Barbie

With Hasbro setting pace by launching a universe with their toy line, are we witnessing the same with Mattel? Barbie was a well marketed movie with so much hype behind it and did it deliver? Well follow me to my Mojo Dojo Casa House in “KenKen Land” to find out!

As you can imagine, we follow stereotypical Barbie’s life story as she resides in Barbieland with her fellow versions of Barbie, a place where women run things. They are successful, self-confident, and self-sufficient. They have all the important roles like president, doctors, lawyers etc whilst the Kens exist just to please the women and take part in fun activities. We then meet Beach Ken who’s in love with Barbie and who spends most of his life just being rejected by our titular Barbie. He’s stuck in the friend zone. She wakes up one day and finds herself not able to function as per her routine. She discovers her feet have gone flat and she has cellulite… all hell breaks loose. It’s now a journey to the mainland to try and figure how she can be restored to normal beautiful glory. She departs with Beach Ken who wants to help. On the mainland they discover men are actually the leaders of the world and as bizarre as it may seem, it’s fascinating to Ken. As she investigates how to fix her issue, Ken does some reading and learns of patriarchy in which he returns to Barbieland to teach the other Kens and take over the place. Meanwhile Barbie is captured by her creators and she meets some new friends who help her escape back to Barbieland. On her return she witnesses all the changes and how all her fellow Barbies have given up their life roles and just live to serve the Kens. The drama, comedy and adventure ensue and it’s a fun one.

I had my doubts on Margot Robbie but only in regards to age and longevity. She was excellent as Barbie. She captured the innocence, brightness, cheerful and merry plaything we all know and love. I imagine it wasn’t tough for her because it seemed like was a less evil bubbly Harley Quin. Ryan Gosling however stole the limelight. He brought the acting chops and range. He could have easily been made into a 2^nd par character to Barbie but he was made into this complex character with an inner complicated conflict and Ryan delivered it all! Probably one of his best roles I have seen him in. America Ferrera plays Gloria. A Mattel employee who helps Barbie in the real world. She provides that emotional connection around the whole film and she’s decent. Will Farrell was good. Playing the big bad of the movie as Mother, the CEO of Mattel. He’s his usual abstract and extremely funny self. Kate McKinnon is Weird Barbie and she’s goofy as always. Giving us that uncommon version of Barbie, fun to watch. Issa Rae, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey and Hari Nef play versions of Barbie. There are so many Barbies to list and to top it all off most of them are A-listers. They all deliver with the little screen time they have. Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ncuti Gatwa play versions of Ken and they are a joy to watch. We even catch John Cena as a Ken. Can I also add these guys are all playing non-humans, as in toys. Wicked performances! Special shout out to Anna Kay who was one of the Barbies with the bomb braids!

This is one of the best productions I have witnessed. The costumes, the brightness, the tone, the set… that set must have been great to be on, just looks like a giant adult playground. Barbieland has so much character itself. The casting crew must have been busy because the numerous versions of Barbies and Kens is outrageous. How they manage to all make themselves unique from the rest was impressive. There are parts of the cinematography that try to recapture the 1950s birth era of Barbie which is a nice touch. There is a strong soundtrack behind this movie. From a talented listing like Lizzo, Sam Smith, Spice Girls, Indigo Girls, Charli XCX and many more. The dance numbers by the Kens are well choreographed, brings a vibrant feeling to the film in between drama scenes. Although they don’t sing original songs they are well performed.

It’s a fun exhilarating journey, packed with lots and lots of nostalgia for us adults. For the kids they will enjoy large parts but a lot of the mature themes will go over their head.

The message here is Barbie lives in feministic powered world and it’s the best solution. Kids will barely grasp this narrative, especially not with the vibrant and beautiful sets to distract them. However, it is a beautiful monologue delivered by America’s Gloria and I was definitely moved. As good as it was, it made the film fall short. It started well with the comedic, chirpy feel but when it swung into the deep, technical, and emotional ending… it really lost me. By all means do include it but it was way too much, almost wiping out that this is a Barbie feature. The Ruth character addition was way too deep and just dampened the mood and theme of the film. There are some big highlight moments like the Ken dance off which was amazing. Ryan and Margot’s chemistry was good to watch. They really complimented each other well on screen.

All in all, despite its flaws Barbie is a decent movie. More for the teen/adult level. It tries to be very preachy but it actually leaves us quite confused. I like that its thought provoking, asking various questions around patriarchy vs feminism, can a doll with perfectly built features personify the agenda of feminist ideals… Gerwig did a brilliant job on those points. Mattel have mentioned they are bringing their IPs to live action attempting to build a universe… meh! What I would have liked to see though after the credits was a blooper reel… that would have been amazing to watch, I’m sure there was so much joke on set. I don’t even feel Barbie needs a sequel. No doubt it will be in the fight for numerous Oscars especially production design and deservedly so… however the story and that ending doesn’t leave room for “what next”. This doesn’t require a cinema visit. Watch it at home with your child and hit the pause button the explain the complex points. You’re welcome.

Do you want to see a sequel? Which was your favourite Barbie? Did Allan ever make it out? Wasn’t the narrator just amazing? Would you like to see a woman run world? React and comment below…