Barbie (Margot Robbie) and her fellow stereotypical dolls reside in the world of Barbieland, a society populated with different variations of Barbies and Kens, with the Kens being a group of withdrawn models who are treat like outcasts due to their personal traits. Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling) typically spends his time chasing Barbie before she soon suffers a crisis that leads her to question the world that she lives in and her own presence. A well marketed release that’s extremely different to most films of today.
Director: Greta Gerwig
Writers: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren, John Cena
Directed by Greta Gerwig and based on a screenplay written alongside Noah Baumbach, Barbie is the first live-action release after a multitude of attempts and general rumours. Since its release in July of 2023, the picture has received acclaim from many and managed to gross over one billion dollars worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film of 2023 aswell as the highest grossing film by a solo female director.
It can’t be argued that Barbie was impressive in regard to both set design and costume design, with both standing out as being the primary positives and somewhat memorable in nature. Each presented scene was colourful and eye-catching, portraying a wealth of glitz and glamour throughout the one-hundred and fourteen-minute runtime. There were also several surprising appearances from well-known personalities, most notably John Cena, Rob Brydon and Dua Lipa, who were given small roles.
With the positives, however, come the negatives. In truth, I wasn’t entirely sure what type of audience Barbie was aimed it, especially being billed as a fantasy comedy and a large majority of the marketing seemingly aimed at the younger generation, when in reality, this didn’t come across as an overly child-friendly release at all. Some of the humour was smile worthy at best and there were most certainly divisive undertones injected, which I’m not sure were completely necessary.
In terms of the cast, Margot Robbie starred as the primary Barbie and commanded the majority of screen presence, with Ryan Gosling shouldering the bulk of the support. Will Ferrell also found himself appearing as the Mattel CEO, while Helen Mirren was responsible for the narration. As previously mentioned, John Cena, Rob Brydon and Dua Lipa also adopted roles of less prominent figures.
All in all, while Barbie’s production value and marketing effectiveness can’t be questioned for its sheer quality, the flick overall wasn’t as engaging and impactful as I’d have hoped, with my own questions stemming mainly around the actual audience for the release and need for controversial undertones. Barbie isn’t the worst release of 2023, but it’s certainly not one I’d heavily recommend to people given the hype it’s received.
“Do you guys ever think about dying?”
Barbie – Barbie
The DC Review Blog - EST. 2020 