Ugly Dolls: Film Review

Ugly Dolls: Film Review

Vocal cast: Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, Nick Jonas
Director: Kelly Asbury

Determined to push its message more than commit to a decent story and narrative, musical UglyDolls' tale is fairly thin on the ground, but entertaining enough for the kids.

Committed more to colourful than coherence, UglyDolls is the story of Kelly Clarkson's Moxie, a misshapen plush toy who's part of Uglyville, a collection of rejected toys that don't meet the perfection mark.

Dreaming that every day will be the day that she's selected to become a kid's toy, along with a ragtag bunch of fellow Uglies, Moxie finds a way through into the Institute of Perfection, run by Nick Jonas' Lou.

A clash brews between the two as Lou plots to rid the world of Uglyville...

Ugly Dolls exists solely to sell plushies and soundtracks.

That's certainly the feeling in the opening moments of the piece as the first of copious songs is belted out by Clarkson's Moxie, and it rarely lets up as it pushes its anti-quest for perfection tale.

Granted, the message of loving your imperfections and embracing them is a truly valid and important one at an early age, but UglyDolls fails to do much else.

Gags are relatively flat, and while the younger end of the audience may well be bewitched by the colourful characters and ultimately be more receptive to the message, the older end may well feel the 90 minute run time is still a struggle.

UglyDolls may be fluffy on the outside, but dig deeper and this plush tale of animation lacks much else - except a desire to merchandise imperfections.