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The recent history of movies based on toys or board games, Barbie was a movie that at the announcement (over a decade ago) was predicted to be a cash-grab on established IP. Based on GIJoe, Battleship, the state of Transformers movies at the time, and Jem and the Holograms, this was an easy prediction to make. As the movie did develop and the talent was attached to it, general optimism started to grow, especially with director Greta Gerwig working behind the scenes following Little Women and Ladybird. The final product that has been released after 14 years is an absolute delight and a ton of fun with a great message wrapped in the center.
Barbie follows Margot Robbie’s Barbie and Ryan Gosling’s Ken as they have to head from Barbieland to the real world to fix an anomaly in both realities. The cast is massive with appearances from Issa Rae, Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir (which makes for a weird double feature to go from Barbie where he’s a version of Ken to Secret Invasion immediately after where he rips a hole in someone’s chest in a fit of rage), Ncuti Gatwa, America Ferrara, Dua Lipa, Alexandra Shipp, Michael Cera, Emerald Finnell, and Will Ferrell.
The most noticeable thing about the film is the aesthetic, both in Barbieland and in the real world. The look of Barbieland being as plastic as it is because it is all living toys is fantastic, especially as the narrative progresses and the look changes to reflect how the plot is moving. The real world still maintains a level of abnormality that is comical, however, it mixes with the ability to play it straight in a way that makes it consistently entertaining. The acting performances carry this through as all the actors and actresses manage to make their characters feel like they are toys being played with by children, leading to great comedic beats.
As for messaging, there have been a lot of complaints about the movie demonizing “the patriarchy” (for those who may not know, this is a sociological term that refers to a society that is male-dominated). Considering where the third act goes (without spoiling), that is a bad interpretation of the film. It’s not about demonizing men (or in this case, the Kens) or the patriarchy itself, but it’s about what leads people into extremism by basing so much of their identity in their gender or their race or some other thing. The resolution of the movie is a character saying that they are not their job or their relationship to another person or their gender but they are a person in and of themselves with inherent self-worth, which is a great message for a movie that is almost entirely family-friendly. It’s the same type of inability to read media that leads to people thinking Dune is a pro-religion movie/book.
Barbie is designed to be a theatrical experience and is making the most of its sound mix considering its presence in Dolby Cinemas screens. Beyond the music and the sound mix, the visual style and production design make the movie a must-see in theaters, even if one has little to no familiarity with the toy.
Final Rating: 9/10
