to get detention, they realize 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 2nd "Super Sweet 16" party ends disastrously and Meredith tries blackmail using an embarrassing photo to have them seated with their original cliques, which backfires.

The upcoming talent show and its prize of a scholarship gives them the idea to bring all the cliques together again with a song 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 get the scholarship, which they later give to Cloe and are offered an appearance at a red carpet by an MTV VP.

Cast



 * Nathalia Ramos as Yasmin / Pretty Princess
 * Skyler Shaye as Cloe / Angel
 * Janel Parrish as Jade / Kool Kat
 * Logan Browning as Sasha / Bunny Boo
 * Chelsea Kane Staub as Meredith Baxter Dimley
 * Anneliese Van Der Pol as Avery
 * Malese Jow as Quinn
 * Ian Nelson as Dylan
 * Stephen Lunsford as Cameron
 * Lainie Kazan as Bubbie
 * Emily Rose Everhard as Cherish Dimly
 * Jon Voight as Principal Dimly
 * Carl Hancock Rux as Mr. Whitman / DJ Wax
 * Kim Morgan Greene as Katie
 * Kadeem Hardison as Sasha's father
 * Tami-Adrian Greorge as Allison
 * Sean McNamara as Tom McShavie
 * Lee Reherman as Vice Principal Sludge
 * Daniel Booko as Jack
 * Madison Riley as Trendy Girl
 * Kelly Crean as Mrs. Funk
 * Paula Froelich as herself
 * NLT as themselves
 * Prima J as themselves

Production
Paula Abdul was dropped from the production before completion. 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.

The film was shot from February to March 2007 at Santee Education Complex in South Los Angeles, California, while in session.

Critical response
Bratz was universally panned by critics and fans alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, gives the film a rating of 9%, based on 78 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.
 * Worst Picture (lost to I Know Who Killed Me)
 * Worst Actress for Logan Browning, Janel Parrish, Nathalia Ramos, and Skyler Shaye (lost as a tie to Lindsay Lohan in I Know Who Killed Me (as the characters of Aubrey and Dakota)
 * Worst Supporting Actor for Jon Voight (lost to Eddie Murphy in Norbit (as the character of Mr. Wong)
 * Worst Screen Couple for "Any combination of two totally airheaded characters" (lost to Lindsay Lohan ("as the yang to her own yin") in I Know Who Killed Me)
 * Worst Remake or Rip-off ("a rip-off if there ever was one") (lost to I Know Who Killed Me)

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.

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."

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."