REVIEW #305 Barbie (2023)

Barbieland is a magical place where all of the independent and powerful Barbies thrive, living the perfect day forever…that is until Stereotypical Barbie visits the real world and their lives change forever. 

Greta Gerwig has created a visually impressive film full of satire and social commentary, with the later becoming a little too full on for my liking. The set designs, combined with the odd visual effect brought Barbieland to life in a truly unique way! Everything looked great, from the dream houses to the costumes, then you throw in the committed performances from the absolutely stacked cast and we have a film that guarantees fun and laughter. Gerwig tackles a few different social issues through the comedy in the film; Barbie setting an unrealistic standard for women, people lacking authenticity and the courage to be themselves, finding yourself before following love and perhaps one of the most dominant ones, the men are trash narrative, which in my opinion is way to overplayed in the movie. Long speeches regarding the matter were quite exhausting at times, some parts were accurate about certain men and the joke played off well but as I said, the speeches were a bit much. I just think you can create a female empowerment movie without slating men left right and centre, perhaps I’m wrong but that was my impression.

Margot Robbie personifies Barbie and I don’t think there will ever be a person more suited for the role, she was great and delivered an amazing performance. That being said, and the irony isn’t lost on me here, the best thing about the film was Ryan Gosling’s performance! He killed every line he delivered and I have no doubt there will have to be a best supporting actor nomination for this because he really did steal the show. A lot of the comedy came from the Ken’s, at their own expense of course but it worked well. Beyond the comedy the film actually has a lot of heart, the ending especially brought everything together nicely, it left the men vs women narrative behind and instead united behind the ‘be yourself’ message, no matter what that looks like and that’s the one that delivered the emotional notes that the entire audience could get behind. Of course Billie Eilish’s What was I Made For was perfect for that moment. 

So overall I enjoyed the movie, had a lot of laughs and despite some of the narratives being a little to strong for my liking, there’s a ton to enjoy here. Not to mention that Barbie had the entire cinema packed with 90% of the audience dressed up for the occasion! Which is a joy to see, Barbenheimer has been a phenomenon that will be hard to replicate! 

Overall (7/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan

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