Cert – 12, Run-time – 1 hour 54 minutes, Director – Greta Gerwig
When her body begins to change, Barbie (Margot Robbie) must travel to the real world, with Ken (Ryan Gosling) beside her, to find the child who owns her – however, the real world is very different to Barbieland.
As Greta Gerwig guides us through the life-size playset houses of Barbieland, assisted by Helen Mirren’s narration, the world is made up of just as much smiles as it is bright pink. It’s hard not to grow a big, stupid grin of your own with each new exclamation of “hi Barbie!” as a new Barbie with a new job appears on screen. It’s a world where “all problems of feminism and equal rights have been solved”, all thanks to Barbie. For Barbie every day is a great day.
That is until the perfect, stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) develops anxiety, cellulite and starts to worry about death. With fears that she’s becoming the new Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) she must travel to the real world to find the child who owns her and heal the rift between the two worlds. Alongside her, in case any expertise on ‘beach’ is needed, is Ken (Ryan Gosling). Ken “only has a great day if Barbie looks at him” and is desperate to get her attention – Gosling is fantastic as perhaps the best himbo since Chris Hemsworth in 2016’s Ghostbusters – however the vastly different surroundings of the real world quickly catch the pair off guard.
Gerwig, and co-writer Noah Baumbach, have coated the film with plenty of satire and self-awareness to make for a rather surprising set of narrative events and developments. Particularly by the end there’s a rather bold and ambitious $145 million studio summer feature here. One with plenty of silliness and laughs along the way – early on the Ken’s (largely Gosling and Simu Liu) battle for Barbie’s attention by claiming they’re going to ‘beach’ the other off.
Yet, amongst the laughs the more serious points that Gerwig and Baumbach have to make, cleverly brought up and expanded upon with the same sense of fun, still manage to land well. Both thanks to the positioning and nature of the film and how it works with its themes and elements, but also down to the performances. Whilst clearly having a great deal of fun making this the cast put in strong performances – especially Robbie and Gosling who are both excellent in the lead roles as their character’s worlds and mindsets rapidly change.
This might mean that the laughs die down, alongside characters such as Will Ferrell’s Mattel CEO and other executives being somewhat sidelined, in the build-up to the third act but the film regains its footing. It briefly does this almost for the sake of the events of the third act where the brightly-coloured satire is still played with throughout. It’s hard not to be caught up within the joy of Barbieland, contrasted by the anxiety and crises of the title character as it turns out that maybe Barbie hasn’t had the effect on the world that all the Barbies believe they’ve had. Gerwig’s fingerprints are across the screenplay and film, with plenty of ambition, particularly in the direction of the closing stages. From the 2001 inspired opening she brings a self-awareness to the film heightening the comedy and allowing for more impactful drama.
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling give two of the best performances of the year at the centre of a very self-aware Barbie movie. It might slow down just before the kick of the third act, but there’s plenty of laugh-out-loud humour to push the themes of this entertaining, brightly-coloured satire.
Just A Little Bit Random 