I wanted to like A Fairy Secret, and tried to. But I just couldn't. And this is coming from somebody who actually likes the Barbie movies(especially Nutcracker, Diamond Castle, Island Princess and Prince and the Pauper). But although I haven't yet seen Fashion Fairytale, despite hearing a lot of negative press about that one, I can't imagine until I see it that it will be worse than this. The only redeeming quality for me of A Fairy Secret was the catchy soundtrack, and even that is nowhere near as good as those for Nutcracker, Rapunzel and Swan Lake. I disliked the animation here, entries like Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Diamond Castle have beautiful animation that is full of colour and fluidity, but here the colours are lifeless, the backgrounds blocky and the character designs at their most plastic. The writing focuses far too much on fashion(seemingly fashion is like the most important thing in the world) and behavioural snobbery, and the story instead of being charming with good messages is formulaic and rushed with values of stealing boyfriends and vanity. The characters are no longer cute, but now act like childish brats, especially Ken. Barbie in another of her as...roles is no longer resourceful and kind but now a stereotypical teenager, the anti-thesis of her persona in the first place, in other words she's at her least likable. The voice work is stilted, nobody sounds natural as their characters, granted I wasn't expecting any big names to pop up and practically embody their roles like in Nutcracker, Rapunzel, Swan Lake and Three Musketeers but at least the voice actors could've sounded as though they were bringing some kind of life to the proceedings. Overall, a huge disappointment, I'm expecting little from Fashion Fairytale but I just pray that it isn't worse than this. 2/10 Bethany Cox

I think I understand the messages they were trying to get across with this film, women can be heroes, forgiveness and that you have to make an effort with friendship, but all they imaged to get across is that the important things in life are shoes, dresses and boyfriends. Barbie doesn't even care when her two friends leave at the end of the film.The writers just took the storyline and the characters from Mariposa and A Mermaid Tale, added Ken and some inane dialogue to make it sound clever - "ugh, too many apps". I assume the action figures and merchandising are already available in the foyer??All the things that made the early Barbie thing special - character development, original storyline, catchy songs, emotion, humour etc are missing. All we're left with is an empty, shallow 70 minutes of bright noise.Avoid. For your children's sake.

"Barbie: A Fairy Secret" is the story of how Barbie discovers that fairies really do exist. When a fairy princess captures her boyfriend Ken, Barbie along with her costar, Raquelle, and two of Barbie's stylists, head out to rescue him from Gloss Angeles, a floating town filled with fairies. I really like the animation in this movie, especially how each of the characters are drawn. Barbie's eyes glisten like jewels and get me into the fairy mood. Each scene bursts with color, like their hangout Wally's. I also love how every piece of clothing has a modern twist. I wish I could have two fairies as my personal stylists. The movie also has great music that makes me want to dance. Barbie is already friends with her two fashion stylists at the beginning of the movie, but is uneasy around her rival Raquelle. Raquelle is jealous of Barbie, so what will happen when they get twisted up in this magical world together? When Ken is forced to marry fairy princess Graziella he realizes how much he loves Barbie but lots of trouble stands in their way. Don't worry, because Barbie will do anything to get Ken back. Girls ages two to ten will really enjoy this movie filled with friends, fashion and adventure. Will Raquelle and Barbie ever be friends? How will they get into the magical world? Will they rescue Ken? Find out when you watch "Barbie: a Fairy Secret." Credit: Makai Weber Colvin, Age 9, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic

Critical analysis of any Barbie movie is like attempting to extract blood from a turnip. There is nothing of merit to critically dissect. It's just pure, less than juvenile garbage. They are, to the letter, stilted, terribly scripted, amateurish CG animated, middling voice acting (though hardly the worst I've ever heard), with incredibly stupid, improbable stories and plots and manufactured dialog that would never come from a human's mouth. You feel certain you've dropped 2 or 3 IQ points after watching one of these monstrosities.With these exceptionally low standards for context, the "Fairy Secret" may be the bottom 2 or 3 of these exceptionally terrible cookie-cutter, quasi-formulaic junk piles geared for little girls who think they want to be Barbie and that we parents are in the unfortunate position of occasionally having to watch with our little ones. The dialog and "plot" (for a story that's mind-numbingly idiotic) are both so awful that one will find oneself groaning constantly throughout the time you've wasted watching it.Whereas some minor merit can occasionally be extracted out of some of the Barbie movies - as in maybe there's a slightly funny joke or at least the plot isn't entirely stupid, little can be said that is positive about this one. It's like the writer isn't even trying to create believable characters, dialog, or plot, even at the level of the fantastical. Perhaps the writer is so underpaid that they barely phone it in. Perhaps they are already angry that they have to have this trash on their resume. Maybe they will legally change their name after being associated with a movie like this. Whatever the case, it doesn't make for a good movie.Save your little girls the trouble and rent something vastly better that nearly all kids enjoy - like pretty much any Pixar movie.