Film Review: Barbie

NOTE: As of me writing this, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are currently on strike, demanding fair wages, better working conditions, protection from AI, among many other important issues that face writers, actors, and even other sections of the entertainment industry. I am in full support of the strike, and I encourage you to read about it, spread word, and if possible, consider donating to the Entertainment Community Fund, which helps financially struggling artists and workers in the film and television industry. Thank you.

 

It honestly shouldn’t come as a surprise that Barbie is as good as it is considering the talents involved. Greta Gerwig has worked her way through the mumblecore scene of the mid to late 2000s to being an indie darling through the mid 2010s to a now prominent filmmaker that at this point is bound to become a household name, the the alliteration with her name certainly helps in that regard. Plus, you have her collaborating on the script with her partner and previous collaborator, Noah Baumbach. This project looks on the surface to be a light toy commercial, but truly has more than meets the eye.

Starting us off in the world of Barbieland, we meet Barbie (Margot Robbie) on an average day where we see her take part in various activities with other Barbies (Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, among many others). Ken (Ryan Gosling) is there too, along with other Kens (Kingsley Ben-Adir, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, among others). Mostly trying to nab the attention of Barbie, but winds up getting the short shrift because she’s busy with other things like having her nightly dance party with all the girls. However, when Barbie is suddenly struck with thoughts of mortality, things about her start to change.

First, it’s flat feet, then it’s cellulite, things in her routine don’t go right. She consults Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), who advises her to go to the real world to investigate what is happening with her owner. Barbie reluctantly agrees, and also reluctantly ends up taking in Ken, who insists on coming with. They travel to Los Angeles where the two struggle to keep a low profile, which results in the the suits at Mattell, led by the CEO (Will Farrell) to start a search effort, but another employee, Gloria (America Ferrera), turns out to be a helpful ally.

Where the film goes from here, I don’t necessarily want to get into, not just because the trailers didn’t give it away or even that it’s especially mind blowing, but mostly because I was surprised by how committed the film was in exploring the many big ideas they wanted to bring to the table with this story. Perhaps, not shocking, but the Barbie movie is very much a film about itself, the nature of Barbie, what she represents, but it’s also about women, about gender roles, about the patriarchy, about capitalism, about the everyday inconveniences and frustrations that women deal with day to day, and the way social systems surrounding gender ultimately hurts everyone one way or another.

It’s perhaps most comparable to something like The LEGO Movie, another film about a toy that involves a lot of meta commentary, self-critique, along with a number of pop culture references, and absurdist humor with surprising emotional resonance. Though, I would argue that Barbie is a more stranger film, a more weirder film, especially in terms of big studio comedies, something that is already a rarity. Some have made this comparison, and I would agree that its full commitment to a strong, stylized aesthetic brings to mind something like Robert Altman’s Popeye film or even the Wachowski’s Speed Racer. But even with all these things I could compare it to, the experience of watching the film feels truly singular.

Like with Lady Bird, and as many critics with much more to say about this than I do have pointed out, some of the feminist theming of Greta Gerwig’s work does often feel limited to a very white point-of-view. Granted, I don’t think her work steers into full white feminism territory, but I also think her attempts at inclusivity and intersectionality – while certainly admirable – do feel a bit superficial, especially considering the casting of Ferrera and Ariana Greenblatt as a mother daughter duo with personal connections to Barbie. This doesn’t negate the stuff about the film that works so well, but I feel it is still worth pointing out.

Once it was all said and done, I was charmed, delighted, moved, and very impressed with Barbie. Aside from its compelling philosophical and thematic musings about womanhood and gender, it’s just plain fun. It is relentlessly funny, filled to the brim with hilarious sight gags, silly physical comedy, and impeccable line deliveries from its cast. Gosling is a standout, throwing himself so fully into the absurd that it borders on transcendent. The production is emasculate, with beautiful sets, costumes, and sequences that range from the surreal to the referential, such as a dance number that feels ripped out of an 50s MGM musical. Some might dismiss the film simply because it is based on a toy line, and while I might understand that impulse, no one approaching this film in good faith should come out of it thinking there isn’t any artistic merit. We don’t get films like this from the studios often. It’s interesting that we get this and Oppenheimer (review coming soon) on the same weekend, and there’s been this amusing fan response about it, with talks of people doing double features (which I did), but what makes the pairing of these two so interesting is that these two films do a terrific job in representing the potential that Hollywood has, the ability to grant artists with vision to tackle stories, whether original or not, in their own ways, and being given the resources to explore all their interests and idiosyncrasies without interference. This is what Hollywood is all about, baby! Or at least, it’s how it should be.

 

Barbie is now out in theaters.