Barbie Review!

Barbie is an unexpectedly brilliant comedy film based on the classic fashion doll! The film is directed and co-written by Greta Gerwig. The last film for Gerwig was Little Women (2019) which got award recognition except her directing. Her co-writer is Noah Baumbach who also directed White Noise (2022) which also starred Gerwig. The film’s promotion has put it in position for a summer sensation. At the theater, many of the ladies and girls dressed in pink, a bright spot for audience participation in an almost cosplay way. The movie begins at sunrise as we hear the Narrator, voiced by Helen Mirren, say that dolls have been around since the beginning of time. Mirren was also in this year’s action movie, Fast X.  This has young girls playing with baby dolls pretending to be mothers. 

The kids just huddle in the morning light. This is a scene that is parodying the prehistoric scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The skyscraper-high Barbie stands in for a Monolith in her vintage black and white swimsuit and sunglasses. The young girls reach out to touch this new doll. Then, begin to bash their old dolls in man-ape disappointment. A doll leg is torn off and thrown into the air! The narrator notes “because Barbie can be anything, women can be anything.” This is one of the themes explored in the movie. The dialogue including the narrator can be very meta, self referential, and funny! We move then to Barbie Land, a pink and plastic world of dream houses. Inside her dream house, there is Barbie (Margot Robbie), who cheerfully wakes up to Kaliii’s “Barbie Dreams.” Robbie was also in this year's Asteroid City. The actress has the craziness of the “too perfect” Barbie in playing Harley Quinn films including The Suicide Squad (2021). 

She waves to hi to the other Barbies in their dream houses next door. The doll actually has a full name, Barbara Millicent Roberts, but this is not the reality of this film. She had appeared in other toys come to life in Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010). She steps out of her high heels to have the pointed toe feet. This shows the play world that has the characters as dolls including pouring tea without any liquid to pretend sip. Barbie doesn’t walk down stairs, she just floats down to her pink convertible. She sees other Barbies who were discontinued, Skipper (Erica Ford), Barbie’s sister from 1964, and Midge (Emerald Fennell), the pregnant doll from 1963. The other Barbies include at the pink White House, President Barbie (Issa Rae), and Writer Barbie (Alexandra Shipp). Rae voiced Jessica Drew in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. Shipp starred in tick, tick… BOOM! (2021). 

We then get Barbie’s companion, Ken (Ryan Gosling), who says, “Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him.” Gosling was in the sci fi movie, Blade Runner 2049 (2017), as K who is a Replicant who wants to learn how to be human. In a sense, Ken is the same, but he becomes jealous and easily confused. The role plays up Gosling’s comic ability, and his La La Land (2016) singing and dancing.  There is also Allan (Michael Cera), who was also discontinued, though he was Ken’s friend. Cera was in the Black Mirror episode, “Joan is Awful” (2023). For the toy line, Allan had married Midge, but in the film, he doesn’t have any toy connections, he is just a lost toy. Barbie says hi to all of the Barbies and Kens including Ken (Simu Liu) and another Ken (Kingsley Ben-Adir). Liu played Jung in the comedy series, Kim’s Convenience. Ben-Adir currently plays Gravik in Secret Invasion. Plus, there is Mermaid Barbie played by singer, Dua Lipa. 

Ken played by Liu tries to impress Barbi with his back flip. This causes jealousy in Ken which almost becomes a Beach Off.  He takes his surfboard to try to ride the plastic beach wave. It bounces him off, Allan screams, and Ken falls.  A small car unfolds into a hospital set for Doctor Barbie (Hari Nef). Ken heals and asks Barbie” Can I come to your house tonight.”  It is a dance party with all of the Barbies and Kens. In the middle of it Barbie asks, “Do you guys ever think about dying?” The music stops. Barbie’s existential crisis passes and she passes it off. Later, we see Ken try to lean over to kiss Barbie, and wants to stay over her dream house. There is no dream house for Ken. Barbie instead tells Ken, “Every night’s Girls Night.” Ken doesn’t realize he is in the Barbie Friend Zone. The next day, her routine is broken by bad breath, a cold shower (without the water), and expired milk. 

Barbie falls from the house rather than floating down. Her heels go down.  She goes to the Beach and shows the Barbies her flat feet that shocks them. Barbie sees that a patch of cellulite bulges from her leg. Physicist Barbie (Emma Mackey) tells Barbie that she has a malfunction and has to see Weird Barbie. Outside of the city is the strange house of Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon). She has a shock of hair and scrawlings of make-up on her face. McKinnon is of course known for Saturday Night Live and starred in Bombshell (2019) with Robbie. Barbie says she is Stereotypical Barbie, this is unusual, not Classic Barbie or Vintage Barbie. Weird Barbie says that Barbie has opened a rift to the Real World. Her quest is to ”find the girl playing with you” in the State of Los Angeles. There is a party of Barbies and Kens sending Barbie to the Real World. 

She drives her convertible, slightly larger than her so it looks like a toy Go-Kart, on a road outside of Barbieland through a desert. Ken appears and wants to join her!  They go by motorboat, rocketship, tandem bicycling past a Dutch landscape, an RV, and a snowmobile all past painted backdrops. The travel of through the rift has some fun playsets of Barbieland. They end up in the Real World, Venice Beach, in gaudy 80’s outfits. Barbie remarks, “Everything is like reversed here.” A guy harasses Barbie so she hits him and they get thrown in jail. They change into cowboy outfits and without means to pay are back in jail. Ken starts walking to Century City. He sees a gym complete with Rocky posters. Then, a montage of men in the Real World. Ken is fascinating by the Patriarchy and really because he is getting attention instead of being an accessory. 

Barbie loses her eyes and gets a vision of a girl, Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), as a pre-teen she gets annoyed by her mother, Gloria (America Ferrera). This year, Greenblatt is in the sci fi movie, 65. Ferrera was in the comedy series, Superstore. The two humans are important for Barbie’s journey and the future of Barbieland. The vision causes Barbie to start crying for the first time. She sees a couple arguing and a man who is sad sitting alone. Then, there is an lady (Ann Roth) next Barbie on the bench, Roth is known as a movie costume designer who worked on White Noise. Barbie says she is beautiful. This is a touching moment, it is interesting that Barbie comes from a world of homogenized beauty, but finds it in a Real World person who is self-confident. Ken returns and knows that the girl is at school.

This moves to the World Wide Headquarters of Mattel, Los Angeles. The headquarters is specifically in El Segundo. In his cubicle is Aaron (Connor Swindells) who is contacted by the FBI about Barbie. Swindells starred in the comedy, Sex Education, that also featured Mackey. We also see in her room, Gloria, drawing Barbie. At the corporate idea session is Mattel CEO played by Will Ferrell who of course was in another toy based film, The Lego Movie (2014) as Lord Business. There is some aburdity in the design of an almost Dr. Strangelove (1964) board room, but with pink walls, a heart-shaped lamp, and pink chairs. Aaron delivers the news through whispers that eventually reaches the CEO. He is shocked if “America hears Barbie is in the Real World.” All of the other executive men agree.  It is also pointed out having all men on the board making decisions about dolls. 

At Davy Crockett Junior High School, Ken goes to the library to learn about the Patriarchy, while Barbie sees Sasha at a cafeteria table with her three friends. Barbie is told that they haven’t played Barbie since they were 5 years old. Sasha notes that Barbie’s image sets the feminist movement back 50 years. The issues that Barbie brings up in female images, pop culture, and her ideal of perfection are in the movie with this conversation. It breaks Barbie’s heart. The CEO wants his agents to take Barbie to Mattel and box her up. Her escape will lead to a hidden corner of Mattel that is occupied by Rhea Perlman’s character. Ken wants to return to Barbieland to take it over as a Patriarchy. It is just a reverse of Barbie’s utopia. Plus, Gosling gets his song and dance sequence, “Just Ken.” Barbie’s story is pivotal with Gloria and Sasha entering Barbieland. Barbie is a funny movie, a crossing of the Real World with Barbieland, with something to say which is rare with big studio releases. 

Five High Heels and Surfboards out of Five! 

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