Barbie Movie Review

Barbie Movie: Story

Things start changing for Barbie (Margot Robbie) in Barbie's land, and she must leave her perfect life to do something about it.

Having said that, one can't deny the ingenious thought that's gone into the writing of Barbie by Greta and her husband Noah Baumbach. It helps that the writing room constitutes a married couple because, at heart, Barbie is really a battle of the sexes. It pits Margot Robbie's Barbie against Ryan Gosling's Ken, Barbie world (where women rule the world and the men are subservient) against the real world, feminism against patriarchy, and yin against yang.

Barbie Movie: The plot

Margot plays the stereotypical Barbie who starts to malfunction because of a fault in design at its creator, Mettle, in the real world. So, Barbie and Ken travel together to the real world in order to get to the root of the issue. But Barbie discovers the perils of being a woman in the real world whereas Ken gets a crash course in patriarchy.

Barbie Movie: A Thinking Barbie

Barbie goes through quite an existential crisis here. From her body parts malfunctioning like she's hit puberty, from getting introduced to eve-teasing in the real world, getting gaslit by Kens, to reconciling with her identity — Barbie comes a full circle here. Greta uses her as a symbol of capitalism to comment on consumerism, patriarchy, and beauty, but also humanises her enough to be her own woman. She underlines the fact that though Barbie made many girls feel inadequate, she herself is conditioned to not know anything better.

Margot Robbie makes for a great Barbie because she allows herself to be used as both a mannequin and a conduit of revolution, as and when required. She plasters a wide grin on her face so impressionably that when she tears up for the first time, one can't help but feel miserable for her “achy, but good feeling.”

Barbie Movie: A whole new pink world

Right from the word go, we're transported to a world where pink is the new normal. From rosy sunsets, pink cactus tops, and candy-coated houses to a sea of hot pink energy, Greta barely lets any frame escape sans the colour. Production designer Sarah Greenwood and costume designer Jacqueline Durran painstakingly build a whole new world that makes garish and gaudy look natural and organic.

Barbie Movie: A satire often too clever for itself

The pink is a curious cover to stage a clever satire. Greta doesn't take potshots only at Mattel, a co-producer and enabler of this adaptation, for some of its regressive business decisions, but in one scene, also aims one at the production house Warner Bros for how it mishandled the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League.

However, at one point, the satire feels self-defeating. After the Barbies lead the Kens by baiting them to mansplain them, they also instigate them against each other, which ends up reinforcing the stereotype that the reason men fight against each other is because of the women.

Greta is also quite indulgent with the satirising, constantly reiterating how she's remodeling the Barbie myth. The humor, hence, lands only occasionally, even though one silently admires the shots fired with every line. But the tone, a mix of self-awareness and spelling everything out, remains consistent throughout.

In that, Greta Gerwig constructs a satire that's slightly indulgent, but also constantly clever and occasionally fun. She treats the script like it's her Barbie — all dolled up, yet catapulted via imagination to places where it's never gone before.

Barbie Movie: Cast

Barbie, starring Margot Robbie in the lead, is set in Barbie Land which has several kinds of Barbies co-existing. We see the stereotype Barbie (Margot), the President Barbie (Issa Rae), Physicist Barbie (Emma Mackey), and Lawyer Barbie (Sharon Rooney), among many more, running the Barbie land while the men, all of them named Ken, double up as their supporters, lovers, and partners.

Barbie Movie: Review

For all practical purposes, Barbieland is pristine. Various iterations of Barbies and Kens live their beautiful lives in blissful ignorance of the real world. But when the quintessential Barbie (Margot Robbie) begins to have unusual thoughts, she is directed by another Barbie (Kate McKinnon) to enter the world of humans and address her existential crisis. However, chaos ensues when Ken (Ryan Gosling) tags along with her on this quest.

Barbie’s production, combined with its costume, art & set design, is picture-perfect, immersing us into the predominantly pastel and particularly pink Barbieland with a plethora of colourful characters. Played by an ensemble cast, some are given substantially more to do, while others are relegated to the backdrop. Even though this is by design, it does make some of these characters slightly redundant, albeit not overbearing. Margot Robbie reminds us of her incredible depth and range as the main character Barbie and is perfectly cast in the lead role. Ryan Gosling is a scene-stealer whose Ken is an unlikely brand of a jerk that draws laughs effortlessly, often at his own expense. However, the ace in the pack is America Ferrera, who is impressive, especially in one memorable monologue that perfectly captures the complex conundrum of women’s equality.

This brings us to the film’s most vital aspect – its writing. Taking a prominently feminist outlook, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach deftly pull off the tricky tightrope act of a self-aware screenplay that hits hard on the nose while being thoroughly entertaining. Using comedy and musical numbers to charm the audience, the message is deliberately heavy-handed. Sure, there’s a looming question of whom this film is aimed at, and ‘Barbie’ is certainly not just for those who’d play with these dolls. Slathered with satire that eventually sheds off its sugar coat, this film decisively takes the patriarchal bull by the horns. Quite the risk by toymakers Mattel, Gerwig’s style meets substance with her direction that dissolves all debate of ‘Barbie’ being a corporate cash grab as it will undoubtedly tip-toe its way to the front row of awards ceremonies.