This past summer, audiences were treated to Greta Gerwig’s extremely meta (and very pink) film ‘Barbie’. With the help of it’s astounding 150-million-dollar marketing budget, Barbie easily became the summer’s biggest hit, becoming the highest grossing film of 2023 thus far. The movie was a hit with both audiences and critics, but what makes a movie about dolls worth watching?
The most notable aspect of Barbie is the film’s impeccable production design. The amount of work and the attention to detail put into creating Barbie Land is just incredible and it makes the audience feel immersed in the film for the entire runtime. The film is truly never boring to look at because there are so many colors and so much happening on screen that your eyes just don’t know where to look. This film just has an infectious energy to it that helps keep everyone entertained.
The next thing I feel like I must talk about is Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken. Everyone in this film gives great performances, but Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling completely capture the spirit of their characters and make it truly feel like Barbie and Ken are brought to life. Ryan Gosling is absolutely hilarious as Ken and Margot Robbie are the heart and soul of this film. Like I said earlier – everyone in this film is great. Whether it’s America Ferrera as Gloria, who gives an incredible monologue in the film, or my personal favorite casting with Michael Cera as Alan.
Even though I think this movie is pretty great, I had a few minor issues with the film. First of all, the script for this movie is brilliant, but the story at times feels very thin and the movie doesn’t really feel like it has a plot. The themes and messaging are there, but the story just doesn’t feel strong enough to support all these heavy themes. There were also a few jokes that didn’t land, but that is a small number compared to the jokes that did land. While I loved everything that happened in Barbie Land, I felt that the human aspect of this film was very uninteresting. The plot line with Will Ferrell as the CEO of Mattel felt generic and just off with the rest of the movie.
These are just minor issues I had with the film, and I think Barbie is still worth checking out, even if it’s just for Ryan Gosling’s show stopping musical number ‘I’m Just Ken’. The film is very energetic and moves at a brisk pace while still delivering some very heartfelt and emotional moments that will make a grown man cry. There is something for everyone in this film no matter the age. Whether you grew up playing with Barbie dolls or not, you can really feel all the hard work that was put into this film. So, if for some reason you still haven’t seen Barbie, I definitely recommend that you give this film a watch!