Ballerina

This review may contain spoilers!

This has a few moments of heart let down by one of the worst voice casts I've ever heard. I would give Ballerina a 5.5/10.

The narrative for this film excels when it focusses upon Felicie's dream of being a dancer at the opera and her struggle to get there, it's a charming journey and as a protagonist Felicie is quite bright and energetic. The animation for the film was pretty good for the most part, I did have some issues with character design but the rest of the film looked stunning. I loved how fluid and graceful motion and movement was presented; furthermore the way lighting and setting was done was incredible, there are just moments where Felicie is framed by these staggering backdrops and you become enchanted by what this film has to offer.

Elle Fanning, who voiced Felicie Milliner, actually made for quite a good protagonist; her vibrancy when talking about dancing as well as the energy put into her character made her a very likeable role. Maddie Ziegler, who voiced Camille, was the only truly great antagonist of the feature; her prim superior tone set her in conflict with Fanning immediately yet I also loved the humility Ziegler brought to this role by the end of the film.

However the best performance came from Terrence Scammell, who voiced Merante. Scammell did a great job of delivering a role who cared passionately about ballet and his student's commitment to their work. This was a figure of justice throughout the film, even offering Felicie an opportunity to earn her place amongst the opera once it's revealed she stole Camille's identity. I like how Scammell could drop the stern tone of his role and bring forth a more charming one such as when he sees Felicie dancing in the bar or talks about Odette's past.

This is a film that is too simple for it's own good, the plot is predictable and paper thin; often dealing out moments that are familiar from several similar films already produced. There's also a few characters who feel very unnecessary to the film's plot, chief among them being Victor. From the start Victor feels like a character who doesn't match Felicie very much, in fact their friendship becomes so strained and monotonous throughout the film you wonder why they bother to even force a romance between the two. The score and soundtrack for the film seemed in conflict with one another as well, you would think a period animated film would consistently use a score that drew upon famous classical music but instead we got a blend of classical music with the latest pop songs scattered throughout much to the detriment of the tone.

Dane DeHaan, who voiced Victor, has a really annoying delivery that gets on your nerves throughout this feature; DeHaan presents a character who has no real connection to Fanning and seems a bit lackluster. Carly Rae Jepsen, who voiced Odette, gave a very bland performance in this film; Jepsen's voice didn't match the disgruntled yet loving mentor figure and should probably have been replaced with a more experienced voice actress. Elana Dunkelman and Shoshana Sperling, who voiced Dora and Nora respectively, sounded bizarre and struggled to deliver emotionally responsive dialogue; this pair was a very stereotypical 'goofy' duo and had no real bearing on the film. Julie Khaner, who voiced Regine Le Haut, was an incredibly over the top antagonist; her transition to a child-murdering psychopath by the end of the film seemed an extreme leap from her role's prior behaviour.