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A Review of “Barbie (2023)”

 

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Barbie is one of the most iconic toys of all time! It genuinely baffled me that it took this long for there to be a Barbie film. Barbie isn’t my thing, so I wasn’t interested in watching this. It wasn’t until the first trailer came out and the global internet cultural phenomenon “Barbenheimer”, the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day, that my interest was piqued. So is life plastic, it’s fantastic? Or is it just Ken?

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Firstly, casting Margot Robbie as Stereotypical Barbie was perfect! She is incredibly charming and earnest in the role. She conveys a naive yet caring nature to her character while being very funny at times. Ryan Gosling as Beach Ken is also perfect casting! He is the greatest highlight with his hilarious physical performance. Every time he is on screen, he brings the laughs. Ryan also conveys a vulnerability to Ken which is surprising. Margot and Ryan have a fun chemistry together! This film has a huge cast with many playing other variations of Barbie and Ken. They are all good in their limited screen time but the stand out is Michael Cera who plays Ken’s best buddy Allan. I just love how different he is from the others and how he manages to be so lovable in his limited screen time.

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From the first 30 minutes, you will notice the amazing costumes and set designs. Barbieland itself looks like a Barbie toy set brought to life. The massive amount of pink covering the world, the plastic look of all the accessories, houses and cars. Every Barbie and Kens clearly had a lot of thought put into their costumes because no Barbie and Ken look the same. Every costume manages to reflect the type of Barbie and Ken they are. The music score is great and the use of vocal songs was utilized effectively. Special mention to “I’m Just Ken” sung by Ryan Gosling! Some great dance scenes are entertaining to watch with their fun choreography. It is a comedy at heart and there are quite some funny jokes and moments with a surprising amount of great adult jokes. I also love how they poke fun at Mattel and even Barbie as a brand which is a bold move. Despite that, some strong emotional moments with one near the end can definitely tug at the heartstrings.

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However, the movie does suffer from some poor execution of certain elements. There is the Barbieland stuff which is enjoyable but the real-world stuff is just not that fun. It is stated early on that Barbie’s thoughts are being influenced by someone playing with Barbies in the real world. How does the connection work? how much of Barbie’s thought is her own? None of these things are explored, leaving many questions. On that note, certain characters will change very quickly without much build-up to these changes. Due to this, we don’t get a true understanding of Barbie as a character, she changes because the film needs some kind of character development. There is also a mother and daughter character in the real world who Barbie meets. One of them is depressed and there is a rift between them but the film doesn’t bother to explore the reason for any of that. We also meet Will Ferrell who plays the CEO of Mattel and he is just inconsequential to the story but takes a lot of screen time. He is also over-the-top and silly.

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I was hoping for a contrast between the cartoony Barbieland and the real world. However, characters in the real world act just as cartoony and ridiculous as those in Barbie Land. It makes the real-world scenes less impactful when it should have been a big moment in the film. The film is also incredibly preachy about its feminist message that it can be exhausting. Also, the 3rd act has a silly resolution that feels contradictory to the feminist nature of this film. Additionally, every male character in this film are idiotic baby and if that gets under your skin, then this movie is not for you.

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Overall, Barbie is a good fun time. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. This film is not going to appeal to everyone with its themes and message. Nevertheless, the movie is just plain entertaining and honestly, it is “Kenough” for me!


 

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