Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans. I know it’s 2023, but I have to preface this review by stating the obvious: I am not the target audience of this movie. I am in fact, a guy, a man, if you will. Not that I ever had strong feelings one way or another towards the Barbie property, it’s just naturally, I grew up playing with Batman, Spider-Man, G.I. Joe, and dinosaur action figures. The marketing campaign of this movie has been ingenious. In the trailer, it states that this movie is both for people who love and hate Barbie. After seeing it, how much of that notion is true? I would say half.
Barbie’s first half hour is gleefully silly and entertaining shlock that explores the ins and outs of Barbieland in a fittingly playfully manner. Margot Robbie being perhaps the most gorgeous woman in Hollywood and an excellent actress altogether is in fact the perfect fit as Barbie. Ryan Gosling being perhaps the most attractive guy in Hollywood and an amazing actor altogether is in fact the perfect fit as Ken. Robbie and Gosling are a dynamite duo here and most of their chemistry together is pretty funny and endearing. Simu Liu as the rival Ken to Gosling’s Ken was also a highlight and whenever the two of them are in a stand-off or argument, I found myself laughing hysterically at the absurdity of it all. There is one dance/song sequence between Gosling and Liu’s Ken that genuinely had me roaring laughing. The standout among the diverse cast of Barbies has to be Kate McKinnon’s “Misfit Barbie” who helps send Robbie’s Barbie on her journey in an hilariously amusing way. The set design of Barbieland, the Dreamhouses, fake oceans, and plastic surroundings were all very impressive and I give Gerwig lots of credit for putting an emphasis on these visually appealing practical sets. The combination of CGI and physical sets allows Barbieland to come to life in it’s own dreamlike kaleidoscopic fictional world kind of way. Great stuff there.
Unfortunately, once the film goes to the “real world,” director Greta Gerwig becomes far too obsessed with hammering home a super serious and self-important message that the film loses sight of its fun and charm. We are introduced to Will Ferrell’s Mattel CEO parody “villain” character and it’s super lazy writing to suggest this individual knew of Barbieland’s existence, acknowledged its supposed threat to America, and all this time did nothing about it. We are also introduced to a mother-daughter pair played by America Ferrera and Ariana Greenblatt. While this aspect could’ve been heartfelt and wholesome, their part in the movie is rather predictable and gets even more irritating as it progresses. As a guy, I guess being lectured about the horrors of toxic masculinity and how we need to smash the traditional patriarchy isn’t really something that resonates with me, especially when the way that message is conveyed feels particularly mean spirited and is coming from an openly left wing Hollywood filmmaker. Before the hateful and accusatory comments roll in, I completely understand that this message will in fact land for those who do fit in that demographic and I’m not trying to take that away from whomever it may appeal to.
I feel there are better, more clever, and less divisive ways to handle the touchy subject matters of “patriarchy” and “toxic masculinity.” Just about every single male character is as dumb and as incompetent as you’d expect them to be, which at times is hilarious and others blatantly idiotic and disingenuous. Gerwig tries so hard in the second to third act to drive home a message with all of this existential crisis stuff that Robbie’s Barbie is going through, which in turn dampens the fun, hurts the tone, and lessens its accessibility to younger audiences. There’s even an astonishingly distasteful and uncalled for diss on Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which just goes to show how poorly Warner Bros views a majority of their DC fans. The movie’s biggest downfall is that it spends more time in the real world than it does in Barbieland. After all, we go to the movies to escape the real world, not constantly be reminded of it and the shittiness of everyday life. What we’re left with is a brilliant marketing campaign that ends up being more fun than the film itself.
With all that said, I digress. At the end of the day, this movie was not made for me and that’s okay. After all, I’m here to give you MY honest thoughts, not to taint your excitement or ruin your enjoyment. Overall, as someone who admittedly isn’t the target demographic of this movie, Barbie is definitely better than expected and will surely please Gen Z audiences and longtime fans of the Mattel property. For ME however, after the delightful opening 30 minutes, director Greta Gerwig becomes far too obsessed with hammering home a super serious, self indulgent, questionable, and heavy handed message that the film loses sight of its high-spirited fun and lively charm.
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