Reel Review Roundup

Barbie (PG)

Directed by: Greta Gerwig

Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrara

Review by: Julian Wright

The iconic toy that has had one of the greatest cultural impacts, Barbie, finally makes her feature film debut.

Bright, bubbly and aesthetically flawless “Stereotypical” Barbie (Margot Robbie) is a free spirit; thriving and loving life in BarbieLand, which she inhabits with all the different Barbie versions (President Barbie, Astronaut Barbie etc), and Kens.

It is a Barbie dominated utopia where each Barbie is the strong, confident and powerful manifestation of their owner’s imagination.

When Barbie begins to change, (pondering death out loud and her arched feet suddenly become flat), she turns to an outcast Barbie (Kate McKinnon), whose owner chopped her hair, drew on her face and leaves her in the splits position, for help.

The news isn’t great – Barbie’s owner is having an existential crisis, so Barbie heads to the real world, with hunky Ken (Ryan Gosling) in tow, to cheer her up, but they are confronted by the harsh realities of Los Angeles, California.

When Ken realises that men get all the respect and opportunities in the real world, he intends to alter BarbieLand to reflect it.

Barbie the movie is a clever exploration of the Barbie legacy, her impact (both positive and negative) on girls, young women and wider society, and what she has represented to different generations.

In fact, one may not have realised just how complex this pretty little piece of plastic shaped liked an unrealistically beautiful woman could be until this movie.

Director Greta Gerwig, who co-scripted with her hubby Noah Baumbach, is clearly having a blast with the opportunity to be creative – the sets and costumes are an eye popping rainbow of colours fit for the big screen.

And they appear to mostly have free reign with their clever, witty and exploratory script. There are of course the occasional suggestions of studio and Mattel influence that creep in (male demographic appealing Will Ferrell in a key role and Ken’s redemption arc seem in conflict with what this film is trying to say and achieve).

Of course, they could not have complete autonomy and control; this is, after all, a huge IP with tonnes of money behind it and a marketing campaign that is, and will likely remain, unrivaled.

And yet the pair acknowledge this, poke fun, and make some biting observations about soulless corporations, while still maintaining a much deeper experience than one may anticipate.

Gerwig does go hard in the final stages in delivering her messages – a sledgehammer would have been subtler.

Robbie delivers another knock out performance as the pretty face that ends up with the weight of the world and the ongoing battle against the patriarchy suddenly on her shoulders, but it is Gosling who shines with comedic flair, unafraid to be vulnerable and silly in this, in some ways, risk-taking film.

Not everything gels, but it is always an entertaining and interesting experience that encourages us to look deeper.

This entry was posted on July 19, 2023 at 9:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.