Film Review — Barbie

Barbie gets a major glow-up in Greta Gerwig’s hilarious and profound comedy.

For Barbie, every day is the best day. But when an existential crisis threatens her idyllic life, she and Ken travel to the real world on an epic journey of self-discovery.

★★★★☆

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is a movie that could only be made in 2023. It’s hysterically funny, filled with catchy pop songs, gorgeously crafted, shot, and acted. It also surprises with its depth, packing powerful moments that should resonate with girls and boys of all ages.

It’s an audacious adaptation that addresses the good, the bad and the downright ugly of the world’s most famous doll. And it might just be the best major film release of the year.

There’s an awful lot to unbox here, pun very much intended.

Those expecting a hollow plastic adventure might be left disappointed. It’s not one of those cheap 3D-animated Barbie movies designed to keep your kids quiet.

Those familiar with Gerwig and partner Noah Baumbach’s (White Noise) work won’t be nearly as surprised. It’s a playful, smart movie, a hot pink sandbox that allows Gerwig to have her say on Barbie’s complicated cultural impact and impart a very healthy feminist vision; the true realisation of equality where men and women both stand in the sun together.

But that’s not to say it’s not fun. Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad, The Wolf of Wall Street) produces and stars, leading a talent-packed cast in the role she was born to play. While she obviously looks the part — something film narrator Helen Mirren amusingly acknowledges —she perfectly captures the nuance that makes this much more than a movie about a plastic plaything.

The same can be said, arguably more so, for co-star Ryan Gosling (La La Land, First Man), who threatens to steal the show as a version of Ken, a shallow himbo whose desperate need for Barbie’s acceptance is a major driver for the film’s conflict and key takeaways.

His song “I’m Just Ken”, a Bohemian Rhapsody-like number that features in a pivotal sequence in the final act, is both side-splittingly funny and desperately tragic, and I really hope someone sneaks it onto Andrew Tate’s Spotify playlist.

Much like the wonderful 2001: A Spacy Odyssey homage that opens the film, Barbie has the potential to serve as a new feminist monolith for young girls everywhere. The film’s record-breaking box-office receipts will undoubtedly see the rise of a Mattel shared universe, which will water down and commodify much of the positivity this excellent movie has bought.

But I’m not going to let awareness of commercial inevitability ruin a perfectly good time. Not for a while, at least. C’mon Barbie, let’s go party.

Originally published at michaelkenny.uk