Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Bereamic Awesome Movie

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

lmarkow682 As of right now sparkle is my all time number one favorite movie. Sparkle has everything. It has great acting, great script and of course music. The actress who played as "sister" - I am so adding it to my list of best performances by a woman. What sister went through as a singer, daughter, wife and person was 100 percent inspiring. i also thought Sparkle had a very good ending. I think it was definitely a better then the ending from the original. Lastly i will say that it's very rare when remakes turn out to be perfect. Sparkle is one of those rare remakes. It is perfect for anyone who loves music, drama, great acting, a good cry and of course a good movie.

italo505 Jordin Sparks really sparkles. That's about the only thing that elevates Sparkle from a wannabe "Dreamgirls" to what it is: a star vehicle for Jodin. To promote the movie they cast Whitney Houston in big bold letters but it's really Jodin Sparks who shines as a girl from Detroit in 1968 that breaks all the molds, including her mother's, in order to become Motown's new shining star. I don't mind that her sister named Sister (Carmen Ejogo) steals the spotlight. Sister is, after all, the one that drives every man in the club insane as rabid dogs (and I mean dogs, literally) as she puts on the heat with her sensual performances. All the while, Sparkle is the talented one, the one that pens and inspires the wonderful and original music. The movie is a delight to watch for the great outfits, the club scenes, the live music that you can almost feel and makes you feel part of the audience. Frankly, I enjoy Whitney's last performance as a stern, religious mother who oppresses her daughters to be good Christian, church going women that don't get to experience life and feel forced to sneak out of their home whenever they want to go out and have a little bit of fun at the club. Other performance I enjoy is Derek Luke's (from Antwone Fisher) as Stix, the man who sees Sparkle's potential, and bends over backwards to make her the star that she's destined to be. However, not all is peaches and creme in Sparkle. There's a goofy comedian named Satin (Mike Epps) who pokes fun at his fellow black folk in his stand up routines and makes sure to flash his bling-bling around Sister, who is as pretty as she is dumb to not realize what a jerk he is. The problem I had with their toxic relationship is that they fail at capturing the severity of domestic violence and turn it into an almost comical, over the top note that should never be. How predictable is this story when it tries to imitate Tina Turner? Had anybody seen What's Love Got To Do With It? Sparkle tries to borrow many used ideas from girl group films that might have worked well in the past but bring nothing new to the table, no mystery that Sister and Satin don't get a happy ending. And what's up with those names? Really, who sits and think of naming their kids Sparkle, or Sister, or Stix, or Satin... Really, who?

tavm Last February 12, I reviewed the original Sparkle that starred Irene Cara in the title role and in which I noted Whitney Houston's death the previous day because of her role in the remake which I'm reviewing now. Ms. Houston, who was also one of the exec producers, is very good as the mother of the three daughters who initially form a girl group of singers even though I noticed that her speaking voice was now quite worn from her years of drugs. But her singing her one song here was still great so she left this viewer still wanting more from her though I know we'll just have her recordings and movie and TV appearances to look for now but that should be good enough considering how much she contributed to the entertainment world. Now about this remake: With some changes in story and characterization, not to mention period and location, it's still about one young woman's dream of writing and singing good hit songs despite her mother's initial disapproval. And "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks turns out to be somewhat of a good actress to make the character of Sparkle shine though of course it's really her singing those now-classic Curtis Mayfield songs from the original movie that really puts her through. The most impressive turns are those who play her two sisters especially the one who eventually ends up going to medical school (Tika Sumpter) whenever she confronts her other drug addled sister (Carmen Ejogo) about her abuse at the hands of her comedian husband. As for which version is better, I say this one though it seemed to lose some dramatic edge near the end compared to the original one. Still, the longer length did help open up the story and characterizations enough that I was mostly satisfied so on that note, I highly recommend this version of Sparkle.

adeboue1 If you are one who feels that you can't achieve what you set your mind to, then Sparkle is a movie for you! This movie is an uplifting refresher of how a girl, Sparkle, played by Jordin Sparks, had one dream and that was to be a famous singer. Her dreams constantly get torn down by her sisters, D and Sister, but mainly her mom, Emma, which is played by the famous Whitney Houston. Although many tried to steer her away from the singing business, Sparkle was determined to be what she wanted to be instead of what her mother had planned for her to be. The three sisters formed a group together, where Sister was the lead singer. They constantly snuck out in order for their mom to not find out they were going against her. All Sparkle really wanted was for her music to get noticed and if they had to sneak around to do it, she was willing to. I personally enjoyed this movie because of the different things that occurred throughout the movie were very similar to Whitney Houston's real life. Sister was known as "the mess up" because she grew up not respecting her mother and always did her own thing. Sparkle was the good little church girl who everyone loved and D was the other sister who had the aspiration of becoming a doctor. These two sisters were headed in the right direction with their lives; their mom strived for them not to become like herself or Sister. Emma was a former singer who let drugs, sex, and other things distract her from being the best singer she could be, so she quit that lifestyle and became a well-known member of the church. This is indeed very ironic because Houston grew up as that good little church girl everyone loved, but as she became more popular throughout the world, she started to abuse her fame. As the girls became popular, Sparkle started to have a relationship with one of their producers, who really enjoyed what Sparkle was doing and tried to make her get noticed. But, Sparkle didn't want to betray her mother and go against her rules, but singing was her passion and she couldn't stop. Sister started to abuse her fame and started to date the "Mr. Big Shot," Satin, played my Mike Epps. Satin was a lady's man who made Sister do drugs, drink, and drift away from her family. The group then started to go its separate ways because Sister wanted to do things on her own with Satin and although he constantly abused her, she felt as if staying with him was what's going to get her to the top. This was exactly the life Houston lived when married to Bobby Brown. He got her hooked on drugs and constantly beat her, but Houston "loved" him so much, she was willing to risk her life for someone who made her into someone the world loathed. Houston basically was forced to leave the ones she loved for Bobby and wasn't as close to her family as she used to be because Bobby and drugs were her new family. Towards the end of the movie, there was a scene where Emma was singing in church asking God why many things had to happen to her and how she wants to give her life back to Him. This was the scene that really hit home for me because of the irony. Houston lived a life for Christ before and even a little during her fame, but as the years progressed, she let fame get in the way of everything. Drugs had taken over her life and she wasn't who she used to be at all. The life she lived for the majority of the time was something no one should go through. After the movie filmed, Whitney died of a drug overdose. This makes the movie as a whole ironic because the movie hit many key points in her life and ended with her pleading to God and asking Him why she had to live the life she lived and go through all those trials. This movie is a must see if you want to see a girl who lived in constant negativity make her way out to become something positive and inspirational. I feel as if this movie showed the life Whitney Houston could've had if she chose to not abuse her fame. This movie isn't something you should just wait to rent at Red Box, go see it in theater and rent it! It's such a great movie that inspired me personally to strive for what I believe in and not let things deter me away from my goal.