Well, it’s finally here. After a promotional run that pitted/promoted Barbie and Oppenheimer as required viewing for movie lovers, the weekend of July 21st delivered the promise that two wildly different movies from artistic directors could be released on the same day. I suppose Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight films are a signifier for film bros, and Greta Gerwig’s movies Lady Bird and Little Women have a dedicated female fanbase, so it’s natural that people rallied behind the box office battle of the sexes. Still, the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon is one that really took hold in the cultural zeitgeist in a way I’m not sure anyone anticipated, certainly not me. But was it worth the hype? I’m happy to report—despite my bewilderment at the general public’s excitement at the pairing of a real-life physicist and a toy—that Barbie was an entertaining summer blockbuster with crossover appeal to satisfy all audiences.
Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) opens the movie in a way that lives up to her name: Her Barbie dreamhouse is immaculate, the other Barbies smile and wave at her in adoration, and she enjoys a beautiful day on the beach with the same attention being thrown at her by her boy toy Ken (Ryan Gosling). But much like Emmet’s arc in The Lego Movie, Barbie soon realizes that her home of Barbieland is not reflective of the real world.
Casting Margot Robbie as the pinnacle of beauty and Ryan Gosling as a ripped airhead who spends his days pining for her is the one-two punch that is the lifeblood of the film; they not only generate the biggest laughs, but they keep the fish-out-of-water premise from falling apart because of their fearless commitment to the roles. Take Gosling’s ballad “I’m Just Ken,” which is already generating buzz for a Best Original Song nomination at next year’s Oscars. Not only is it hilarious to see someone of Gosling’s caliber belt out silly lyrics like “What will it take for her to see the man behind the tan?” and “Can you feel Ken-ergy?” with full conviction, but he simultaneously taps into the tragic nature of fragile masculinity.
Margot Robbie also has the ability to take a seemingly empty and perfect character like Barbie and give her the same depth and richness that she’s given to other characters she’s played in Babylon, I, Tonya, or in her appearances as Harley Quinn. Stereotypical Barbie has a similar crisis of consciousness when she randomly asks her fellow Barbies if they ever think of death. Then her perfectly arched feet become flat, her showers become cold, and her breakfast is spoiled. Is Barbie having an existential crisis? Barbie seeks the expertise of “Weird Barbie,” played by the reliably funny Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters), who reveals that there has been a ripple that is connecting our world with the Barbie world, and she must travel to our society to find out who or what is causing it before her perfect life unravels even more.
Along the way, Barbie meets Gloria (America Ferrera), who works at Mattel, and her teenage daughter, who is wrestling with the hypocritical nature of Barbie, and the damage she’s done to feminism, even going so far as calling her a fascist. While these critiques are ultimately sidelined pretty quickly (it is Matell’s Barbie movie, after all), it at least attempts to comment on the unrealistic beauty and body standards that women face because of products like Barbie. In other words, while the Barbie world is inhabited by Barbies of all body types and backgrounds, only Margot Robbie’s is considered the stereotypical prototype; Helen Mirren’s wall-breaking narration addresses this as well.
The cast is rounded out by an array of fun characters like Allan (Michael Cera), who is an even less respected Ken (he was a limited release); Issa Rae’s (Little) Barbie is the president; Alexandra Shipp’s (tick, tick… BOOM!) is a celebrated author; Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) plays the main Ken’s biggest competition, and Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami…) is yet another Ken. All of the supporting characters are all named Barbie or Ken but reflect the multicultural utopia that is supposed to be the Barbie world. Once they get to the real world, Barbie is catcalled, laughed at, and objectified, while Ken is treated with a newfound respect just for being a man. Mattel’s top executives are all made up of aloof men too. Call that woke propaganda if you want, but if Elon Musk’s self-destruction of Twitter proves anything, it’s that the real-life CEOs are just as incompetent as the ones depicted in the film.
And did I mention that the movie is dripping with style from beginning to end? From the oversaturated colors of the Barbie dream world to the CEO of Mattel’s (Will Farrell) office door—embroidered with pastel circles—the production design and array of Barbie/Ken costumes are always a feast to look at. The script, co-written by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, is rich with humor, empowering commentary, and respect for what Barbie represents to so many women. At its most fundamental, the movie captures the element of play that is so alive when you’re a child using nothing but your imagination and props to act out scenes with your toys. Seeing my theater dressed in pink, moms and daughters taking pictures, and laughing at the silliness onscreen together showed me that the sentiment is very real. I know Hollywood will take all of the wrong lessons from this movie’s success and just try to greenlight every toy property into a movie, but I doubt that any will be as fun or well-made as Barbie.
Final Rating:
‘Barbie’ is now playing in theatres.
Rated PG-13.
(Photos: Warner Bros.)
