Bratz: Girlz Really Rock (NR)

Sexualized kids' characters meet Camp Rock.

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Movie details

Studio: Lions Gate Entertainment
Directed By: Mucci Fassett
Running Time: 82 minutes
Release Date: 09/02/2008
Video/DVD Release Date: 09/02/2008
Genre: Family and Kids
MPAA Rating: NR

Parents need to know

Parents need to know that although this musical movie features Bratz characters who are too overtly sexy for the tweens at which they are aimed, the story line itself is mostly benign.

Families can talk about the camp the Bratz are attending. Why do you think the few adults in the story are depicted as silly or mean? Have you ever had to make choices between practicing a skill and having fun? How do you decide when you're doing too much of one or the other?

Message
Violence
Sex
Language

Message

Social Behavior:

A well-trod tale of friends deciding to go it alone for a competition, only to realize that they have more fun when working together as a team. A seemingly mean girl is given a chance by the four friends and develops into a friendly and sympathetic character. At camp the kids have little if any supervision; adults are either mean, clueless, or completely absent.

Consumerism:

Tie-ins to related Bratz dolls are inevitable, and the DVD packaging features ads for the dolls, video game, wireless microphone, and something called a Music Video Star Maker.

Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:

Violence

Hijinks with water balloons is as bad as it gets.

Sex

Skimpy clothes and high-heeled shoes are the trademark trampy look for the characters, who nonetheless manage to keep things platonic with male characters. A surprisingly sweet and gentle flirtation between a teenaged boy and girl.

Language

Slang abounds, but no swearing.

Common Sense says

What's the story?

Reviewed by Nancy Davis Kho

In BRATZ: GIRLS REALLY ROCK, the creators seem to have realized that it's hard to sustain a plot that is entirely dependent on shopping, makeup, and hairstyles, and they've moved the action to a performing arts summer camp where the friends must compete. However rather than coming up with a new plotline they've lifted entire scenes from bigger hits like High School Musical 2 (clock ticking towards the start of summer vacation) and Camp Rock (the final talent showdown). Yasmin, Sasha, Cloe, and Jade must themselves learn the lesson that they initially teach the rest of the campers: that even with a coveted movie role at stake, it's more important to have fun than to win.

Is it any good?

The teamwork lesson is always a good one to reinforce with kids, although at Camp Starshine it takes a bittersweet twist since the "happy ending" of performing as a group means each Bratz gives up the chance to show off a skill at which they are truly talented. The original music enhances the plot and keeps the story moving along. The evil ballet choreographer Madame Demidov is given a fascinating solo with echoes of communist Russia and Red Army domination; unexpected, to say the least, in a Bratz setting.

But for all its positive themes, Girlz Really Rock presents disturbing and unattainable physical images of its young girl characters: piles of makeup, tiny waists, big hips and chests, all swathed in tiny mini skirts and belly-baring tops. And the goal towards which all the campers are fighting -- to star in a movie based on the winner's actual life -- is a sad commentary on the current American obsession with both reality television and celebrity worship, and one that doesn't have a place in tween media.