Movie Review: Barbie (2023)
I did NOT want to see this movie. From the moment it was announced, to the time I saw the first trailer, I had zero interest. I may have even had negative interest in it. When it exploded onto the theaters and became such a massive success with Barbie and pink EVERYWHERE, I threw up in my mouth a little. That being said, our annual Oscar Blitz* is on the horizon and since it will most likely get a ton of nominations, I decided it was time to bite the bullet (or, perhaps, manually shove the bullet into my brain) and see the film. Lucky for me it’s available on streaming, so at least I’d be able to be annoyed in the comfort of my own home. I don’t like to drink prior to seeing a film for the first time, I feel it might deaden my senses and mar my actual opinion of it, but this time I made a lovely Orange Spice Manhattan, and settled in for an evening of disappointment (at least the drink would be great!).
So, spoiler alert, I pretty much had my ass handed to me by Barbie. It’s been a while since I’ve been so happily surprised by a film (the last time would be Best Picture winner Parasite (2019)) and I have to give all the credit to Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig. I really enjoyed Great Gerwig’s Lady Bird (2017) and Margot Robbie is a perfect matchup of beauty, humor, and brains, so the two of them working together (which I CLEARLY did not think through when I was so against the film originally) is a match made in heaven. I am going to break the movie down into three categories-The Story; The Cast; and the Technical Aspects of the film.
The Story:
To be honest, the story itself is pretty simple and straight forward, and I don’t say that as an insult. My favorite “category” of film, rare as they are, is the Funny Drama with a Simple Storyline and Great Dialogue. In Barbie, the main character, Barbie (duh) starts her day with everything business as usual, then discovers there is a problem, finds out how to solve the problem, and goes on a journey to do just that. Nothing really new here, except for how it is told. The film begins with an homage to the sci-fi film classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) with a tribe of very young girls in pretty dresses playing mother to their baby dolls. Everything is fine and in order, until a giant barbie comes down from the sky and destroys their peace and conformity. They end up going bonkers and destroy their baby dolls. Nice. We then cut from this caveman like existence to “Barbieland”, and the movie takes off.
Barbieland is populated by, well, Barbies…all of them. And Kens…also all of them. It is a perfect, matriarchal society where Barbie (Issa Rae) is president, and the Supreme Court is all Barbies. Everyone supports everyone, and they are all happy. The Dream Houses are all open to the world and every morning all the Barbies greet each other happily (I will admit, after a while, all the “Hi Barbie’s” got a little annoying, but it’s a minor quibble.). The Ken’s only exist to have Barbie notice them…especially Stereotypical Barbie, played by the luminescent Margot Robbie. Sadly, during a wonderfully choreographed dance routine, Stereotypical Barbie, out of no where, asks the age old question, out loud for all to hear, “Does anyone else think about death?”. This brings everything to a sudden stop, and sets Barbie out on her journey of self discovery.
The journey begins when she goes to see Weird Barbie, played by Kate McKinnon (who, at this point, should just be allowed to show up in whatever movie she wants) to find out why she’s thinking these things. Weird Barbie is the doll that older girls get sick of playing with so they chop off her hair and draw all over her face and then toss her into a box. Kate is perfect in the role, I really can’t think of anyone else who could have played her. Weird Barbie tells Stereotypical Barbie that she must venture forth into the Real World to discover what is wrong with her. So, Barbie gets in her car and takes off for the Real World. Of course, Ken (Ryan Gosling) stows away in the back seat and comes along with her. After all, it’s not a road trip without a buddy.
The two dolls have a series of misadventures which end up with them getting arrested (twice!) and finally meeting up with Gloria (America Ferrara), a Mattel employee, and her daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), a moody teen. Why are all teens moody? I don’t recall being moody when I was one. I was an asshole, but not moody. Anyhoo…Gloria and Sasha are having issues with Sasha growing up and resenting her mom and blah blah blah (this is kind of the boring part of the film). Also happening, Ken is discovering Misogyny! He sees men being in charge EVERYWHERE, being respected, if not feared, by women. He reads books about it and buys into it, which will bring us to the big finale where Ken tries to turn the Matriarchy into a Patriarchy while wearing a white fur coat. Because, what doesn’t scream masculine like a full length white fur coat?
So the plot is pretty straight forward and simple, which is a good thing. IF they had over thought it or over explained it, the movie wouldn’t have worked. Even though Barbie and Ken are in the Real World, it’s still a stylized version of it. When Barbie goes to the Mattell offices, the CEOs, led by a really good Will Ferrell, are caricatures of 1950’s businessmen-clueless in their maleness. After discovering Barbie has escaped Barbieland, they literally try to put her in a box…a giant Barbie box. I have to admit, as a bit of a reformed collector, I was fully aware that she would be worth a LOT more if she was still in her original box, but that’s a different story. There is even a ghost on the 17th floor of the building, played by Rhea Perlman, who turns out to be the creator of Barbie (Ruth Handler).
What I did not care for in the film was the message. Oh, not that woman empowerment is a bad thing, please don’t send emails, I’m a staunch feminist who grew up in a an equal opportunity household. It was the never ending delivery of said message. Women good, men bad. Matriarchy good, Patriarchy bad. Woman can aspire to be and do anything they want, men can only succeed at “Beach” (the job that all the Ken’s have). Over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Phew. Enough already. I get it, I’m a man, I suck. Cool. Near the end, America Ferrara’s Gloria gives a speech about the hypocrisy and contradictions of being a woman in today’s society, and it’s a good speech. It’s the speech that “cures” all of the Barbies who are held sway under Ken’s misogyny. But I’ve heard the speech before and, while it still rings true (very true) I would have liked a fresh spin on it. For a while I was wondering if they were going to end things with the boys and girls sharing the responsibility for ruling Barbieland, but the truth is, that never would have worked. Barbie had to go back to being a Matriarchy because that’s what Barbie is about.
The Cast:
This is easy. The cast is near perfect, so I will openly and freely admit one thing that will probably get me a lot of flack for. I do not like Ryan Gosling. I do not think he is even a little attractive and I don’t think he’s a very good actor. After seeing Barbie, I STILL don’t care for Ryan Gosling. He is fully committed to his role in this film, I will give you that, but he just rubs me the wrong way.
Everyone else…perfect. All the Barbies, all the (other) Ken’s, the real people in the real world (and that is saying something because I don’t normally care for Will Ferrell, but he did a great job here!). I would like to give a shout out to Michael Cera who kicked ass playing the forgettable Allan. Every time he popped up, I laughed. Let’s not forget Dame Helen Mirren doing the voice over narration-hysterical and pitch perfect. Margot Robbie, also a producer on the film, continues her journey as one of the best actors working today. If she is in a movie, I will want to see it…okay, I didn’t want to see this one originally, but I’ll blame the color pink for that. She disappears into every character she plays and no one, repeat, NO ONE could have done what she did with this role. She was simply perfect.
Technical Aspects:
Here me universe…if Barbie does not win Oscars for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design, then clearly we no longer deserve the Academy Awards. Barbieland is a marvel. If anyone ever wants to know what it’s like to live in Barbie’s Dream House? Watch this movie. Sarah Greenwood is mostly known for creating beautiful worlds in period films, but she has outdone herself now. I was in awe of the sets…which, if you are listening Marvel and DC, were NOT done on a blue screen (“we’ll fix it in post”). See? You can create an amazing world with practical sets, ingenuity, and talent. You need no other reason to see this film. I assume this will be taught in film school.
Of course the Costumes are amazing, I would have expected no less from Jacqueline Durran and she delivers. Both she and Sarah have been nominated multiple times for their work (and it is always extraordinary) but this is their year to bring home the gold.
The music? Infectious (although I wasn’t a huge fan of I’m Just Ken, but that might be because of Gosling…sorry). The pacing, the editing, great. Sound design? Also good. Technically, this is a film to be studied, wether you liked it or not, there is a lot to learn here for young filmmakers.
I have to consider the timing of the film’s release. Also perfect. With all of the negative crap crowding our televisions, our radios, streaming, from all directions really…from the government’ trying to regulate what we can read or say, or do with our own bodies, Barbie appeared as a positive beacon of light in a truly tough time. As much as I was annoyed by the message of the film being hammered into our heads…and then hammered some more, and then some more, I also feel it’s incredibly important to remind everyone of that message. We don’t need to conform, we don’t need to listen to anyone telling us “no” or “you can’t do that”. I get why people saw this film over and over again, and I’m really glad I took the time to see a really good flick. Barbie is happy, Barbie is fun. We need a lot more of that in our lives. I look forward to seeing what Great Gerwig does next, and I can’t wait for Margot Robbie’s next venture.
Hmmm…maybe a little less pink next time!
*Our annual Oscar Blitz is where we attempt see every film nominated for everything. It’s become a tradition and it’s a lot of fun…but it also creates a lot of stress for me…I can get a bit obsessive sometimes…but I’m still doing it cuz it’s a hell of a lot of fun!