This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Barbie has made waves in popular culture and media. The marketing efforts put forth by Warner Brothers has hit a level I have not seen in a long time for a movie. Even the term “Barbenheimer”, a portmanteau of Barbie and Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated biopic releasing the same day) has been trending all over social media. It seems the studio is really banking on the success of Barbie to keep them moving forward. This is especially true after The Flash hit a new low for box office numbers and amidst a strike from the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. Luckily for the studio, this gamble paid off, as Barbie is as fun and entertaining as it is enigmatic and unique, providing an experience that I can only describe as “Barbie”.
The film follows Stereotypical Barbie, played by a gorgeous Margot Robbie, as she lives her perfect life in Barbieland. All sorts of manifestations of different iterations of the Barbie doll. There’s President Barbie (Issa Rae), Doctor Barbie (Hari Nef), Writer and Physicist Barbies (Alexandra Shipp and Emma Mackey), and many more. Also living in Barbieland are the kens (Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa among others). And other manifestations of dolls within the barbie universe, like Allan (Michael Cera), the only one of his kind and Ken’s best friend. Life is perfect in Barbieland, except when one day, Robbie’s Barbie begins to experience some changes. Things just aren’t right. So she and Gosling’s Ken set out to the real world to find and fix the problems and restore the balance. There they meet Gloria (America Ferrera) a low level Mattel employee, and her daughter Sasha. But what they discover out there will change Barbieland forever.
It’s so incredibly difficult to describe what Barbie is, because it encapsulates so much, while also being completely unique to it’s idea. What I can say is that the movie is surprisingly funny and self-aware enough to break the fourth wall, make meta-jokes about the movie itself, and just generally have a good time with it. The humor is not raunchy, but I was surprised at how much clean humor could get riotous laughter out of an audience. And, most importantly, I had a smile on my face the whole time watching. It seemed like the entire cast just had so much fun making the film, and you can totally see it on screen. The energy – or should I say “ken-ergy” – is off the charts and it’s great.
This is helped in tremendous fashion by the great sets they designed for the film, especially in Barbieland. Everything is so colorful and vibrant. There are barbie dreamhouses and plastic beaches and the whole thing felt as if I was seeing a fake world for real. And it worked because they treated it so normally. Never trying to deliberately point out what’s weird and wrong about the world. Plus, there was enough pink color that the filmmakers emptied out Rosco’s worldwide supply of pink paint. That’s pretty cool.
What really impressed me most was how unique in concept Barbie is. I can honestly say I have not seen a movie quite like what I saw Wednesday night. That certainly stuck with me days after seeing the film. And not only is the concept entirely unique, but it works so well. I was bought in from the start, and every single punch writer/director Greta Gerwig threw hit like a heavyweight champion getting ready to knockout their opponent. And let me tell you there are some wild swings that they take, but it works because the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. It knows what it is and what it’s doing. And they do it really well.
That said, even when the film relies heavily on the humor and silliness of it all, they are still able to pull back the curtains and provide some really great emotional moments in the film. Themes like male and female toxicity, growing up, and finding your identity in the world are given the time to make you truly care and understand the message they bring. And it provides a great balance to the rest of the silliness on screen.
I have to give tremendous praise to the lead actors here. Robbie, Gosling and Ferrera knock it out of the park. They play their parts extremely well, and without them this movie doesn’t work even at a basic level. Gosling, especially, really nails the Ken role wholeheartedly. It felt like Gosling left and what emerged was this truly believable manifestation of everything the Ken doll is – and is not. It was really a feat that I was not expecting but lands him in my short list for a best supporting actor nomination at the next Academy Awards.
While there is so much good to say about Barbie, it wouldn’t be fair to not acknowledge its faults. Does it lean into the goofiness of it all a little too much at times? Yes of course. That won’t take away from your enjoyment of it all though. I do wish we got to spend more time with Barbie and Ken in the real world as that section of the film was great. And it felt like the storyline with the Mattel executives didn’t really fit the rest of the overall narrative and didn’t provide too much extra to the film. But, again, this will not affect your enjoyment of the film in the slightest.
Final Thoughts
Barbie is great. Like really, truly great. This year we have received so many corporate biopics that focus heavily on drama, and it was refreshing to see something from popular culture just get made into something totally unique and different. Barbie’s success comes from how unique it is, and how much the cast and crew lean into it. And they just have so much fun doing so. Barbie really is an experience all its own, and it’s a refreshing turn from Hollywood that felt sorely needed. It connects with everyone, no matter the age, race or gender. There were men, myself included, carrying out the collector’s pink volleyball cup and pink barbie toy box popcorn tin out of the theater. And proud to do so. Seriously, go watch this movie asap. You won’t regret it.
