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 an...
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would get excited over a “Barbie” movie; a feature length film about a doll that has been praised for being a role model to girls who want to be whoever they wanna be and criticized for materialism and unrealistic, sometimes damaging expectations regarding a woman’s body proportions. Leave it to Greta Gerwig to immediately reignite my interest.
Where do I begin?
Greta Gerwig’s direction in this movie is one of my favorites of this year; not only in how she deftly treads the line between admiring and politely jabbing the source material but due to how versatile her style really is. There’s a healthy mediation between childlike wonder and real-life cynicism with how she navigates the story and Gerwig finds more than enough narrative weight to wrangle out over six decades worth of the dolls existence.
Its references to other media are very cleverly placed and seized throughout the movie, maintaining full control over when to be self-aware and how to blend Barbie's storyline with all the meta together. Of course, it wouldn’t have worked nearly as well without the simplistic yet fizzy cinematography or editing, exceptional display of world-building, synthetic atmosphere that grows richer with each passing minute, self-effacing dialogue and humor and both the costume and production design sharing the same immaculate taste for old-school craftsmanship and stylistic surrealism. Say nothing about the head-bopping soundtrack, solid musical score and pristine use of sound design.
Each and every actor and actress here chew enough scenery to where they pop off like candy but Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are constant scene-stealers, radiating in the ideal energy, tone and earnestness that already define their characters while branching out and expanding on them.
Perhaps the thing that drew me to this movie the most was its coming-of-age blueprint that centered around and helped build the story; now, while Barbie is not a coming of age film exactly, it carries the spirit of one while also being blatantly smash-the-patriarchy feminist down to its very bone marrow; the latter of which actually compliments the cognitive dissonance that more or less buoys the movies intermittently cartoonish quality. What could’ve been a mindless two-hour commercial is instead elevated to an imperfect balance between serious societal commentary and trippy comedy, carefully roped together thanks to a script that is loosely structured but tightly crafted; another Greta Gerwig staple. Both Barbie and Ken struggling for relevance in a world where it’s next to impossible to achieve anything unless you bend over backwards for it or step on people’s dreams and self-esteem is highlighted in the only way a Barbie movie possibly can address it. The film doesn’t struggle at all to try and fill out its runtime with the content it has and while nothing entirely surprising happens, it gives enough space and time for the required characters to grow and acquire a sense of internality no matter how limited.
Yes, dissecting the positives and negatives of Barbie isn’t exactly a deep thorough search and yes, it is also a case of the commentary leading the characters as opposed to the other way around but somehow, it’s one of the few times where actively having its cake and eating it too ACTUALLY works to the films benefit.
I knew the Barbie movie was going to be ripe with some philosophical findings, touching on topics on existentialism, feminism, mind control, corporate power, and empowerment but it’s biggest draw is showcasing the pressures behind trying to live up to impossible standards; those same impossible standards that have plagued Barbie since her inception. What it actually means to be a woman through both lens is showcased thoroughly but not to where it’s overbearing or cripplingly shallow; it’s also a nice built-in interrogation of the genesis narrative.
However, there’s one teensy-weensy but ever so crucial little tiny detail that holds this film back: the pacing. You might not notice it right away but around the point where the second act ends, you get the feeling like it’s walking in slow motion and thus, robs the film of the ability to make proper use of all the good ideas it offers. I honestly wouldn’t have minded if the film was an extra ten minutes longer, if not to expand upon the differences of both worlds, then to catch up on the other characters arcs; there were other Barbie’s and Ken’s and Allan’s in their world that have their arcs that could’ve over been explored to better the films themes as well as Margot Robbie’s Barbies existential crisis, especially the other human characters….
…..but them being pushed to the side? That was expected.
Make no mistake about it: I REALLY enjoyed this movie but I wanted to love it more than I did. Regardless, it’s still a winner in Greta’s catalog and I…..honestly wouldn’t mind a follow up in the future……assuming Hollywood pays their damn writers and actors properly.
