My Review of Barbie (2023)

 

Written by Greta Gerwig And Noah Baumbach

Directed by Greta Gerwig

Ruth (to Barbie): "Humans have one ending. Ideas live forever."

Things that I did not have on my movie bingo card for 2023 would be how much of a juggernaut this movie would be. I mean, it was clearly going to be a success story but on the level it's become one even before it's release was unprecedented. There are definitely going to be studies on this movie in years to come.

Everyone knows who and what Barbie is and what it represents. There are positive and negative connotations to the iconic doll and the fact that a seemingly family friendly movie would dare to explore both ideas with proper conviction will be a huge reason why this movie alone will have an enduring future legacy.

Opening with an amusing narration from Helen Mirren about little girls tiring of baby dolls and taking to Barbie (Margot Robbie), we then cut to our Stereotypical Barbie waking up in Barbie Land, greeting her fellow dolls and keeping the Stereotypical Ken (Ryan Gosling) firmly in the friends zone, much to his chagrin. Of course, not being interested in Ken romantically has repercussions but it's all part of a bigger plot.

The big plot of course having Stereotypical Barbie disrupt her own disco party by bringing up the notion of death. Not only that but when her waffles burn, her landings miss the mark and her feet go flat, much to the horror of the other Barbies, it's time to for Stereotypical Barbie to address some issues she'd rather not.

Thanks to Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), there's a need for both Barbie and Ken to leave Barbie Land and go to the real world where both get the crash course on the pros and cons of humanity and the roles between men and women in general. Let's just say what Ken takes away from it differed to what Barbie did.

For Ken, it was a case of turning Barbie Land into Kendom Land where his fellow Kens began to rule over the Barbies while Barbie herself met the Mattel CEO (Will Ferrell) who wanted to to put her back into the box while also connecting her humans. The humans being Mattel employee Gloria (America Ferrera) and teenage daughter, Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt). The latter of whom was particularly brutal to Barbie at first while the former was instrumental in Barbie reclaiming Barbie Land from the Kens.

The commentary on gender in this film isn't subtle but nor is it mean spirited and demonising of men in general. Neither does it present women as perfect. In fact through the Barbies, the Kens, discontinued characters like Midge (Emerald Fennell) and Allan (Michael Cera) as well as the humans in question, the movie does an excellent job with both men and women overall. 

Performance wise, it's undeniably Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling who excel here but there are so many other performances that need to be praised. In terms of the other Barbies, I have to praise Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae (President Barbie), Alexandra Shipp (Writer Barbie), Emma Mackey (Physicist Barbie) and Hari Nef (Doctor Barbie).

In terms of the Kens, they're not defined by roles but Simu Liu, Scott Evans, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ncuti Gatwa certainly had some nice moments while Michael Cera was just hilarious as Allan. Oh and the appearance of Rob Brydon's Sugar Daddy Ken had me in stitches.

However aside from Will Ferrell being on terrific form as the CEO of Mattel, the two best human performances were of course America Ferrera's Gloria who got a beautiful dialogue about women while Rhea Perlman had some scene stealing moments as Barbie creator, Ruth Handler, especially during her scenes with her own creation.

As for the actual ending of this movie, talk about a slam dunk. It felt completely earned given what the movie was about and also had a sophistication that family friendly movies have lacked in recent times. It also served as a nice closer overall but given the way things are panning out, this might not be the last we see of this world.

- It's kind of staggering to see how many actors from other big shows and franchises pop up here. Even John Cena popped up as Merman Ken as a counter to Dua Lipa's Mermaid Barbies.

- I wasn't expecting references to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Pride And Prejudice, The Godfather and Zack Snyder's Justice League but we got them and they worked within the context they were used in.

- Some of the jokes in this movie were definitely for the adults who went to see it. I imagine there were some awkward conversations on the way from the cinema. 

- Other dolls referenced included the pooping dog and Skipper. Barbie also went by Barbara Handler at the end of the movie.

- Standout music: Dua Lipa's Dance The Night, Billie Eilish's What Was I Made For? as well as Ryan Gosling's I'm Just Ken.

- Chronology: Let's assume 2023 as Barbie and Ken got a glimpse into the real world.

If you had told me six months ago that possibly the best movie of 2023 would've been Barbie, I would've been a little sceptical. However it truly is and while Greta Gerwig could've played completely safe (how did WB/Mattel let her get away with so much?) with this IP, I'm really glad she didn't. Yes, it'll appeal to a wider audience but it's a movie both heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure, clever, funny and genuinely subversive. I loved this from start to finish.

Rating: 10 out of 10 (or Ken out of Ken)