Greta Gerwig's Barbie, a film as visually breathtaking as it is good ol' popcorn fun, is a film that perfectly encapsulates the auteur filmmaker's journey from indie to tentpole filmmaking. Led by Margot Robbie and a standout performance from Ryan Gosling, it's not perfect, but that's the point.
Barbie review
Every day in Barbie Land is a perfect day. (How could it not be with that dreamy backdrop?) The titular doll, played by Robbie and dubbed the “Stereotypical Barbie,” opens every day by waking up, waving to the other Barbies, and making breakfast. Every day then consists of going to the beach, seeing the Kens, and ending the night with a blowout party. While everything is peachy (and beachy) for Barbie, Ken (Gosling), lives off of her attention and approval. He gets jealous when any of the other dolls get a “Hi, Ken!” from his “girlfriend,” especially when it's one of the Kens played by Simu Liu. It's your typical middle school romance — fitting for a film about children's dolls.
The routine is thrown for a loop when Barbie begins questioning her own mortality. She's able to brush it off at first, but upon meeting “Weird Barbie” (Kate McKinnon), she learns that she must embark on a quest to the real world and meet the child who's playing with her and making her feel real emotions.
That's where the film hits both a high and a low. Gerwig and Co. have constructed such a wonderful Barbie Land. It's hard not to want to hang out by the pools or on the beach given the vibrancy and the Truman Show-like nature of this confined space. While Gosling may or may not get Oscar buzz, it'd be a crime for the crew of the film to go unrecognized for their amazing work.
A line in the song that plays during Barbie's morning routine says that “pink goes with everything,” and they took that to heart and proved that to be right. The whole world feels both restricted but also unlimited at the same point. There are deserts that sprawl for miles, and to get to the real world, Barbie and Ken embark on a journey through all of the weather conditions in a Beau is Afraid-like sequence (though this film is far better than that disaster).
But once we hit the real world, the film plays out the stereotypical “fish out of water” trope. Men in the real world aren't as respectful to women, and Ken learns that men “run the world” and create patriarchies. This side quest is the crux of Barbie for a couple of reasons — we meet two important human characters, Gloria (America Ferrera) and her daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt). The film only scratches the surface of exploring the human world, and, hopefully, a sequel could further explore it. But this film as it is misses an opportunity to really explore it — perhaps the work it took to create Barbie Land made setting most of the film there a priority.
The film is also stuffed with motifs that don't all get their time in the sun. Barbie's overall message can be reduced to “girls rule, boys drool,” which is fine, but is a stark reminder that this film is the product of the studio system. So while a simplified message of girl power is fine and expected from a female-driven film both behind and in front of the camera, it does somewhat take away from the impact when you feel like you're being beaten over the head with the message.
Greta Gerwig is amazing, but seeing a message so watered down and lacking nuance feels like the perfect encapsulation of the studio system. In Barbie, we see the titular doll make her way to Mattel, and their bottom line is profits no matter what it takes (hence the various outcasted Barbie dolls and discontinued lines) — and this is a mainstream film, after all. Gerwig is an amazing filmmaker who's more than capable of working with mid-budget films as Little Women showed. Jumping to something nearly double the top end of a mid-budget film in Barbie, it's not her touch that loses itself as much as her identity.
It comes down to the script, which is filled with highs such as a very self-aware joke about casting Margot Robbie, and lows such as the one really odd “Snyder Cut” joke. Simply put, it feels like the filmmakers are biting their tongues. You don't need Adam McKay or Aaron Sorkin's level of wit in a film like Barbie, but maybe there is a reason that a film about the doll took so long to see the light of day. Nevertheless, the bubblegum visuals are enough to keep your mind off a rather simplistic story and overly on-the-nose motifs.
There's also something to be said about the theme of not letting go of your inner child. Gloria grew up playing with Barbie dolls, but her daughter resents them. For the sake of spoilers, I'll leave it here, but this could have been even more profound if the human story was even a tiny bit more interesting. And then you have the Kens and their wish to create a patriarchy. While a power trip is what they seemingly want, I'll give Gerwig and Baumbach credit for identifying that sometimes all a man wants is a little attention.
Speaking of Ken, while Robbie is great as Barbie, Ryan Gosling owns this movie. From dance numbers to the silly love song he writes, Gosling exudes “Kenergy” with a boyish charm. The scene that's in the trailer when he tries to invite himself over to Barbie's house for the night perfectly captures what Gosling's energy is throughout the film. His performances can usually range from overly quiet to flat-out boring, but films like The Nice Guys and Barbie have allowed Gosling's personality to actually seep through the cracks. In many ways, it's like Ken is the culmination of Gosling's work and a celebration of it.
The rest of the Barbie and Ken dolls have their moments, but Michael Cera, who plays a one-of-a-kind doll named Allan, is the standout. Cera has the right sensitivities to play the loner, and Allan never gets his due from the other dolls. Simu Liu is the best Ken variant, though Kingsley Ben-Adir playing a “Yes Man Ken” is also great. For the Barbies, Kate McKinnon really stands out as “Weird Barbie.” It's a performance filled with the SNL alum's typical idiosyncrasies, but in this case, it serves the role.
Should you see Barbie?
There aren't many feel-good films like Barbie coming out, and the star power makes a trip to the movie theater worthwhile. Greta Gerwig's jump to tentpole filmmaking isn't perfect — especially with its script and overall delivery of its message — but this is an imperfect film about imperfect dolls at the end of the day. There are some aspects of the film that do work perfectly such as the choreography (particularly in the dance sequences but even in the beach fight) and the production design, and the irresistible charm of the film will carry it far more than any other cast and crew could.
Grade: B
Barbie will be released on July 21.
Follow Us
Subscribe