[Rating: Rock Fist Way Up]
Now in theaters
It took myself two visits to the theater to fully embrace something about the Barbie mania that is going on right now and how I really felt about it all. And honestly? I loved it. I didn’t grow up ever wanting a Barbie doll, but was always interested in watching those old direct to VHS movies she would throw out every so often. Amazing to think it has taken until 2023 for Barbie to finally make her big screen live action debut. With a bonafide director as Greta Gerwig at the helms of this doll with an existential crisis, we get a film that is so damn unique and special that as the tagline of the trailer read, even if you hate Barbie, this movie is for you!
Barbie (Margot Robbie) lives in her dreamworld Barbieland. Alongside Barbie’s who are presidents (Issa Rae), writers (Alexandra Shipp), doctors (Har Nef) and more, Barbie lives in a world where women have made names for themselves and have contributed to society. Robbie’s Barbie lives her days enjoy the beauty and going to the beach where Ken (Ryan Gosling) oodles over here as well as Ken (Simu Liu), Ken (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and Ken (Scott Evans) and Ken’s friend Allan (Michael Cera). While having one of her parties, Barbie suddenly asks everybody if they ever think about dying. She also notices in the following days that she is waking up in a near hangover, and her feet have got flat! The Barbie’s tell her that she has to seek the help of Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon). Weird Barbie informs her that something in the real world is giving Barbie ideas of disillusionment and dread. Only traveling to the real world to help whoever is playing with her will help. With the help of (much to her dismay) Ken, Barbie travels to the real world to find her owner!
In the real world, Barbie and Ken question themselves on what it is like to be human and what it is like to be a man and woman in a world that is vastly different from their own. Barbie gets the help of Gloria (America Ferrera) and her daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) in her quest to escape having to return to Barbie Land in a box from the CEO of Mattel (Will Ferrell) and discover why she has been feeling doom and gloom.
Barbie’s own journey in the film really packs a punch. The deep examination of feminism in the 21st century and how far we have come as a society and how we treat women was something I didn’t know this movie was going to go in full depth, and yet examines it in the smartest way possible. Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s script is more just silly gags, but silly topics about serious things that connect with audiences. My audience howled in laughter for scenes that connected to them. Ryan Gosling steals the show as Ken who is examining his own self worth. In his view, the patriarchy in the real world is something he has been looking for in a world run by women and takes what he learns (if ever so briefly) and brings it back to his own world. It’s a deep film with such vibrancy!
And speaking of vibrancy, the look of this film is STUNNING. I can’t get over how beautiful everything is in this. If you’ve seen the trailer and images you know. It works. Everything works.
If you’re going to think this movie is going to be a doll living in a world of fun and sun, think again. Barbie examines the value of being a human and the story that Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman) wrote all those years ago. We deserved to have a feel good film that is smart to the core and weird and wonderful at the very heart of it.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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